I know that Jim Lee has  said that John Byrne is an influence, and mentioned that when he was doing his run on Superman. I think it shows too every now and then in Lees work.

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I haven't read that interview. Anyway, I don't see any Byrne influence in Lee.

"Your old stuff was better."
And the answer is--yeah, kind of.
And it's not just a matter of the fan having been 10 or 12 or whatever.

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Seems more accurate to use quotes thus: your "old" stuff was "better."

As to the former, I first found JB in the X-Men, so that's my "old" JB stuff. Somebody else's could be newer "old" JB, like the FF or Alpha Flight or Next Men, etc. Somebody else's could be older "old" JB, like Space 1999 or Iron Fist. The idea of "old" used not as a matter merely of dates but in this subjective manner is decidedly murky. 

As to the latter, I do rather think that it's almost whollly a matter of "having been 10 or 12 or whatever" when first discovering an artist. I can clearly see that recent JB work is superior to his X-Men stuff, and yet that'll always be "better" than anything else -- for me.

Thanks Lars.... maybe I am reading EL's intention wrong, but it is nice to not be the only crazy one!

Erik loves to post plaintive, earnest posts here and then rip on JB and JBF at his forum.

Not two weeks ago on JBF he ridiculed the Marvel management for cancelling Hidden Years. On his forum yesterday, he explains (using pure heresay) how disappointing X-men Hidden Years was to editors and why it had to be cancelled.

The guy is a pure double talker...I'd take someone universally and honestly gruff than someone who you can't trust...