Over at
Byrne Robotics:
"First, remember that I was not originally leaving Marvel. I had already planned to scale back on the FF, doing the writing only, with the possibility of John Romita Jr taking on the art. I intended to continue working on Marvel books at the same time I handled what was expected to be a single Superman title.
Mike Hobson, then head of Publishing, wished me luck. He said he thought this would be good for DC, "and anything that good for DC will be good for the industry, and so good for Marvel."
Shooter, meanwhile, ordered massive rewriting and redrawing of the return of Jean Grey issue of FANTASTIC FOUR -- an issue he had approved in full just a few weeks before.
And THAT was when I realized I would have no choice but to leave Marvel."
Here's just an example of some lovely JRJR FF and what might have been...
I dunno this seems like sour grapes from Byrne. I don't know what really went on. The fact is though, that after his FF and Alpha Flight issues, I think his work loosened so much that it lost focus, and I think it never regained the levels he had while at Shooter's Marvel.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have had these guys team-up on the FF. Especially considering that Romita Jr. was relegated to Starbrand...
ReplyDeleteI had heard the bit about Byrne being upset with last minute changes to the Jean Grey return, but I've never heard about the Byrne/JRJR teamup. That would have been great! At least we got them together on Iron Man a few years later.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an early sample of the year long Doom War arc Byrne had planned, right before he left... That story would sort out the dispute between Doom and his heir Kristoff Vernard thinking himself Doom, eventually something Steve Englehart picked up on during his run... Still, 't would have been nice to see how Byrne's take would have turned out.
ReplyDeleteTimeline doesn't back up Byrne. That issue of FF had to be over 6 months before he left. And there's no way Marvel would let him do Superman and FF just as they wouldn't let Roy Thomas keep doing Conan. I don't buy it.
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