BYRNE ON HIS AND SIMONE'S ACTION DEPARTURE

[MattBrady]

by Rik Offenberger

There have been a lot of rumors and speculation about what happened with Gail Simone and John Byrne's run on Action Comics (#835, cover at right, will be the team's final issue). To end all the rumors and speculation we spoke with the creator himself.

Newsarama: I guess the first question is "What happened?"

John Byrne: Nothing "happened". Apparently, it is DC editorial policy to rotate the entire creative staff of the Superman titles at arbitrary points. This includes the writer, the penciler, the inker, the editor.

NRAMA: How do they tell you this kind of news?

JB: Not up front, unfortunately. I was not aware of this policy when I accepted the Action assignment. It was not until Gail mentioned it that I learned we were only on for a short run.

NRAMA: As part of Infinite Crisis there is a shift in all the editorial offices [Newsarama Note: The Superman titles will move from Eddie Berganza’s office to Matt Idelson’s office]. Is it unusual for the new editor to remove the current creative team?

JB: Depends on the editor. But, as noted, this was not the editor's decision. This is established policy set in place by the Higher-Ups. I was simply unaware of it.

NRAMA: With Eddie Berganza leaving the Superman office and Matt Idelson taking over; did Eddie Berganza offer you another assignment with one of the titles he is taking over?

JB: No.

NRAMA: You have said that "Gail and I were hired (tho I was not told this when I agreed to do the book, or I would have declined) to "fill the gap" between one team and the next." Do you think that Eddie Berganza knew it was temporary when he offered you the job?

JB: It was actually Dan Didio who offered me the job. Presumably he knew, so I assume that not telling me was just an oversight.

NRAMA: How do things go from "We want you to re-launch the entire Superman line" to "We only want you to do some fill in work on Superman"?

JB: You are talking about a span of 20+ years, so that's hardly an accurate description of "how things go".

NRAMA: Do you think there is a bias against experienced veterans in the comic industry?

JB: Not as such. If such a bias exists, it resides with the fans, not the industry.

NRAMA: Has this experience caused you to re-evaluate your working relationship with DC?

JB: Not at all. This was an unfortunate miscommunication. I wish I had known the assignment was short term, as I would most likely have declined it. But I didn't, so I didn't. No story. Nothing to see here. Move along. . .

[AllAboutMe]

Wow. What a non-story. I expected a Byrne flare-up and all that was said that it is a non-story.

[JacktheKnife]

Originally posted by AllAboutMe
Wow. What a non-story. I expected a Byrne flare-up and all that was said that it is a non-story.

Well don't forget he is still working for DC. Sure Doom Patrol will shortly be cancelled, and Blood of the Demon probably isn't too far away itself. But he doesn't want to piss off Didio too much. I'm sure he liked money and wants to keep getting work.

Plus isn't he on the outs with Marvel? So it makes sense he doesn't want to alienate both the big publishers.

I'm sure every night he sets down and curses Didio before going to sleep.

[EmeraldGuy32]

Originally posted by AllAboutMe
Wow. What a non-story. I expected a Byrne flare-up and all that was said that it is a non-story.

ditto

[Rawle Austin]

Originally posted by MattBrady

NRAMA: How do things go from "We want you to re-launch the entire Superman line" to "We only want you to do some fill in work on Superman"?
[/b]

Ouch. Pretty hardball there.

Hope the Demon run is collected, been hearing lots of nice things about it.

Growler

[greenflameuk]

No story. Nothing to see here. Move along. . .

Couldn't agree more. it must be a slow news day.

[BlackDog]

How do things go from "We want you to re-launch the entire Superman line" to "We only want you to do some fill in work on Superman"?

Paraphrasing much? What a loaded question! I wonder if this guy would ask such a rude question from other pros like Neal Adams, Roger Stern, or even Steve Englehart.

[astronato]

I went to a book signing to get John Byrne's autograph and waited patiently on a long line to meet him. When I finally got to his table and asked for his autograph he took out a large stamp with his signature on it and proceeded to beat me with it on the head, neck and chest area.

I ran out into the parking lot but he followed me and stamped his signature on the hood of my car as I tried to flee.

Then he followed me home where he did unspeakable things to the family dog before killing my entire family and eating their flesh.

Then he told me about stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction that he had acquired and had stored in his basement.

I still get flashbacks of that horrible day, everytime I look in the mirror and see the permanent imprint of John Byrnes signature on my forehead.

I have these awful dreams at night where Doctor Doom is chasing me and when he catches me, I pull off his mask and John Byrne's face is underneath.

People, this man must be stopped. Obviously Grant Morrison is God, surely then John Byrne is the great Satan of comic books.

[BlackDog]

Has this experience caused you to re-evaluate your working relationship with DC?

Again, what is this interviewer looking for? Obviously conflict, incendiary words from Byrne, or just plain 'controversial' material.

I'm glad to see that Byrne doesn't bite on the bait so fast.

[jerkyboy]

Yeah, really. The interviewer should be ashamed of himself.
How unprofessional. Now I see why Byrne doesn't do many interviews.

[Rik]

Originally posted by BlackDog
How do things go from "We want you to re-launch the entire Superman line" to "We only want you to do some fill in work on Superman"?

Paraphrasing much? What a loaded question! I wonder if this guy would ask such a rude question from other pros like Neal Adams, Roger Stern, or even Steve Englehart.

BlackDog, as a matter of fact I would ask the same question of any pro (Neal Adams, Roger Stern, and even Steve Englehart). no disrespect was intended from the question. There is a lot of rumors and speculation on the internet about what happened and I wanted to give John the chance to clear the air. But I didn't see it as a loaded question when I asked and I still don't.

[Lord_Magneto]

What a biased interview. It's quite obvious what kind of reaction the interviewer is trying to get. Not too subtle on his side, and pretty neat that JB didn't fall for easy provocations.

[4DGlasses]

So John Byrne doesn't read his contracts. Surely the duration was covered there.

So that would make him inept at BOTH reading AND writing.

[skiteman]

this was the FIRST SUPERMAN ARC IN YEEEEAAAARRRS that I have been at all interested in........it's a shame the DC folks feel the need to change stuff up arbitrarily.....
Byrne's art with some tight inks is some PRETTY STUFF!

[jerkyboy]

Originally posted by 4DGlasses
So John Byrne doesn't read his contracts. Surely the duration was covered there.

So that would make him inept at BOTH reading AND writing.

Or you could be quite adept at being an ass. I doubt that there was any contract that said "This is only for 7 issues". So why assume there was, other than to give yourself an excuse to Byrne Bash?

[joekelly007]

John really needs to come off his high horse :

"JB: Not at all. This was an unfortunate miscommunication. I wish I had known the assignment was short term, as I would most likely have declined it"

this "short term " assingment turned out to be his best recieved run in years , even more so than his much ballyhoed team up with chris claremont, which was short term as well.

he needs to be more contrite like ms simone was who stated on CBR :

So how will Simone remember making her mark in history? "With a lot of joy, honestly. I got to write the best superhero there is, and John Byrne drew it. That's pretty thrilling. A huge thank you to the readers who have been supporting us so adamantly."

now thats class.........

[jerkyboy]

I don't see why Byrne would be jumping ship from DC anytime soon. Unprofessional editors like Berganza besides, he's been treated better by DC than he was at Marvel (where Quesada cancelled Hidden Years for contradictory reasons, even though 6 weeks prior he called it a "healthy title").

Looks like Generations 4 is closer to a possibility at least.

[roccomorocco]

Y'know, the REAL story here is the apparently ongoing decision to continually rotate creative teams on the Superman franchise.

Is that because so many people are clamoring for a chance to work on the Big Guy, or is it a sad affirmation that the character is inherently impossible to write for (and even to draw) for an extended period of time?

Too super? Too locked into his own mythology? Too bland? Too predictable? If he always wins, then he's just not interesting; if he doesn't win, then he's just not "Superman."

Batman was right in IC#1.

[jerkyboy]

Yeah, I do think it's a dumb idea in general. Simone and Byrne were generating a decent buzz - why muck with that? There's no guarantee that the next team will maintain that much interest.

[BlackDog]

BlackDog, as a matter of fact I would ask the same question of any pro (Neal Adams, Roger Stern, and even Steve Englehart). no disrespect was intended from the question. There is a lot of rumors and speculation on the internet about what happened and I wanted to give John the chance to clear the air. But I didn't see it as a loaded question when I asked and I still don't

I'm sorry but it is a loaded question. It can definitely be structured differently. John Byrne is hardly doing 'just fill in work' for DC. He was given Doom Patrol(for better or worse, that's a huge trust that DC has on Byrne), and he's currently writing and drawing Blood Of the Demon. Not to mention other stuff he has done since Byrne worked on Superman a long time ago.

[BlueThunderArmy]

Originally posted by MattBrady

John Byrne: Nothing "happened". Apparently, it is DC editorial policy to rotate the entire creative staff of the Superman titles at arbitrary points. This includes the writer, the penciler, the inker, the editor.

NRAMA: How do they tell you this kind of news?

JB: Not up front, unfortunately. I was not aware of this policy when I accepted the Action assignment. It was not until Gail mentioned it that I learned we were only on for a short run.

You know, I've heard that when you're looking for a new job, or thinking of excepting a position, it's a good idea to know a little something about the company. This policy was not new when Byrne started on Action (though the editors rotating is a new twist). Perhaps Mr. Byrne should ask a few more questions at his next job interview. Like, "Is this an open-ended project, or a finite term?" Considering the world of comics in which creative teams are constantly in flux, it doesn't seem unreasonable to just ask.

[astronato]

I've enjoyed Gail Simone and John Byrne on Action Comics. I've only been back into buying comics for 8 or 9 months now and Action Comics was the first Superman book I picked up. Actually it's the first time I picked up any Superman book regularly. Now I am getting all the Superman titles.

I'm also liking Mr Byrne's Blood of the Demon and I'm sad to see the Doom Patrol end. I hope to see JB working on other DC projects soon.

[GabeChodu]

Originally posted by jerkyboy
I don't see why Byrne would be jumping ship from DC anytime soon. Unprofessional editors like Berganza besides, he's been treated better by DC than he was at Marvel (where Quesada cancelled Hidden Years for contradictory reasons, even though 6 weeks prior he called it a "healthy title").

Looks like Generations 4 is closer to a possibility at least.

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[bluebird]

I've only read two Simone/Byrne issues, and didn't like either of them one bit--I like the two seperately as a writer and an artist okay, but I don't think they work all that well together, and certainly not with Superman. Byrne's Superman looks really, really, really, really different than S-Man does in the other four or ten books he's in every month. Seriously, try reading the first part of the Bizarro-Zoom race in Superman and the second part in Action. Jimmy Olsen goes from a twenty-something to an eight-year old.

I don't think every artist should draw the exact same on all Superman books, but certainly there could be a more similar aesthetic, or at least consistent character designs (which I understand is an increasing priority at DC...isn't that why Perez is doing character sheets as part of his new role with the company?).

So anyway, this seems like a positive to me...I'm interested in the upcoming Queen of Fables story, but I think I'll pass simply because of the art.

I wonder what happens to the Doom Patrol in DC continuity now though, if it's canceled (and no surprise there). Can we just go back to the pre-retcon DP, or does DC know have a sticky continuity wicket to navigate whenever the Doom Patrol comes up?

[brianscottp]

How do things go from "We want you to re-launch the entire Superman line" to "We only want you to do some fill in work on Superman"?

I don't think it was a loaded question or a putdown of Byrne's work. I believe Byrne gives the impression that it is basically a 'fill-in' when he describes it as bridging the gap between one creative team and the next, even if it was a longer bridge than normal.

The second part of the question WAS answered in a later question presented. When Byrne was first given Superman to revamp, he was arguably Marvel's top writer/ artist or fan favorite. It was a big coup to have Byrne revamp their marquee character. Byrne is still top notch professional, BUT fans aren't quite as excited about his work. Which is a shame because he has one professional trait most of the current hot (and many wanna be) stars don't: He can make schedules, and not just one book every six weeks!