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Thread: John Byrne Hated Working on Alpha Flight?

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    The Erie Canal Warrior Alpha Flight
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    Default John Byrne Hated Working on Alpha Flight?

    http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=151

    At the above link I found a 2000 interview with John Byrne where he said working on the book was the worst time he had as a writer and that his one regret with the book was ever doing it in the first place! that ran completey counter with the letter he attached to the final alpha issue he worked on. IM assuming many here already know of this interview, I'm just curious what everyone's opinion is on the disconnect between the fanbase (who generally praise Byrne as being the best writer/artist in the Flights history) and the man himself, who apparently hated the fact he even worked on the book! He's coming to where I live for a convention in September and I was thinking I'd try and get him to sign an issue he wrote for me, but now I'm second guessing as I don't want to confront him with something he's openly disliked.
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

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    Is the convention a Star Trek one?
    I'm pretty sure he's said that for his only appearance of the decade he's said he won't sign anything but Star Trek comics.

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    No it's the London Comic Convention I believe. The guy who told me Kelly is showing up also told me Gerry Duggan was attending, and to my knowledge Duggan never worked on Star Trek books
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

  4. #4

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    Hmm...
    He's said he's not doing anything other than a Star Trek one in Las Vegas or maybe in NY, so unsure if he is doing Ontario. Especially as they haven't announced anything.

    http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/f...047&PN=2&TPN=2
    http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/f...s=0&FID=3&PR=3

    If by some fluke of luck he was there, I'd chance it personally. I'd definitely judge by the queue in front and listen to how they get on.
    Worst comes to the worst he gives you a filthy look and says no & you never see him again.

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    Never mind turns out I misremembered the conversation. I talked with the guy about John Byrnes work, but the guy he said was going to be at the convention was Joe Kelly. woops. I remember because I bought a back issue of Deadpool 19 he worked on so I could get him to sign it. So never mind my dilemma is nonexistentlol but my initial question remains, how does the general Alpha Fanbase feel that the team he created, the team we all love, was an experience he hated?
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

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    Quote Originally Posted by Yankee View Post
    how does the general Alpha Fanbase feel that the team he created, the team we all love, was an experience he hated?
    I have mixed feelings about it. I'm not happy that he hates it so much (obvs), but I have to wonder if it'd be as good if he loved it?

    Sometimes I wonder, though, if he really did hate it as much as he says? Maybe it's only sour grapes because the team got so badly done by after he left? (That's the hope I hold on to.)

    ~ Le Messor
    "Failures are divided into 2 classes: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought."
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  7. #7

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    I think it was probably a mix of things that led to John Byrne's disdain for that time, working on Alpha Flight. Office politics surely played a role in forming his feelings about Alpha. He also has said that he didn't feel Alpha Flight had what it took to stand beside characters like The Avengers, The X-Men, Spider-Man, etc...in his mind, Alpha was a group created to be adversaries for the X-Men, nothing more.

    I really don't think he ever gave himself enough credit in their creation. A group of characters that he gave considerable depth and life to, once he took on the book. Which he had said he only took on, because he didn't want Chris Claremont writing them.

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    Last edited by cmdrkoenig67; 03-28-2016 at 11:37 AM. Reason: edited for bad grammar...LOL
    ALPHA FLIGHT IS RESURRECTED, LONG LIVE ALPHA FLIGHT!

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    The Erie Canal Warrior Alpha Flight
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    One thing that confused me in Byrnes goodbye letter in Issue 26 (or was it 2 says the phrase "my fellow Canadians". Um from what I can find, John Byrne was born in the UK and raised in America. To my knowledge he has never lived in Canada. If that is indeed true, then why did he put that in his goodbye letter? Especially because he has since revealed he detested working on the book, it makes his goodye letter even more insincere than it already was
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

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    The Erie Canal Warrior Alpha Flight
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    Serves me right for not reading past the British Born American comics writer and artist part on his Wikipedia page. Literally if I had just scrolled down I would have seen he got his degree in Calgary, where my parents and brother live . Woops I think I'll just stop posting things about John Byrne until I'm 100 percent sure I'm accurate lol
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

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    Heh, no no, don't stop; we're here to help!

  12. #12
    The Erie Canal Warrior Alpha Flight
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    Thanks man.
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

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    I don't believe that John Byrne hated or hates Alpha Flight. I agree with LM and Koenig that there were multiple factors at play: Jim Shooter, Chris Claremont or someone else handling his creations, the subsequent creators that "ruined" his team, etc.

    If he didn't care about AF, why did he bite the bullet and both write and draw the first 28 issues rather than let others take a stab at it?

    Also, do Byrne's personal feelings and experiences affect the fact that he created a lasting work of graphic literature? No, in my opinion, it doesn't. There are writers, artists, actors, performers of all types in all media that make great work under personal or professional strife, but, it doesn't detract from the quality of the "art" itself.

    Just think about how many of us that are still fans of AF despite failed creative teams and failed reboots...all because of the incredible foundation that John Byrne created.
    Last edited by zephyr74; 03-26-2016 at 12:28 PM.

  14. #14
    The Erie Canal Warrior Alpha Flight
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    Here's the thing in with Byrne. In interviews he has stated that if he had his way alpha flight would have just been 2 dimesional characters that popped in the Xmen universe every so often. But when the editor said that they were getting a solo series whether he was on board or not, Byrne took the job because if they had to become three dimensional, he felt only he could do it justice. So if it were up to him, those 28 issues he wrote of AF wouldn't have happend nor would any of the issues that came after he left. So Yes, if it wasn't for Byrne there would be no Alpha Flight, but the alpha flight solo series I feel happened just as much in spite of John Byrne as it was actually helped by byrne
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

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    Now that doesn't change the fact he did amazing work on AF and was the best writer/artist the series ever had. But in my opinion, (prepares to be hit by flying objects) the likes of Bill Mantalo James Hudnall (as much as I wasnt a fan of his writing), Fabian Niceza, and Van Lente cared more about alpha flight than Byrne ever did
    "like Warren Moon before he defected, a perfect spiral!" - Eugene Judd

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