Jim and Chuck visit John Byrne

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

John Byrne really came along toward my cut-off date for comics, so I've seen a good amount of his work but I never really followed it... in the sense of reading each issue as it came out, wondering what was going to happen, that sort of thing. His art seemed more creative and less rushed than it later became (was he inking with a magic marker or what?). Anyway, I know who he is and like his early stuff. But he was in his day the hottest thing in American super-hero comics.



This page is from FANDOM CONFIDENTIAL, a 1982 collection of one pagers done by Jim Engel and Chuck Fiala for THE COMIC READER. These were usually a series of photos of the guys, complete with comic book-style dialogue balloons and inked-in special effects. They ranted about current comics, interviewed Superman (a cardboard stand-up from a movie theatre) or Woody Woodpecker (a hand puppet), and they were consistently funny in the twisted affectionate way fans can be. Here they go to meet Byrne, and we see him at work in his home.

Comments

[wizardru.insanejournal.com]

Considering Byrne got his start in the 70s, I'm guessing your cut-off date is either earlier than this work or you just weren't aware of him until he was well established. He was doing stuff and winning accolades long before this (as the joke here in 1982 is about his being the hottest thing around, except perhaps for Perez).

Byrne's later work suffered not from time, but from him inking his own work. A lot of his later work harkened back to some of his earlier stuff, but his work tends to look much better when the right inker is there with him. Terry Austen, obviously, did well for him.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

My area of interest ends around 1975 or so, it's not a hard rule I have to follow but a general inclination. Certainly I've read some series from more recent years, like PLANETARY and TOP TEN. But in general I follow comics from the 1920s to mid-1970s.

I can see Byrne has good layout and storytelling skills, but you're right in that he benefits from an appropriate inker. Just the scans I've seen here show Byrne relying on a repeated shorthand of the same faces and gestures for different characters and a strong inker would mitigate that.

[ashtoreth.insanejournal.com]

My god, that's magnificent! :D I must save this page and use that phrase about page-rate every opportunity.