Is there one piece of yours that similarely became this iconic evergreen that really surprised you?

•••

I misread this one, first pass, so I am returning to it now.

During my first run with the X-Men, Chris and I took a trip down to the Savage Land (one of my favorite Marvel locations) and while there I did a double page spread dominated by Wolverine leaping up to slash at an airborne Sauron.

I was not happy with that Wolverine figure, but I did not have time to chase down a better shot. So I let it go as it was. What could be the harm?

Answer: despite literally hundreds of action shots produced during my run on the book, that was the one the marketing department seized upon as clip art, and in the decades since I drew it I have seen that figure reproduced on just about every flat surface imaginable.

sigh

That was a neat series. Never knew what you were gonna get.

•••

Your attitude makes you an exception.

For far too many readers, the anthology titles—PREMIERE, SPOTLIGHT, PRESENTS—were a source of great annoyance. The speculators were already starting to make their presence felt, and they complained loudly about being “forced” to buy issues that didn’t focus on favorite or “hot” characters. Simply skipping those issues was not an option.

Didn’t help that the fluctuations in sales caused by readers who didn’t feel compelled to buy every issue were incomprehensible to the bean counters, who expected every issue to pull the same numbers. Anthologies always teetered on the edge of cancellation.

I just googled “John Byrne Wolverine” and many of the results are shots of Huge Ackman in the costume from DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE. Identified in the movie as mine. Well, the colors, anyway. But it’s not my version of Logan’s outfit.

Once again, the Fates give with one hand, take away with the other.