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        | John Byrne 
   Grumpy Old Guy
 
 Joined: 11 May 2005
 Posts: 135210
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          Scanner down for a bit, so what should have been
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:17am | IP Logged | 1 | post reply |  
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 |  the last of last year becomes the first of this year.
 
 11x17
 
 
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        | Todd Hembrough Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 16 April 2004
 Posts: 4171
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          Thanks for sharing JB.  Very nice.
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:19am | IP Logged | 2 | post reply |  
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 Todd
 
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        | Caleb M. Edmond Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 20 May 2006
 Location: United States
 Posts: 762
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          Now that's awesome.
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:31am | IP Logged | 3 | post reply |  
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        | Trevor Krysak Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 16 April 2004
 Location: Canada
 Posts: 4167
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          Place your bets one and all on that battle.
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:34am | IP Logged | 4 | post reply |  
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        | Mike Baswell Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 02 May 2004
 Location: United States
 Posts: 2000
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          That's gorgeous! And it should have happened too, based on the fact that
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:47am | IP Logged | 5 | post reply |  
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 |  the Surfer sensed her leaving earth, he would have been well aware of her
 return just prior to the battle with the X-Men.
 
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        | Sean  Hollenhors Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 16 June 2005
 Location: United States
 Posts: 722
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          Oh wow! My wife sez, "That's pretty!"
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:49am | IP Logged | 6 | post reply |  
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        | John Byrne 
   Grumpy Old Guy
 
 Joined: 11 May 2005
 Posts: 135210
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          The scene you mention, Mike, was one of several "reaction" shots I threw into that issue, showing people I thought would, because of their powers and/or abilities, sense the sudden "birth" of Dark Phoenix.  In the process of scripting those panels, however, Chris chose to have the Surfer speak/think as if he was going to act upon what he sensed.  This wasn't what I had in mind, and wasn't part of the original plot in any way.  But it did net us a lot of nasty letters for months afterward, from fans who felt they were "cheated" out of a "promised" Silver Surfer/Phoenix confrontation.
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:54am | IP Logged | 7 | post reply |  
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 |  Years later, Shooter was looking for a "plumb" to give to a buddy of his who was writing for Marvel at the time, and he called to ask if there were any "untold tales" from that extremely milkable period of X-Men history.  I thought immediately of the Phoenix/Surfer confrontation that never happened.  Shooter ordered me to write it up as a plot for his pal to script (over someone else's pencils).  I did so, but nothing ever came of the project. More years later, this was the story I had planned for a HIDDEN YEARS annual, in the second year, but the book was canceled.  Terry Austin was going to ink. | 
       
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        | David Whiteley Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 16 April 2004
 Posts: 2748
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          Wow - a shame that plan never reached fruition.
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 8:58am | IP Logged | 8 | post reply |  
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 Great picture - nobody draws Dark Phoenix as well as you, JB.
 
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        | Flavio Sapha Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 16 April 2004
 Location: Brazil
 Posts: 12912
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           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 9:02am | IP Logged | 9 | post reply |  
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 |  Great commission!   JB, I remember reading in a She-Hulk ish that, at that time, it was still "painful" (memory here) for you to draw the Phoenix ...why was that?    | 
       
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        | John Byrne 
   Grumpy Old Guy
 
 Joined: 11 May 2005
 Posts: 135210
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          nobody draws Dark Phoenix as well as you, JB.
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 9:06am | IP Logged | 10 | post reply |  
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 ***
 
 Frank Miller's former girlfriend, Laurie Sutton, tells a story of meeting Steve Ditko in the halls up at the DC offices.  Suitably flabberghasted, she groped for some appropriate compliment, and heard herself say "Mr. Ditko, nobody draws Limbo as well as you!"  Ditko, with a straight face, replied "That's because they haven't been there."
 Whenever people give me a complitment about my being the only one who can draw Dark Phoenix, I think of this Ditko story, and think that, in many ways, others who have drawn Dark Phoenix have not "been there" either.  By the time the next person came to drawk the character it/she was already on the way to LEGEND status.  Drawing Dark Phoenix for me had been a job.  For others it assumed the proportions of a weighty responsibility. (Incidentally, even tho it was a silly "Oh No Not Again!!" story, I think Walt Simonson did the best Dark Phoenix after me, in the X-Men/Teen Titans book.) | 
       
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        | Joakim Jahlmar Byrne Robotics Member
 
  
 Joined: 10 October 2005
 Location: Sweden
 Posts: 6080
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           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 9:06am | IP Logged | 11 | post reply |  
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 |  Absolutely gorgeous!!! A sad thing the story never happened, as with so many other things... O, and in case it wasn't obvious from the opening response... hat stays firmly off! | 
       
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        | John Byrne 
   Grumpy Old Guy
 
 Joined: 11 May 2005
 Posts: 135210
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          I remember reading in a She-Hulk ish that, at that time, it was still "painful" (memory here) for you to draw the Phoenix ...why was that?
           | Posted: 08 January 2007 at 9:10am | IP Logged | 12 | post reply |  
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 |  *** From the FAQs: What was the original ending for the Dark Phoenix Saga? JB: The original "ending" saw print in an UNTOLD STORY oneshot Marvel put out about 15 years ago -- which seemed to confuse a whole rack of readers, since they would constantly reference the "untold" ending as a reason why certain things could or could not happen. I say "ending" because it was really the beginning. Our intent was to turn Phoenix into a full-fledged VILLAIN (which is why I scragged the asparagus people), and to this end 136 originally ended with her being psychically lobotomized by Lillandra's people. About a year later we'd planned to have Phoenix reassert herself, and start the whole thing going all over again. (Shooter knew this to be our plan, by the way, but when the story started to roll it somehow became important that Phoenix be punished for her deeds, unlike, say, every other Marvel villain.) (2/23/98) | 
       
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