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A review by tobin_elliott
The Art of John Byrne: Or "Out of My Head." by John Lindley Byrne
3.75
This is a weird one. Yes, it's got great John Byrne art all through it, from finished, polished work right through to quick doodles. It's got commentary by Roger Stern, Terry Austin, and Chris Claremont. It has a long interview with Byrne, all of which is interesting.
However, it is shockingly full of ridiculous spelling errors (half of which seem to be other artist and author names, which is simply unforgivable), and all those people who write about Byrne seem to be doing their best to say nice things about him, but you can almost see the strain beneath the smile. Claremont's the only one who seems mostly comfortable, but it wouldn't be long before he and Byrne would have their falling out.
The interview is most illuminating in how Byrne casually bashes others...Bob Layton, Jim Shooter, hell, even the guy who made Byrne look good, Terry Austin...though it's interesting to feel the dislike toward Shooter while also seeing Byrne grudgingly admit that Shooter pushed him to be a better storyteller.
You can also clearly see that Byrne is, sadly, starting to not just believe in his own press, but getting ready to wallow in it. It's too bad because, while Byrne still had some decent years and ideas ahead of him, he was also about to quietly flame out from all that hubris and not playing well with others.
Which is too bad. While he's still secured his place among the top comic artists, he literally could have been right up at the top.
However, it is shockingly full of ridiculous spelling errors (half of which seem to be other artist and author names, which is simply unforgivable), and all those people who write about Byrne seem to be doing their best to say nice things about him, but you can almost see the strain beneath the smile. Claremont's the only one who seems mostly comfortable, but it wouldn't be long before he and Byrne would have their falling out.
The interview is most illuminating in how Byrne casually bashes others...Bob Layton, Jim Shooter, hell, even the guy who made Byrne look good, Terry Austin...though it's interesting to feel the dislike toward Shooter while also seeing Byrne grudgingly admit that Shooter pushed him to be a better storyteller.
You can also clearly see that Byrne is, sadly, starting to not just believe in his own press, but getting ready to wallow in it. It's too bad because, while Byrne still had some decent years and ideas ahead of him, he was also about to quietly flame out from all that hubris and not playing well with others.
Which is too bad. While he's still secured his place among the top comic artists, he literally could have been right up at the top.