John Byrne Reacts To Dark Phoenix | SYFY WIRE

[@helzapoppin9810]

Byrne, Austin & Claremont - the all-time comics superteam

[@lukeskywalker6809]

Absolutely true.

[@bra5081]

@@lukeskywalker6809 I agree!

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

Buscema and Chan were great too.

[@dougg1075]

It’s the truth plain and simple. He and Austin were like a super art organism .

[@Evan.Arapis]

@@bigmacdaddy1234 Yeah, Big John Buscema was GREAT ! He's the reason I fell in love with the FF when I was a kid in Greece..

[@dawolf4274]

I still think his run on Fantastic Four is one of the best runs EVER ! And I agree 100% on his assessment of the "Dark Phoenix" movie

[@summertime_blooz]

He was a phenomenal artist and writer. He's the only creator that could surpass what Lee and Kirby did on the Fantastic Four.

[@frantzkenol6720]

I wouldn’t say surpass but rather live up to. Which is a huge compliment.

[@RX552VBK]

Summertime Blooz agreed. I’m also a Star Trek purist and with his IDW run with the property it reminded me why I loved Trek (TOS especially).

[@robertreichle1]

I've been saying the same thing about all the X-men movies that Byrne put out there in this interview: they need to think long term and build up stories. Dark Pheonix should happen over at least three movies and have a tiny bit more to do with the source material besides a red head named Jean becomes all powerful and dangerous. Beyond that, there is almost nothing recognizable about what they are doing. MCU has shown they can think about long term stories, and look how well that has worked for them. X-men is just throwing characters and stories against the wall to see what sticks.

[@KTF0]

100% agree. Plus before Dark Phoenix there was Phoenix, the green and yellow one. You can't just gloss over that. Also, I'm tired of TV and films not calling the Hellfire Club, the mfing Hellfire Club! That's their name and it sounds bad ass.

[@coolbeans9201]

Too true if Kevin Feige knows what's good for him he'll get John Byrne on board in one way or another if they develop Xmen and Fantastic 4 into the MCU.

[@bra5081]

Yes no need to be awesome John Byrne to figure out what's wrong about the X-men movies ;)

[@jimodonnelly7762]

Yeah, for me, most of the X-films have been unwatchable. It's the old story of Hollywood arrogance; you know, "well, they write comic books, but WE write MOTION PICTURES. WE know how to tell a story better than THEY do." And thus, they create a pile of dogcrap.

[@adamsmith8637]

I agree partially with you. But i think what happened with Fox is that back when the first X- Men movie was being produced the company nor the industry knew what was going to happen in terms of the CBM craze. No one up until that point knew how to make a serious grounded CBM. I mean you had Blade but that was a graphic novel type of comic. Nobody was even thinking of the possibility of an interconnected cinematic universe. Nobody expected X-Men to be as big of a hit as it turned out to be. So the studio never thought about connecting the films until X-3. But by that time it was like "lets keep popping out these movies and make as much as we possibly can

[@thegreywanderer8427]

Look at this glorious art. Not just the characters, but the backgrounds and architecture as well. You don't see it anymore, you don't see anything this detailed and awesome. Same goes for the stories too.

[@querayne6788]

John Byrne is the goat

[@stellarhyme3]

John Bryne's art is priceless. He was the best artist of my generation and he's still my top favorite artist to date.

[@andrewforte3852]

Don't forget George Perez and Marv Wolfman with New Teen Titans.

[@shonallen5458]

@@andrewforte3852 I've met George Perez, back in the day at comic book convention. He's really a cool guy! I had him checking out my drawings; nervous as hell cause George is pne of the best artist, I've grown to love(no homo).

[@shonallen5458]

Damn, typo; no autocorrect!

[@palsunstar]

Argh! Fix the typo! Fix the typo! Please!

[@skinc4rver]

Please let this new X-Men story come out! I would love to see Byrne do his own take on the characters!

[@jalderink]

Yes, yes, 1000 times, YES! Marvel, shut up and take my money!

[@bra5081]

@@jalderink I remember his run on X-men the lost years or something, it was excellent. Plus, he hasn't done anything for Marvel in ages, they would be quite an event. It's not like they can't afford to edit one more series?

[@bra5081]

We should start an online petition :)

[@PeterPalmiotti]

I'd buy it, and make my friends (Who didn't grow up on Byrne check it out too!)

[@andys8483]

Defo to that. His X-Men run was phenomenal & i would ❤ to see more please.

[@bkwalkabout]

Byrne, along with George Pérez, are my favorite storytellers! Thanks, Mike, for the interviews!

[@joejam070]

Joel Gerald Kydd I hope you have Action comics 600 that's in my world is a super classic issue because you get both George and John working together as artist.

[@bkwalkabout]

@@joejam070 AC 600 is in one of my long boxes somewhere... 😉

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

Perez was a Byrne copycat wannabe. He does not belong in the same room with JB.

[@RX552VBK]

Agreed. Byrne, Perez, Kirby, Grell and Adams all are the founders of my earliest love of comics/story.

[@RX552VBK]

mac daddy no even close to truth. In no regard was Perez a copy cat. And artists are influenced by other artists they admire including Maestro Byrne.

[@White_Tiger2169]

Years ago when Byrne was doing Next Men he was doing a signing at Forbidden Planet. I got issue #2 signed by him which had come out that week. I think I told him that his Superman's version was my favorite. He was the first of many comic book creators that I have met towards the years. He wasnt a disappointment like some others. He was kind to me.

[@KTF0]

I've met him at a convention and he was pretty cool. It's weird to see his reputation to be quite the opposite.

[@gabrielp9646]

@Tigre Blanco At this day and age, I would be surprised if a public figure didn´t had a group of haters. If you´re a conservative, the SJWs are going to attack you. If you are left winged, a bunch of anti-feminist are going to hate you. If you like old school stuff some people are going to say you´re a nostalgic manchild, and if you like modern stuff some people are going to say you´re dumb, because "things today are way worst than when I was a kid..." The internet has literally turned the world into a giant highschool, full of innsecure teenagers :S:S

[@beastdude507]

John Byrne drew one of my top favorite versions of Wolverine. EDIT: Shame on me for forgetting this. Years before I got sucked up into the world of Claremont & Byrne's X-Men, at age 11 I was unknowingly bitten by the Byrne bug with Superman/Batman: Generations. Seeing a world where the characters actually got older through the decades and passed their down mantles blew. My. Mind. And still friggin' does today. I think it's high time I go back and finally finish reading that story. Criminally underrated and deserves getting as much mention as Dark Knight Returns in terms of epic scale! I also wonder what voices & personalities John preferred for the X-Men. Hard to imagine Logan not saying things like 'bub', 'flamin'', 'blasted', etc. But I'd like to believe he still would, there's just some other elements to how he'd perceive his speech and so on.

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

'One of my top favorite version of Wolverine.." ? Dude he drew the best version of Wolverine. Period.

[@JoeDonFan]

ALPHA FLIGHT at 0:56 ALPHA FLIGHT was the book that got me back into comics in my late 20's. Next thing you know, I've got a $70-$120 a week habit at the local comic store.

[@2timothy23]

Byrne, Austin, and Claremount were the masters! I remember me and a friend buying everything they did. I'm sad I don't have any of those comics today. Bryne's art style was the best to me; and his X-Men were awesome. The Dark Phoenix saga is epic and very tragic. He's right, the movies could never capture what he did.

[@roguetrooper5288]

Claremount is overrated, the way he wasted pages recapping the previous issue was just dumbfounding!

[@MichaelDG2023]

Claremont is harder for me to enjoy today but he was magic when I was a kid

[@taylorchance4386]

I think about his phenomenal She Hulk run, Superman and Fantastic Four. Every casual reader or moviegoer I know that enjoys Deadpool I always try and get them to check out his She Hulk, but they never do. Their loss really

[@Craudio171]

Exactly and they still think Deadpool is the most original thing ever made in comic books!

[@gabrielp9646]

@Taylor Chance 100%

[@gabrielp9646]

@@Craudio171 Nothing is original in comicbooks, everything comes from the pulp fiction novels of the 20s, and even before that.

[@brentalanadamlandgrave7635]

"Alpha Flight" - greatest comic book. Thanks, John.

[@swartstudio]

Great interview. A friend and I were actually invited to his house and studio years ago. We'll never forget it. He's a stand-up guy, really knows his craft, and so funny!

[@wildsmiley]

John Byrne helped create my favorite X-Man, Kitty Pryde. Just for that alone I want to shake his hand and thank him.

[@ptcarbonproductions2013]

Plus he drew her better than anyone else.

[@uphilliceskater]

Alan Davis drew her best.

[@bra5081]

@@ptcarbonproductions2013 He drew everyone better than anyone else.

[@EarthsGeomancer]

@@ptcarbonproductions2013 Nah, Jim Lee's art is way better. Sorry, not sorry.

[@ptcarbonproductions2013]

@@EarthsGeomancer Let's agree to disagree.

[@seangreen4227]

Yes Marvel comics please publish Byrnes new xmen story soon. Before Marvel comics goes out of business, thanks.

[@JSustain]

That Count Nefaria vs. The Avengers saga was also epic!

[@MegaNiteCat]

Uhh, like, YEAH!!!!!

[@unrulysimian3897]

Iron Fist. That's the first character I remember where his art caught my eye.

[@Chuckqnit]

Me too.

[@NimbleArt]

Yep

[@kforcer]

Him and Terry Austin were one of the best teams of all-time. I mean, maybe my personal favorite.

[@JSustain]

The Dark Phoenix saga was way to epic to put on screen in one movie. It needed the same build up that Infinity War had. I mean come on, no Lilandra, no Imperial Guard.... Just too epic!

[@agentofchaos7456]

No, it didn’t. The build-up to Infinity War is basically a six year tease at a big bad.

[@agentofchaos7456]

Also, Infinity War left out Lady Death and Adam Warlock. Definitely not something you want Dark Phoenix to be in regards as an adaptation.

[@89five3five]

Well Marvel owns all mutants now. Lest see how they handle the X-men in the MCU

[@SIKE01]

Angie Everhart as Jean Grey in the first X-MEN movie, paired with the original Cyclops Jim Caviezel.

[@Professorkenneth]

Took 3 years to do dark Phoenix. Byrne has to understand if they did a movie about it it would have to be 4 films to complete. Like what the mcu did with infinity war. If only they would have thought about this back in 2000 with first X-Men.

[@a.ocasion5303]

John Byrne is why Jim Lee exists in drawing. I loved John Byrne and liked Jim Lee when he drew Xmen

[@akashambatwamiller6924]

I had the honor of sharing a creator's room at a convention with John Byrne. I found him to be personable a great person to talk with. I loved just talking with him., my kind of conversationalist and intellect. Thank you for the char in East Hartford CT back in the '90s. it was a seed change in my creative life Mr. Byrne.

[@geneawisea2708]

I was sad when Byrne left but Cockrum coming back was a Earth Shattering Good and Paul Smith was amazing!!! And Smith NEVER got the Respect he deserved!!

[@VZAAGE]

Been waiting on this one for a while!! Love it!!

[@madwolfdrawing]

Thabk you for all the awesome artists videos you post :D nice to see you here

[@VZAAGE]

@@madwolfdrawing Thanks for the love, man. Much appreciated.

[@rpmcnee]

there were only 2 amazing artists back in the day, john byrne and george perez. you couldnt wait to see the art on the next page!

[@PeterPalmiotti]

So so so many great books, I loved almost every single book he drew. That's rare of an artists overall career!

[@RX552VBK]

Byrne is my gen’s Jack King Kirby. To this day, when I write (I no longer draw) I “see” my SF world (aliens; spacecraft etc) in a ‘Byrnian’ design.

[@RegieCollects]

Great video bro. Well done.

[@hamidious]

I remember His superman revival, and how awesome he made Lex Luther. The art was just amazing especially for the era. This guy gave me great childhood memories.

[@BusinessMan1619]

One of my childhood highlights was meeting John Byrne in the Forbidden Planet comic Book Shop in NY in the mid 1980s.

[@kyledamron]

John Byrne did one of the most iconic Wolverines ever, and one of my favorite artists of all time

[@captbruce]

Mike Avila, you have the best job on planet Earth. Thanks for this. Great stuff.

[@TheSpinnerRack]

For Michael, a quote I grabbed years ago from Byrne on his board about Alpha Flight. “Y'know, I dump on ALPHA FLIGHT quite a lot, but that's mostly because of the art. If I can be forgiven a towering immodesty, when it comes to the writing I DO think I was firing on all cylinders. Probably because it was the first time, professionally, that the characters were truly and wholly MINE. Nobody could tell me I was getting them wrong!”

[@jackelproductions7035]

I love John Byrne, he is my favorite Marvel comic book artist and I adore his stories, and this video taught me that he created a union jack I did not know this, I love Union Jack and the rest of your creations John Byrne.

[@roguetrooper5288]

Byrne is an English Midlander, we speak our minds well, and really don't care what people think afterwards 😂😂😂

[@Donger3k]

Keep this content coming; this is amazing stuff. I’m hoping you can do something with the Simonsons also!

[@michaelavila6533]

have a big interview with Walt & Weezie in the pipeline!

[@TheChinatownkid]

His run on Fantastic Four was great - I also remember he drew Indiana Jones for a couple of issues.

[@matthewhayes5891]

I've got a couple of things in common with John Byrne, I love to do artwork,I love strong female characters and we were born in the same town as each other in the UK.One uncommon thing-I love Alpha Flight!But also FF,X-men and She-Hulk is some of his best pencilling, thanks John.

[@bigblue3221]

I hate hearing that being fast is why most artist got the job. Makes me wonder if the material could have been better if it was not rushed. It is still amazing that they can get so much done monthly

[@bowlsem7]

This is the artist that got me into comics back in the 80's.

[@jimodonnelly7762]

Maybe Byrne wasn't hooked on Alpha Flight, but I sure was. I grew up on my grandfather's stories about being a kid in Canada, and getting a team of super-powered Canadians - with elements of Logan's backstory - was too good to be true. Still one of my favorite comics/teams ever. And that whole "no, you moron - Hudson really is dead" was a slap in the side of the head I won't soon forget.

[@ggaanneesshhaa]

Those ten minutes of interview flew really very fast. Hope you forgot yor keys or something else in Byrne’s house so you can get back there soon.

[@corkygobshite9941]

always liked byrne's immaculate art and his realist style of writing... and the way he gets on the wrong side of really uptight people just by voicing his personal opinions semi-privately. The vast majority of us really need to have literally nothing to lose to even consider being as honest as byrne these days...

[@cookieDaXapper]

"I try not to erase." I knew it!!! That's why I try not to as well,.....when analyzing any book drawn by him, just as he says, "it's like an avalanche". A comic illustration Master. Thank you Mr Byrne.

[@RayfieldA]

Mr. Byrne has always been my biggest comic artist hero! He's the reason I draw in animation today!

[@CraigSmithII]

I have an old Wizard #200 issue & Bryne was on the list as a Top 5 Controversial Comic Artist/Writers & he was like #5 behind Todd McFarlane

[@palsunstar]

Gah! My eyes! Please fix the typo!

[@adzmega]

Basically....don't talk about comic if you've never heard of John Byrne. He was the master before most of the masters now.

[@Nishnigtoo]

"I don't know how you can take a story that took us 4 years to tell, and try to do it in 2 hours." THANK YOU!!!

[@mathewsimoes5830]

Edit: Byrne makes a good point. The set-up for Dark Phoenix, especially the personal relationships, are gonna be shoved into a 2 hour film. I’m hopeful, but at the same time I still think Dark Phoenix should have been a trilogy finale that they build towards.

[@TheEnigmaticBM39]

They can't now that the mouse owns the x men.

[@christianschmidt8476]

@@TheEnigmaticBM39 Dark Phoenix and New mutants are still coming.

[@palsunstar]

Owww! The typo! Make it go away!

[@mathewsimoes5830]

Paul Sondersted Done! That’s why I hate quickly typing these comments on my phone.

[@rickbrown24]

Oh! Great interview! Wow! John Byrne!!!

[@chuckgibson3973]

You were pretty lucky to get that interview. My understanding is that Byrne shuns interviews and personal appearances.

[@CartoonManWhoo]

We need a 3 to 4 hour long documentary film simply called: Byrne. It can touch on his early life and explore every facet of his career.

[@jacksonwma]

Whatever project He has in the works ,I hope Terry Austin inks him. One of the best art teams in comic book history.

[@palsunstar]

The magic they once shared together is gone. I’d much prefer Doug Hazlewood, Mark Farmer or if health wasn’t a factor, Bud LaRosa.

[@paulpower6920]

I like John Byrne. He's a force of nature in adventure cartooning. A hard worker who cares about storytelling. NUFF SAID!

[@rmglover3191]

Byrne and Claremont are the two absolute gods of my childhood. Actually, Byrne a bit more. He just touched so much. Shout out to Simonson's Thor.

[@robertreichle1]

He has a very inconsistent view on characters. He seemed so proud to show off his figurines that were based on his own characters, self or co-created, but then he says he had no interest in his own Alpha Flight creation because it didn't come from Stan and Jack, who cares about these new people? They were worthy characters. My biggest gripe about reading comics for the last 39 years is when he dropped Alpha Flight. That was as crushing as killing off Guardian in issue 12. The book might as well have ended when he left. Why couldn't he have shown a fraction of the interest in writing the characters as he did in showing off his figures?

[@cdubbart]

Because someone else sculpted the figurines, maybe? I think artists are inherently fickle, man. If the interest wanes, the creation suffers. As an artist myself, I'd personally rather move on from a project I no longer care about than try to force it for the sake of the project's popularity/success. But his Alpha Flight run was iconic.

[@palsunstar]

You have to remember that Alpha Flight was originally created as a team that could go up against the X-Men. Practically throw-away characters. This probably contributed greatly to JB’s less than enthusiastic approach to more Alpha Flight stories.

[@vasp99]

I still regret the abrupt end of Byrne's " First Line " series . That had so much potential and had been a fantastic read .

[@theevilidiot4729]

I love John Byrne! He understands that super men should be super masculine and super women should be... not super masculine... super feminine. They are archetypes that capture our imagination. Women don't have to be men to be heroes.

[@keltarking]

I can't believe it took me this long to see an interview with Byrne, I never knew he was so funny! :D

[@MagnusMG1]

Loved his run on West Coast Avengers as well. 'Dark' Scarlet Witch...I was gutted when he left the book before completing that story line.

[@robertnewby4798]

He knew that the art must compliment the story .

[@mindandbody7971]

Byrne is my love and hate for comics personified into one being. That said mad respect for the guy. It's absolutely crazy to hear he didn't like the X-Men. Cause despite his perception, to me, he and Claremont really defined the characters. I can remember being a kid and trying to ape his Marvel style and not getting it at all.

[@andrewreeves1250]

He’s one of the all time greats, I treasure the comics of his that I own 🔥💀

[@runboyprod3880]

That just broke me..I was a big fan of Alpha Flight

[@En_theo]

I always thought it was an Ok serie, but never felt the thrill of his FF or Superman run. I'm not surprised he was not that involved into it.

[@deviantrat6001]

*Awesome job, Mike! JB is a legend.*

[@DJJunkfoodJay]

Byrne and Simonson. My first comic heros.

[@macstuntsable]

Wonderful interview!

[@crisomelido]

muchas gracias por esta preciosa entrevista al gran maestro John Byrne... un saludo enorme desde Chile... dedo arriba y suscrito!)

[@DoggieNYC]

Johns run on FF in the 80's was top notch.

[@RX552VBK]

DoggieNYC yep pitch perfect imo.

[@Spthomas47]

Back to penciling a series? Yes please thank you please now yes thank you.

[@xpanse]

Thank you SYFY Wire for this!

[@Zoltarman]

MORE!!! There is so much to ask John Byrne.

[@warriorsofcamelotlotro3347]

This series rocks! Thank you so much!

[@jamiebanner3000]

I think the one character that comes to mind is She-Hulk. Kind of developed a Pop Culture. And without a doubt marvels leading female solo characters on the pages. No other female character in Marvel has frequently sold solo comics like She-Hulk and a large part of that is down to John Byrne.

[@michaelbrittain7445]

Also she was breaking the "fourth wall" with a sense of humour loooong before the barrel scraping adolescent antics of Deadpool. Byrne would have been interesting to hear more of on this.....

[@hulksmash1357]

Byrne the one man comic book army

[@Brian_Boru]

Marvel - publish X-Men: Elsewhen. 7+ issues worth of pages drawn, with a chunk of scripting completed as well. Talk about lead time. It's inspired stuff and deserves to hit the marketplace. Make it happen, please.

[@MikeNRoll808]

Mike Avila is the best interviewer in comics right now.

[@lukeskywalker6809]

He thought Byrne was kidding when saying get out. He wasn’t.

[@GabrielAlvarez1973]

one of the greatest storytellers of our times.

[@milhouse777]

Living legend

[@darksharxz]

One of my all time favorite artist.

[@MegaToren]

John Byrne is right

[@cuacomekiki]

I love that you can pronounce "Avila" the right way! Also I realized I have been misprouncing "Byrne" for 30 years. XD

[@michaelavila6533]

if I can't pronounce my own name right, then I've got serious problems! haha

[@blerd_forever2384]

Would love what Byrne had planned for his short lived Hulk book and his thoughts on Al Milgrom's take on the book

[@philbrown4574]

That was awesome. Thank you.

[@MrChupacabra555]

Alpha Flight just floundered after Byrne left it; it was such a 'passion project' for him that other writers just didn't know what to do with them.....Edit: Made this comment before hearing that the team didn't click for him, so that's certainly big news to me. I liked the stories so much, its hard to believe he just didn't like them that much. Also, I think now that Marvel has the X-Men, they can FINALLY do 'Dark Phoenix' right, but they would have to make Jean the focus of the next three X-Men movies instead of Wolverine. Then they can do all the set up in the first two, with the pay off in the last (maybe pulling in whoever is in the Avengers by then as well, because this is a threat that really should involve some of them).

[@Studycase3000]

My first comic as a child was x-men 123. by Xmen 125 my life would never be the same...

[@henith7850]

I do agree that one of the reasons the dark phoenix movie was bad was because they rushed it. If I ddI a dark phoenix movie, I would split it into two movies. The first film would be about Jean getting the phoenix force, being manipulated by the hellfire club and unleashing her powers becoming evil, and the second film would be about the X-men and Lilandra teaming up in space to bring jean back to the light. Also, I never minded the changes in days of future past because both the comic and film are really good but different so it wasn’t a problem that that was different but if the film is bad, they should be more faithful.

[@heathmustang4946]

John Byrne with full creative control on Dr. Strange...I'd buy it.

[@CFCMahomet]

Hurts to hear he doesn’t care about Alpha Flight. John is such a huge talent, but his undoing is always his ego. I think it was the tension in the bullpen of all those personalities and talents at Marvel in the 80’s that gave us the Bronze Age of comics. As much as John dismisses Jim Shooter he helped create that creative tension.

[@thelittlepasty8360]

Whenever I try to come up with my own superheroes in my own universe, i feel the same way he did about alpha flight. They don’t feel real.

[@EGA83]

I've said the same thing in other forums. first, they mistake the story for one of 'power corrupts' and it's not. It's a tragic love story. It's not a 'power corrupts' story because she was manipulated and basically emotionally raped which lead to her emotional health being damaged thus allowing her power to go out of control. Even Marvel comics has gotten it wrong in every iteration after her initial death. What they need to do is start with a disney+ show where Jean and Scott are just kids growing up in the X-men. Do some movies, then maybe another Disney+ show with them older and only then do a Dark Phoneix trilogy. Spend 7 years or so doing X-men stories alongside the regular marvel universe. The X-men were always sort of off seperately anyways.

[@10dev785]

Omg thank you. He’s one of my hero’s

[@lukeskywalker6809]

John Byrne: living Legend.

[@Khultan]

Luke Skywalker Not with Star Wars, he isn't.

[@ig2hi1]

As much as I would love to see Byrne's planned new X-MEN series, the one licensed character I would havei died to see Byrne adapt into comics is (classic) MAGNUM P.I..

[@danebarrett237]

That... Could be... Awesome...

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

Um no.

[@johnpglackin345]

I liked his X-Men the Hidden Years. Those issues were better than the main X-Men issues.

[@michaelbrittain7445]

very true

[@flintsvariety811]

I'd seen him draw the juggernaut in issue 312 or 314 of the Incredible Hulk and that was the best version of the juggernaut ( even if it was all In The Hulks mind)

[@onewingedanime]

Louise and Walter are couples goals.