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Miguel Montenegro
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 7:14am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

It was a surprise to learn that John Byrne likes Trevor Scott's inks over his pencils in The Atom. I think Trevor did a tremendous job. That said, I tried to ink one of these X-Men pages with a similar approach, without taking it to far and staying faithful to the pencils (I used the page with the first version of Jen's face). I would like to know what you think. Thanks!

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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 7:48am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Trevor is also a really, really nice guy. I'm glad JB liked his inks; in my days working with him, he was always a thoroughly professional dude.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:09am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I like the flow of the story. One of my complaints with more recent comics is that not a lot happens and they are somehow still a bit of a trudge to work through.

This is the opposite. Lots happening, but a breeze to go through the pages, leaving you wanting more. Just the way comics should be!

Depicting Jean in that last panel is a toughie. You hit the nail on the head recognising how the eyes with the made up lashes gives so much of the distinctive look to Jean's face.
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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:21am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

JB - Since you hadn't really had the chance to give the New X-Men dialogue*, does it feel odd to be doing that after all these years?

*Would it be fair to not count the brief 90's stint over Lee/Portacio?
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Tim O Neill
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:30am | IP Logged | 5 post reply



This is such an amazing experience to see.  This latest page with Jean is poignant and heartbreaking.  Seeing this alternate storyline has been a fascinating and mysterious alternate timeline since first seeing JB’s original pencils to #138 which featured Jean and Scott, post-Phoenix.  I saw them published in the X-MEN COMPANION, a two volume interview book from Fantagraphics.  The published story in #137 was a huge moment for me as a reader, and how the story would have played out had Jean lived has played on my mind over the years.  I’m conflicted, though - I thought the published story was very powerful because of Jean’s death.

I’ve read the original run so frequently that I knew we were at the Grey household just looking at the first panel.  JB has said in the past that the house was based on the BEWITCHED house, so it was probably more recognizable from the TV series!  But I notice it every time I read the UNCANNY X-MEN run, which is frequently.

I think this is how the Marvel Universe ties into the BEWITCHED universe - Samantha and Darren moved out in the early 70’s, and the Greys moved in.  Mrs. Kravitz was likely peering through the curtains when Dark Phoenix showed up in the middle of the night, tugging at Abner’s pajamas about seeing a big flaming bird across the street.  Like everything weird that happened wihen the Stephens lived across the street, he probably just told her to go back to bed.






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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:38am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

JB, I said it before-- this part with Jean is heartbreaking, because it's so unfair that this happened to her. (It's great comic book storytelling but jeez...) Like many here, I'd love to see her road to recovery and what that might mean for her, Scott, the X-Men and the world.

You're a natural storyteller, JB. I couldn't be happier that you're sharing this with us. Thank you so much.
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:39am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

JB - Since you hadn't really had the chance to give the New X-Men dialogue*, does it feel odd to be doing that after all these years?

••

It's interesting, to me, to find that the voices I heard in my head as I was penciling those issues, all those years ago, are still there. (Voices somewhat at odds with Chris' versions. For one thing, my characters neither think nor speak in paragraphs.)

+++

*Would it be fair to not count the brief 90's stint over Lee/Portacio?

••

Yeah, I'd say those don't count!

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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:41am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Just to clarify, I do not mean that YOU are being unfair to Jean. Just that life has given her a hard set of circumstances, after all that she did to be as good a hero as she could be. Life is like that and comics are better when they show the unfair parts as well.

Jean will always be a hero to me.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:46am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

JB, I said it before-- this part with Jean is heartbreaking, because it's so unfair that this happened to her. (It's great comic book storytelling but jeez...) Like many here, I'd love to see her road to recovery and what that might mean for her, Scott, the X-Men and the world.

••

Altho I am treating this as a "real" issue, at this point in time I have no intention of carrying this beyond just this one-off, here in the Forum. So, I'm including a couple of subplots, which I suppose some might see as a bit mean, since they will not see resolution.

One of the questions I find dancing around in my brain is just which version of Jean/Phoenix we're dealing with here. When Chris and I did our original version, Phoenix was Jean with her powers enhanced by cosmic rays (TAC TAC TAC TAC), tho even back then he was hinting around at Phoenix being something else, something more than just Jean. So, playing around with this, am I working straight from the ending of THE UNTOLD TALE, albeit some months later, or am I drawing on what was "revealed" later. Was Jean "lobotomized" or "exorcised" -- or both?

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John Byrne
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 8:47am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Just to clarify, I do not mean that YOU are being unfair to Jean. Just that life has given her a hard set of circumstances, after all that she did to be as good a hero as she could be. Life is like that and comics are better when they show the unfair parts as well.

••

Like the song says, You always hurt the one you love...

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Brennan Voboril
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 9:29am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

I never knew Grey house was based on the Bewitched house before.  That is so cool.  I loved Bewitched!  
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John Byrne
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Posted: 19 July 2018 at 9:49am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Having a father who was a professional architect skewed my brain in a lot of ways. One was to make me hyper-aware of the set designs in TV shows, and how rarely interiors fit into exteriors.

One exception was the Stevens house on BEWITCHED. It matched the exterior quite well, and when I came to draw Jean's family home, I used the design (from memory) as a little nod of appreciation.

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