from Mighty Marvel Calendar 1979 and 1980 (Marvel, 1978-1979), Marvel Age #31 (Marvel, October 1985) and #91 (Marvel, August 1991)
Byrne is also the co-creator of Alpha Flight, Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Sabretooth, Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark), the Great Lakes Avengers, Bishop, Rachel Summers, Amanda Waller, and many more!
from (top) "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated March 1988,
(bottom) Marvel Age #89 (Marvel, June 1990
He also likes to draw himself into his comic books. Here's a few examples:
from Iron Fist (1975 series) #8 (Marvel, October 1976), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Dan Adkins, colors by Bonnie Wilford, letters by Joe Rosen
Here, Chris Claremont has even written Byrne into the story as a plot point. Byrne would, of course, continue to do this on his own later on! Hey look, it's TV's Fish, Abe Vigoda!
Check out (from far left) Paty and Dave Cockrum, Claremont, Bonnie Wilford, and John hangin' at a party with the X-Men!
from Iron Fist (1975 series) #15 (Marvel, September 1977), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Dan Green, colors by Bruce Patterson, letters by Annette Kawecki
By the way, in this issue, John Byrne gets the same kind of treatment Jack Kirby got at DC: all the X-Men faces in this story are redrawn by Dave Cockrum! (That sort of editing on Byrne would stop soon, though.)
Byrne, Jim Shooter, and Claremont mingle with Luke Cage and Claire Temple. Wow, I gotta get on their party invite list.
from Power Man and Iron Fist (1974 series) #50 (Marvel, April 1978), script by Chris Claremont, breakdowns by John Byrne, finishes by Dan Green, colors by Françoise Mouly, letters by Denise Wohl
Byrne and a woman friend (she's a friend who's a woman) dine out in Calgary, foolishly at the time when the X-Men are tearin' up the town:
from [Uncanny] X-Men #121 (Marvel, May 1979), co-plot and script by Chris Claremont, co-plot and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Diana Albers
John Byrne can't even resist drawing himself onto covers!
cover of (left) Fantastic Four #238 (Marvel, January 1982); (middle) Sensational She-Hulk #31 (Marvel, September 1991); (right) Marvel Age #14 (January 1984)
Oblivious to Robotman, Paul Kupperberg and Byrne (lower right) are havin' a white Christmas:
from Secret Origins Annual #1 (DC, August 1987), script by Paul Kupperberg, pencils and inks by John Byrne, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Albert DeGuzman
I'm not certain whether this wouldn't have been better as a small text item on the letters page…
from Avengers West Coast #56 (Marvel, March 1990); script and art by John Byrne
Nick Fury debriefs John and artist Ron Garney as they begin a new Hulk series:
from "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Hulk (But Were Afraid to Ask!)" in Hulk (1999 series) #1 (Marvel, April 1999); script, art, and letter by John Byrne, colors by Steve Buccellato
Speakin' o' Hulk, here's Byrne, editors Denny O'Neil and Don Daley, and His Royal Greeness himself in a funny fumetti:
"The First and Last Hulk Conference" in Incredible Hulk (Marvel, 1968 series) #316 (February 1986), script by Mike Carlin, photos by Barbara Loudis, letters by Phil Felix
Byrne's not the only one who draws Byrne in comic book—but the caricatures aren't always very complimentary. A fairly tame one featuring Claremont and Byrne:
from Excalibur (1988 series) #14 (Marvel, November 1989), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Paul Neary, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Agustin Más
But here's a slightly more pointed one less than a year later:
from Excalibur (1988 series) #24 (Marvel, July 1990), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Paul Neary, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Indie comics didn't spare the sharpened pen on Byrne:
from normalman/Megaton Man Special #1 (Image, August 1994); script, pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Valentino; Megaton Man pencils and inks by Don Simpson
But Steve Gerber and Jack "King" Kirby really brings out a savage cut parodying Byrne as "Booster Cogburn," the ultimate company man:
from Destroyer Duck #2 (Eclipse, January 1983), script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Alfredo Alcala, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Aw, here's a nice one by Fred Hembeck.
(Click picture to swirly-knee-size)
Here's a good chance to point out: Byrne has said and does say terrible things. I don't much like the man and his views, but I like his art. This was a hard call for me, but I attempt to separate artist/work with him, at least. You might disagree, which is fine. (Meaning: I'm gonna post his art, and I'm gonna mock him!)
from Marvel Age #74 (Marvel, May 1989)
That said, didja know John Byrne played the Red Skull in a Captain America audio play? (And FDR and the narrator, but the Red Skull.) I think that casting rivals Bill Murray as the Human Torch!
from Marvel Age #86 (Marvel, March 1990)
John Byrne has made more than a few enemies in the industry and fandom. Is it any wonder he got such LOUSY seats at Superman's wedding, then? SERVES YA RIGHT, BYRNE.
from Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot (DC, December 1996), pencils by Dan Jurgens, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Glenn Whitmore, letters by Bill Oakley
Click top picture to honeymoon-size
Okay, okay, I know what you're all waiting for here: that time John Byrne met THE WATCHER. (Also pictured: Marvel editor Mike Higgins.)
from Fantastic Four #262 (Marvel, January 1984); script, pencils, and inks by John Byrne
(A brief interlude. "You know how the FF hate when we do that...especially the Thing!" says Byrne. Here's that time, because comic-character Byrne was a loudmouth. With Ron Wilson and Ann Nocenti):
from The Thing (1983 series) #7 (Marvel, January 1984), script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Hilary Barta, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Clem Robins
Byrne and Claremont sniped at each other's stories in their books around this time (see Dr. Doom in X-MEN and FF). The X-Men scene is retold here, with an angry editorial Byrne outburst.
(top) from Uncanny X-Men #167 (Marvel, March 1983), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Paul Smith, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Andy Yanchus and Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski
So, Reed's on trial, yadda yadda yadda, and we all know how THAT came out.
Anyway, let's close out this thread with some panels of the Death of John Byrne. Because you demanded it:
THE DEATH OF JOHN BYRNE!
from The Sensational She-Hulk #50 (Marvel, April 1993); script, pencils, and inks by John Byrne, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Brad K. Joyce
And because you demanded it again: ANOTHER DEATH OF JOHN BYRNE on Earth-148611!
Let's set it up:
from Star Brand #11 (Marvel/New Universe, January 1988), script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Tom Palmer, colors by Andy Yanchus, letters by Joe Rosen
In the very next issue, while at a comic-con in Pittsburgh, Byrne, Howard Mackie, and Mark Gruenwald play devil's advocate with Jim Shooter's pet creation Ken Connell:
from Star Brand #12 (Marvel/New Universe, March 1988), script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Tom Palmer, colors by Andy Yanchus, letters by Joe Rosen
After that Star Brand had NO CHOICE but to
R.I.P. John Byrne.
from Marvel Graphic Novel #18 [The Sensational She-Hulk] (Marvel, 198)
Well, at least we can still read about him.
from "Where Is Stan The Man When You Need Him?" in Stan Lee Meets Doctor Strange #1 one-shot (Marvel, December 2006), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Dave Lanphear
Anyway, happy birthday, not-actually-dead John Byrne! Hope you survive the experience!
"Bullpen Bulletins" from Marvel Comics cover-dated September 1983
from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #275 (Marvel, February 1985), story idea by Kevin Nowlan, script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Al Gordon, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Jim Novak
When you look up "Putz" in the dictionary, I don't need to tell you whose picture shows up... Still, the man has done some stellar work in his time - his runs on X-Men, FF, Captain America are among my all-time favorites.
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