On the pages that have no words, the lettering wasn’t done on the page but rather pasted onto a clear acetate overlay which was then laid over the original page before being sent to print. This was typically done when pages came in too late and usually done in the Marvel Bullpen.
What's even more wild about Byrne is during this time he was also illustrating another monthly team book at the same time as Uncanny, Marvel Team-Up from 1977-78, Avengers from 1979-80 (following George Perez) and even some Fantastic Four monthly issues before he took over writing duties. So an average of 2 team books a month from 1977-1980.
Great video, now were talkin! I have the John Byrne one...hands down my all time favorite comic book artist, it's not even close. Even at 9-10 years old in the late 70's I would buy any Byrne stuff off of the spinner rack regardless of the title of the comic. Luckily he was doing the majority of my favorite characters, X-Men, Avengers, Iron Fist, Marvel Team-Up
I had to Google Modt and Jahf too. Thought he was being cute but they're a couple of alien characters (I assume the names are a play on Mutt & Jeff). Austin doesn't ever get enough credit IMO. His work over Byrne on X-Men was industry changing (Byrne didn't want him as the inker, and wanted to bring over his Team-Up inker (Esposito I think...)). Austin on Byrne, and Marshall Rogers changed comics as much as the artists he inked, I think. His style aged out as glossy paper didn't suit it, the lines sat dead instead of absorbing in like on newsprint. But his body of work is monumental
Yess!! I feel u on that 💯 Really gorgeous work John displays there!.. & also the image @29:14 (Art Adams did a cover for classic X-Men utilizing that same image!)
MR.BYRN WAS AN INCREDIBLE ARTIST IN MY 80'S COLLECTING OF COMICS! HE AND A HOST OF OTHERS WERE IDOLS OF MINE IN THE COMIC WORLD, SALUTE TO HIM AND MANY OTHERS!!!!!!!
I'd spent a good deal of time in my career imitating Terry Austin's style, and I thought I had it 'down' pretty well. This book changed that. I was more than a little dismayed after getting a good look at the original art about the number of things where I had been misinterpreting what Austin was doing.
@@MrDman21 -- I worshiped Austin when I was younger. Now I prefer his mentor, Dick Giordano, or his rival, Klaus Janson. Austin's work can be a little TOO clean --- cold..bloodless... almost machine-like. It doesn't look good on everyone.
I own assortment of John Byrne comics, some of his F4, some Avengers, some She-Hulk, some Superman stuff, some X-Men, he's such an interesting creator as he's willing to plop himself in these IP and bring his flare to them, as a comic artist, he's one of my favs, I think regarding those comments about Wolverine/Jean Grey, sounds like he'd have been fine if their assent in popularity/importance to X-lore was undercut, but I suspect they'd got there regardless
Great video, Rob. I may have to pull the trigger on that book; it's inspiring and evokes nostalgia. Looking at the linework, Terry Austin may have been using Speedball's nibs, specifically the C-4 and C-5, to achieve some heavier lines. I know many artists use the Hunt 102 for most of their inking, but that practice came much later, as the Hunt was primarily used to render fine detail (according to some of the artists I spoke to in the 80s). Regarding the word balloons not being on the original art, many collectors have it removed and placed on an acetate overlay. Sometimes, depending on how the art is stored, the rubber cement used to paste the word balloons down wears away, and the balloons get lost. It's a shame if that's the case. Regarding the spots with faded ink, you're spot on-the inkers were not using archival tools, just a pen that they had sitting around. Believe it or not, most of the creators weren't thinking of what the art would look like in 50 years, either.
I read all of these as a kid 9-10 years old . Had a subscription to the Uncanny X-Men , Amazing Spider-Man , and the Avengers . Plus the ones I purchased at the local pharmacy from the old spinning comic rack . Now my son has them . I still read current issues .
Me too. I love Alpha Flight. As far as I know their is no Alpha Flight Artist Edition, but I have the Byrne "Marvel Classics" Artist Edition and there is some Alpha Flight pages in there including some pencil drawings. It's really great stuff.
Thanks For Sharing, the dialogue and clothing were definitely of a certain time if you look closer in the indicia it’s 1977, not 97, as to STORMS eyes, in the beginning she was drawn by Dave Cockrum who wanted her resemble the Egyptian African Goddess Bast the same one Wakandans revere in the movies and comics.
Dear Robert Nortman..Thank u for sharing this great book by this LEGENDARY comic artist!!..But with All due Respect u are Critical Son of a B#@ch lol 😂 @43:06 that Spiderman splash (though not perfect) is Absolutely gorgeous! As many of these pages here are!.. though i am familiar with John Byrnes work & his influence in the industry this book garners a whole new respect to see it all in b+w Absolutely Stunning work! & Thank for sharing it!! & Consequently i hope my comment doesn't offend u..u are one of my favorite comic channels to watch! (Aside From Richard Friend) Who doesn't seem to post TH-cam videos anymore sadly).. but i enjoy comics reviews immensely!..Keep up the Great work!👍🏽✨💥💯💯
FYI that's the second printing --- that book was originally printed in 2018. I've had it for a few years. It's the second one I bought --- the Byrne Fantastic Four was first.
I disagree with the opinion that Storm's cat eyes didn't suit her. They fit along with her eye lashes and eye brows. Dave Cockrum designed her look She was a combination of a few characters (one of whom was called the Black Cat).
I always thought Storm's eyes looking weird was part of her mutation. She has white hair too. I mean they are mutants, they're not supposed to look like regular people.
Both excellent comments. I also thought it added to the oddness of her mutation, along with them being blue coupled with her white, non-kinky hair. Extremely hard-pressed to call any of the elements that went into the making of these classic characters by legendary creators “stupid.”
Sure loved those days of the X-Men. When Byrne left the title for the FF, something seemed like it was missing. I collected for a while after that happened but my interest really fell for collecting in general.
My dream is to draw manga and comics and watching this motivates me but also makes me scared bc holy moly this art work is beautiful but will I ever be able to live up to this 😭 I’ll try my hardest maybe one day 🙏🏼
John Byrne is perhaps the most technically sound comic book artist ever. Without his involvement with the X-Men, they never reach the popularity. Certainly, wolverine would not be popular at all.
Arcade was actually a real threat to the X-Men. His goofy look off sets what he can do. He has deadly games and traps that can kill you. Some of the X-Men's most deadly enemies are just these little punk ass humans. That's the whole point. Don't let his wimpy look fool you.
I think bryne' s point is that wolverines popularity led to the oversaturation of " extreme" characters which he is not a fan of and that the death of jean grey led to oversaturation of characters dying( and coming back) which he is not a fan of
Not that many younger people are reading comics these days. They're on Tiktok or playing Roblox. So unfortunately they wouldn't care about comic book art, especially older stuff. That's for guys like us. And that's a good thing. Let the zoomers have their AI art while we respect the masters.
I hate that term. "AI Images, or imagery" -- that's fine. I resent the fact that it's being referred to as 'art' --- because it isn't. Art requires human authorship, and I think that's a very important distinction.
@@chuckgibson3973 true, but you know what they say about art being subjective. If people like stuff created by an algorithm instead of a real person, let them. I stand for the rights of human artists. I just ignore all this AI nonsense. I get it, it's the 21st century, but real recognizes real, and real also recognizes fake.
The blue lines wouldn’t show up on camera. Non-photo blue pens and pencils were a common thing before it all went digital. Also, the yellowing of the paper was probably due cheap paper with high acidity being used.
On the pages that have no words, the lettering wasn’t done on the page but rather pasted onto a clear acetate overlay which was then laid over the original page before being sent to print. This was typically done when pages came in too late and usually done in the Marvel Bullpen.
I'm imagining John Byrne sitting at his desk drawing X-Men pages listening to Foreigner and Toto 😄
Gold Standard ! Looking at Byrne & Austin art is always a beautiful sight in the morning
What's even more wild about Byrne is during this time he was also illustrating another monthly team book at the same time as Uncanny, Marvel Team-Up from 1977-78, Avengers from 1979-80 (following George Perez) and even some Fantastic Four monthly issues before he took over writing duties. So an average of 2 team books a month from 1977-1980.
1:06:27 That two-page spread featuring Dark Phoenix appeared on an X-Men Special Edition in the mid-80s. At least, that's where I first bought it...
Right. It's from Phoenix #1.
Great video, now were talkin! I have the John Byrne one...hands down my all time favorite comic book artist, it's not even close. Even at 9-10 years old in the late 70's I would buy any Byrne stuff off of the spinner rack regardless of the title of the comic. Luckily he was doing the majority of my favorite characters, X-Men, Avengers, Iron Fist, Marvel Team-Up
I have this one and it is truly fantastic. Byrne is the GOAT for me.
If you photocopy the yellowed pages, they should come out white. The faded ink should also turn out black.
I had to Google Modt and Jahf too. Thought he was being cute but they're a couple of alien characters (I assume the names are a play on Mutt & Jeff).
Austin doesn't ever get enough credit IMO. His work over Byrne on X-Men was industry changing (Byrne didn't want him as the inker, and wanted to bring over his Team-Up inker (Esposito I think...)).
Austin on Byrne, and Marshall Rogers changed comics as much as the artists he inked, I think. His style aged out as glossy paper didn't suit it, the lines sat dead instead of absorbing in like on newsprint. But his body of work is monumental
32:40 That closeup of Sauron's face. Gorgeous.
Yess!! I feel u on that 💯 Really gorgeous work John displays there!.. & also the image @29:14 (Art Adams did a cover for classic X-Men utilizing that same image!)
MR.BYRN WAS AN INCREDIBLE ARTIST IN MY 80'S COLLECTING OF COMICS! HE AND A HOST OF OTHERS WERE IDOLS OF MINE IN THE COMIC WORLD, SALUTE TO HIM AND MANY OTHERS!!!!!!!
Yes! Another old school artist. John Byrne is the 🐐
I'd spent a good deal of time in my career imitating Terry Austin's style, and I thought I had it 'down' pretty well. This book changed that. I was more than a little dismayed after getting a good look at the original art about the number of things where I had been misinterpreting what Austin was doing.
Terry Austin is the OG 😎
@@MrDman21 -- I worshiped Austin when I was younger. Now I prefer his mentor, Dick Giordano, or his rival, Klaus Janson.
Austin's work can be a little TOO clean --- cold..bloodless... almost machine-like. It doesn't look good on everyone.
I own assortment of John Byrne comics, some of his F4, some Avengers, some She-Hulk, some Superman stuff, some X-Men, he's such an interesting creator as he's willing to plop himself in these IP and bring his flare to them, as a comic artist, he's one of my favs, I think regarding those comments about Wolverine/Jean Grey, sounds like he'd have been fine if their assent in popularity/importance to X-lore was undercut, but I suspect they'd got there regardless
Great video, Rob. I may have to pull the trigger on that book; it's inspiring and evokes nostalgia. Looking at the linework, Terry Austin may have been using Speedball's nibs, specifically the C-4 and C-5, to achieve some heavier lines. I know many artists use the Hunt 102 for most of their inking, but that practice came much later, as the Hunt was primarily used to render fine detail (according to some of the artists I spoke to in the 80s).
Regarding the word balloons not being on the original art, many collectors have it removed and placed on an acetate overlay. Sometimes, depending on how the art is stored, the rubber cement used to paste the word balloons down wears away, and the balloons get lost. It's a shame if that's the case.
Regarding the spots with faded ink, you're spot on-the inkers were not using archival tools, just a pen that they had sitting around. Believe it or not, most of the creators weren't thinking of what the art would look like in 50 years, either.
Now we are starting to look at some TRUE SKILL!
Craftsmanship.
The Ability to know how to deliver Quality and Putting food on the Table.
I read all of these as a kid 9-10 years old .
Had a subscription to the Uncanny X-Men , Amazing Spider-Man , and the Avengers . Plus the ones I purchased at the local pharmacy from the old spinning comic rack .
Now my son has them .
I still read current issues .
Do they have a John Byrne Alpha-Flight?! I'd love to see that artist addition.!
Me too. I love Alpha Flight. As far as I know their is no Alpha Flight Artist Edition, but I have the Byrne "Marvel Classics" Artist Edition and there is some Alpha Flight pages in there including some pencil drawings. It's really great stuff.
Thanks
For Sharing, the dialogue and clothing were definitely of a certain time if you look closer in the indicia it’s 1977, not 97, as to STORMS eyes, in the beginning she was drawn by Dave Cockrum who wanted her resemble the Egyptian African Goddess Bast the same one Wakandans revere in the movies and comics.
Yeah i misspoke on the year. My mistake
Dear Robert Nortman..Thank u for sharing this great book by this LEGENDARY comic artist!!..But with All due Respect u are Critical Son of a B#@ch lol 😂 @43:06 that Spiderman splash (though not perfect) is Absolutely gorgeous! As many of these pages here are!.. though i am familiar with John Byrnes work & his influence in the industry this book garners a whole new respect to see it all in b+w Absolutely Stunning work! & Thank for sharing it!! & Consequently i hope my comment doesn't offend u..u are one of my favorite comic channels to watch! (Aside From Richard Friend) Who doesn't seem to post TH-cam videos anymore sadly).. but i enjoy comics reviews immensely!..Keep up the Great work!👍🏽✨💥💯💯
I know i know. I just feel like it wasnt as good as he could do. Im lame i know. Haha
FYI that's the second printing --- that book was originally printed in 2018. I've had it for a few years. It's the second one I bought --- the Byrne Fantastic Four was first.
The emphatics of the sound effect. 🥊☝🏿
This Wolverine reminds me of Vin Diesel in Pitch Black!
John Byrne is a legend, Arthur Adam’s being my fav
Were you born in 1997 or 1979?
I was born in 77. I misspoke ay a point where i was saying the book was printed in 77, when i was born and accidentally said 97.
I just saw the McFarlane artist edition is only $86 at Amazon! I should have waited, but you never know.
Yeah thats why I got it too
Good Comicbook review
I disagree with the opinion that Storm's cat eyes didn't suit her. They fit along with her eye lashes and eye brows. Dave Cockrum designed her look She was a combination of a few characters (one of whom was called the Black Cat).
I always thought Storm's eyes looking weird was part of her mutation. She has white hair too. I mean they are mutants, they're not supposed to look like regular people.
Both excellent comments. I also thought it added to the oddness of her mutation, along with them being blue coupled with her white, non-kinky hair. Extremely hard-pressed to call any of the elements that went into the making of these classic characters by legendary creators “stupid.”
I always looked at it as Storm was supposed to be very "one of a kind" because of her mutation
Also, if you photocopy the yellowed pages, they should come out white.
@@MrDman21Exactly.
In my comic book parody SupaHeroez, I had a villain parody of Sauron named PTerrible Pterodactyl 😆
Sure loved those days of the X-Men. When Byrne left the title for the FF, something seemed like it was missing. I collected for a while after that happened but my interest really fell for collecting in general.
My dream is to draw manga and comics and watching this motivates me but also makes me scared bc holy moly this art work is beautiful but will I ever be able to live up to this 😭 I’ll try my hardest maybe one day 🙏🏼
John Byrne is perhaps the most technically sound comic book artist ever.
Without his involvement with the X-Men, they never reach the popularity. Certainly, wolverine would not be popular at all.
Arcade was actually a real threat to the X-Men. His goofy look off sets what he can do. He has deadly games and traps that can kill you. Some of the X-Men's most deadly enemies are just these little punk ass humans. That's the whole point. Don't let his wimpy look fool you.
I think bryne' s point is that wolverines popularity led to the oversaturation of " extreme" characters which he is not a fan of and that the death of jean grey led to oversaturation of characters dying( and coming back) which he is not a fan of
It's kinda sad how he fell off. His art looks so rough now and he turned into such a polarizing guy.
Not that many younger people are reading comics these days. They're on Tiktok or playing Roblox. So unfortunately they wouldn't care about comic book art, especially older stuff. That's for guys like us. And that's a good thing. Let the zoomers have their AI art while we respect the masters.
I hate that term. "AI Images, or imagery" -- that's fine. I resent the fact that it's being referred to as 'art' --- because it isn't. Art requires human authorship, and I think that's a very important distinction.
@@chuckgibson3973 true, but you know what they say about art being subjective. If people like stuff created by an algorithm instead of a real person, let them. I stand for the rights of human artists. I just ignore all this AI nonsense. I get it, it's the 21st century, but real recognizes real, and real also recognizes fake.
The blue lines wouldn’t show up on camera. Non-photo blue pens and pencils were a common thing before it all went digital.
Also, the yellowing of the paper was probably due cheap paper with high acidity being used.
Lee and Mcfarlane are pale imitations of Byrne, Michael Golden and Art Adams.
LOGAN AND KITTY PRYDE
Pterodactyl.
Us old schoolers had it good Son ….. Most comic art is awful now ….. especially the art at Marvel Comics 😢. Damn shame
McFarlane is a cheep knockoff of JB. Just look at the JB hulk run, everything McFarlane is know for is already there.
You wanna talk about stupid characters, Dazzler 😆
J/k 😏