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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133579
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 1:33pm | IP Logged | 1
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Backgrounds: there was a period in the Eighties when outside forces caused my bgs to get sparse, no question. Unfortunately, once the “he never does backgrounds” mantra got locked into some peoples heads there was nothing that could shake it loose.
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Thad Studebaker
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1114
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 2:29pm | IP Logged | 2
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The first time I heard mention of the “he never does background” mantra was at the local comics shop when some young pup working there saw me flipping through the latest issue of JB’s Wonder Woman run. I was looking at an impressive layout of Diana at Olympus that rivaled much of George Perez’s work and held it out for the young pup to see.
“Well, most of the time he doesn’t...” was the pup’s quick-witted response. It gave me a great deal of delight to enlighten the kid on those JB-filled weeks.
Edited by Thad Studebaker on 19 March 2021 at 2:30pm
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Wilson Mui
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4557
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 2:39pm | IP Logged | 3
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JB, Do you think Peter knows how to fight
or is he like Superman in Generations
where he never had to learn because of his
strength?
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Scott Barnett
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 December 2018
Location: United States
Posts: 264
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 5:04pm | IP Logged | 4
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Backgrounds: there was a period in the Eighties when outside forces caused my bgs to get sparse, no question. Unfortunately, once the “he never does backgrounds” mantra got locked into some peoples heads there was nothing that could shake it loose.
******
I've seen that to this day. When you press people what they're basing their opinion on, they inevitably tell you they haven't followed your work in decades.
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Jean Sterling Ajouissance
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 March 2021
Location: United States
Posts: 108
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | 5
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Colossus is supposedly fair at judo, primarily because Cyclops got on his case about just being 'muscle.' There were a couple of mentions, I believe, about Cyclops teaching him certain judo techniques.
This is how he eventually bested Sasquatch back in UXM #121.
Edited by Jean Sterling Ajouissance on 19 March 2021 at 5:11pm
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Jean Sterling Ajouissance
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 March 2021
Location: United States
Posts: 108
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 5:13pm | IP Logged | 6
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Apologies for answering out of turn. Just trying to add, not overstep.
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Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17701
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 5:39pm | IP Logged | 7
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I recall that, Jean. It probably makes “real world” sense, but it’s something I think should be used sparingly. I remember cringing when an Avenger with super powers referenced being trained to fight by Captain America. Again, I get it, but...
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 16000
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| Posted: 19 March 2021 at 8:50pm | IP Logged | 8
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I don't follow you, Wallace. Why did it make you cringe? Doesn't it make sense that a super hero that relies on fighting with their fists would learn from a team mate who knows how to fight?
Admittedly, Colossus learning judo seems a bit odd, but Cap teaching fighting skills seems a no-brainer.
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Dean Munday
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 July 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 183
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| Posted: 20 March 2021 at 8:00am | IP Logged | 9
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Re: 'backgrounds'.
I certainly appreciate detailed backgrounds - but not at the expense of distracting from the narrative. They have a vital role to play in terms of first establishing and then maintaining the situational context - but once that is achieved, then they are to an extent superfluous. The reader's "mind's eye" will perceive subsequent panels as located within that framework. Still, it is nice to be reminded of the location from time to time (rather than just have pages 1 and 21 of an issue display the background) - but it's not essential unless a character's actions or a choreographed fight move requires the interaction with their environment to be specifically conveyed.
WRT JB's body of work, I have been a fan and reader since the mid 70s and the presence or absence of backgrounds has never seemed an issue. If it's not something I've noticed over that span of time then (IMHO) it has clearly been, and continues to be, handled approriately.
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Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17701
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| Posted: 20 March 2021 at 8:18am | IP Logged | 10
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Peter, where that sort of thing is concerned, I prefer to have superheroes stay in their own lane. So while it may "make sense" for Captain America to provide Avengers with hand-to-hand combat training, I don't really care to read that Iron Man used a judo throw he learned from Cap to get the better of Ultron. I also wouldn't want to see Ben using scientific skills Reed taught to him to whip up a doohickey to defeat Doctor Doom.
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Steven Queen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 February 2020
Location: United States
Posts: 950
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| Posted: 20 March 2021 at 8:20am | IP Logged | 11
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Backgrounds (or their absence) should be a tool available to the artist for making an art-piece with visual impact.
Demanding them to "always be there" is foolishly hamstringing the creator. Like light/dark contrast, the amount of supporting detail is just another technique for drawing the viewer's attention for maximum effect.
JB shows us his mastery of that skill daily.
Likewise, juggling level-of-detail and hitting deadlines is another skill...if every artist had to paint a photo-realistic scene in every frame of every page---comic books would be published at a rate of an issue-per-decade.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133579
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| Posted: 20 March 2021 at 10:17am | IP Logged | 12
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Because my "camera" can't actually move, I look for other ways to pretend I'm making a motion picture. Twisted angles is one. And dropping backgrounds to throw the foreground into sharp relief.Anything that adds to the visual dynamic, basically.
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