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Ted Pugliese
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 December 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 7979
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | 1
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This is sad...
I know his run on Atom is...short (there, I said it), and I know we have his JLA run in the works, but is that it?!? Are there no plans for anything else after that? I cannot believe it! My mind refuses to believe it, or is that my heart?
What a fucking shame!!!
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Thomas Woods
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1356
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:23pm | IP Logged | 2
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the 2nd teir characters is why I haven't been getting a lot of Byrne stuff. I do think it plays a big part on the sales. I did pick up Atom #1 for the art but really don't give a hoot over the character even though it was a fun read. As far as Hidden Years goes, I think the inks turned some people off (even though I know you loved them JB).
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Gail Simone
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 105
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:29pm | IP Logged | 3
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I think we should add here that John's (and my) run on Action sold out constantly, which tells me that retailers underestimated the demand, which often takes several months for the market to correct. I don't blame retailers, they have an almost impossible job, and our run wasn't really hyped up, either. But I think it certainly showed that John's still got some muscle in the market on the right project. I certainly heard a lot of excitement from readers (and some grudging respect from pros) over John's Action work.
Gail
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132336
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:30pm | IP Logged | 4
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I notice that he's incorporated non-linear storytelling into GENERATIONS, DOOM PATROL, BOTD and even the new ATOM. I'm not sure the current comic audience can really handle that.*** What was "non-linear" about GENERATIONS? As to ATOM, those are Gail's scripts. I'm just the art robot.
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Mike Baswell
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1970
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:33pm | IP Logged | 5
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Would someone please explain what all this "it's a short run" stuff is
about?
Has this been announced or talked about in another thread?
Aside from that, I'd like to add that I'm looking forward to picking up
my copy today along with the final issue of BOTD. I appreciate JB's work,
always have. A book of his was the first I ever bought. I also appreciate
that he still makes the effort even though, let's face it, this isn't the same
comic book world we many of us grew up with. Heck, it's not the same
world in general. You look at the music industry, the television industry,
almost every facet of entertainment now is about catering to and
targeting the lowest common denominator. It isn't about what is good or
has substance anymore, it's about what's cool, or more precisely, what's
'kewl'.
Whereas once you had comics of all kinds in all sorts of venues, now
you have comic shops that push loads of generic look-a-like drek and
push unique and original content to the back or force you to order on
your own if you're lucky enough to find out about something different.
There was a time when top 40 radio ruled and you might hear anything
from country to rock to r&b on the same station at any time of the day.
Now it's targeted radio with 50 sound-alike alternative bands on one
station and 50 sound-alike hip-hop rappers on another and so on and so
forth.
The same goes for TV. I mean how many different variations of CSI or
Law and Order can you have? And don't even get me started on reality
television.
The point is, there was a time when being original and fresh and
talented was something that stood out, these days, it gets you nothing.
JB's work doesn't look like the Image boys, nor does his writing resemble
that of the hollywood golden boys, so therefore he gets overlooked and
probably downright mistreated at times. I know those of us on this board
admire and respect the man and his work and I hope he continues to have
some sort of output for many more years, but in this generic, apathetic
cookie-cutter world of the 21st century I'm afraid his kind is an
endangered species. That's my two cents on this whole debate.
Edited by Mike Baswell on 07 July 2006 at 2:03pm
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Clay Adams
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 April 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 411
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:38pm | IP Logged | 6
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I'd like to second Mike's request. I've seen this alluded to a lot here, but can someone point me towards the official word?
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Steve Horton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3574
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:39pm | IP Logged | 7
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JB: Apologies in advance for the presumption. This is how I see it from my limited perspective:
At some point it may come down to A. going back to work for Marvel or B. not having a career in comics at all which would lead to C. Advertising or movie studio or videogame work or drawing nothing but commissions for a living.
Which sounds preferable? You don't have to answer that, obviously. And no, D: stepping in front of a bus is not an option!! :)
Would mending fences with the hated Quesada and going back to Marvel be so bad? I guess that really would be "selling out" and "hacking" if your heart wasn't in it. Why can't the suits appoint someone new already? It's not like their publishing division couldn't be doing better!!
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Brian Floyd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 8364
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | 8
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I've been lurking on this board off and on for a few months now, but never felt the urge to comment, even after reading about Alan Moore's abominable kiddie porn project, which disgusts me, until now.
It astounds me that stores refuse to carry John Byrne's work because of bad word of mouth and unsubstantiated rumors, while people who are little more than hacks (whom I won't name...other than Rob Liefeld) and others who are known to be jerks (whom I also won't name) have their work all over store shelves and are praised by the fanboy crowds.
I can't see why any comic shop owner or manager would buy into the crap without seriously investigating it. Don't they know they're leaving their money on the table?!
As for old school writing and artwork....I can't say much regarding the artwork, but I think one of the problems with old school writers' work not being desired is because people today seem to have much shorter attention spans. At another board I go to, people were criticizing Chris Claremont's work when he returned to writing X-Men, saying it was too wordy. I think that fans in general want a quick payoff or for stories to cut right to the action instead of taking the time to set things up. Or, heaven forbid, to even include a plot!
(How people can complain about Claremont when there's another writer who will remain nameless working at Marvel who takes several ISSUES to get anything going in his work yet is praised by fans, I will never know.....)
I'm 35 years old, and started reading comics in the mid-late 70's when I was a kid, and I actually think comics as a whole had much better writing in the late 70's to early 90's than they do today. And unfortunately, that also means great writers get left in the dust. I can't explain what's going on with art, except that tastes change.
Don't comics companies, and shop owners, realize that there is a definite market for the work of old school professionals, considering a lot of the people who read comics today read them back when the people in question were considered hot sellers in the first place?
Here's an idea: someone should form an imprint called "Old School Comics", or something like that, with only writers and artists who were actually around before....oh....lets say.....1989 or 1990....working on the books. I doubt any publisher would have the guts to try it as an experiment, but I think if done properly, and without any influence by boneheads who were likely too young to even read those people's original works, that it could be a success.
For the record, two of the first Marvel Comics I ever remember reading were Uncanny X-Men #129 and 136, which came in one of those 3-comic packs you could get at grocery stores and other places back then (I don't remember what the other comic was, but it wasn't an issue of X-Men.
As for Marvel, I can easily believe what JB said about the X-Men series he worked on, and what went down with a certain EIC. As a fan, I have no respect for this EIC because of several things he has done, and this sounds very typical.
Unfortunately, I don't see things at Marvel getting any better; The direction of the mainstream Marvel Universe is, in my opinion, being influenced way too much by Brian Michael Bendis, and that shouldn't be, considering he writes an Ultimate Universe book. It seems to me that Marvel *may* be concentrating more on their film projects than on their comics.
Oh, and if DC has any sense, they should get Mr. Byrne to do a nice long run on one of the Batman titles or the forthcoming new Justice Society series. Barring that, I'd like to see him do a run on Iron Man. Preferrably as artist AND writer.
(I'll also second the comments Cesar Madarro made about a Generations regular series. I'd definitely buy it!)
Edited by Brian Floyd on 07 July 2006 at 1:53pm
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Paul Greer
Byrne Robotics Security
Joined: 18 August 2004
Posts: 14186
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:51pm | IP Logged | 9
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Many novels use non-linear storytelling. It is a convention we learn in public high school English class. Since most of us reading comics have had at least that level of education I don't see how anyone would complain about it or look ignorant enough to admit being confused by how it works. I'm not by any means calling anyone here ignorant. Just commenting on other people's complaints about one style of JB's writing.
Edited by Paul Greer on 07 July 2006 at 1:51pm
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132336
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | 10
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I think it has become "kewl" to complain about my "non-linear" storytelling. And I think it started when a clump of copies of DOOM PATROL 2 went out with the pages out of order. People who didn't pick up on this were later too embarassed to admit that was why they were "confused".
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Matthew Hansel
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3469
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 1:59pm | IP Logged | 11
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These people must hate movies like PULP FICTION...
MPH
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Brendan Howard
Byrne Robotics Member
FAQ Master Supreme
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4943
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| Posted: 07 July 2006 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | 12
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Nice to see Gail's comments on this thread. You're always welcome here, Gail, and we look forward to hearing more from you as new issues of Atom hit the stands!
The All-New Atom has shot to the top of my list of favorite current comics. All involved should be very proud! I'm heading back to the comic shop this weekend to snag a few extra copies and hand them out to some of my pals. A few of them got hooked on Doom Patrol after I gave them the first two issues, and maybe lightning will strike twice.
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Topic Closed)
