Mister Miracle and Big Barda by John Byrne

I've been re-reading the Kirby Fourth World Omnibus books lately.  Reading the early issues of the New Gods, Mister Miracle and Jimmy Olsen are a trip...each issue introduces something unique and fresh.  Mister Miracle was my favorite of that DC era...when Kirby introduced Big Barda to the series it just made everything better.

Mister Miracle and Big Barda: John Byrne does a great job drawing the Kirby characters.  This is a 2012 commission.

Big Barda of the Female Furries, this one was drawn in 2006.  Nuff Said!

Jack Kirby, Curt Swan, Wally Wood, John Byrne, Jim Steranko, etc on a Silver-Bronze Age Jam!

Another Jam piece, commissioned by Martin Greim in 1978 to 1982!  This one is a doozy, one of the few times (perhaps the only time) that Wally Wood inked Curt Swan on Superman, and this unique team-up is complemented by what some would call the two greatest penciler/inker duos in the history of comics: Kirby/Sinnott and Byrne/Austin.

• Tom Sutton - Vampirella
• Ernie Chan - Hulk
• Ramona Fradon - Plastic Man
• Kurt Schaffenberger - The Original Captain Marvel
• Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott - Captain America
• Michael Golden & Joe Sinnott - Ant Man
• Curt Swan & Wally Wood - Superman
• Joe Staton & Dick Giordano - Wonder Woman
• John Byrne & Terry Austin - Spider-Man
• Gene Colan & Klaus Janson - Howard the Duck
• ??? & Dave Simons - Doll Man
• Jim Steranko & Joe Rubinstein - Nick Fury
• Jim Aparo - Batman

How could you not be proud to own this fine piece?  Many of them are by classic Silver & Bronze age artists: Aparo on Batman, Swan on Superman (getting Wood to ink him was a real coup), Byrne/Austin on Spider-Man and Steranko on Fury--oh my!  It was also signed by Captain America co-creator Joe Simon!  Nuff Said.

DC Marvel Crossovers by John Byrne: Doom Patrol, Superman, Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel!

John Byrne's commissions have run the gamut from cover recreations to panoramic vistas of original concepts.  Here are a couple of cool ones where the Marvel Universe bleeds over into the DC Universe.

Doctor Doom mind-controlling Superman into battling the Fantastic Four!  A neat trick and reminiscent of Fantastic Four 249, where Gladiator fought the team.

This is not the first time Byrne tapped this idea.  In 2008 he created this illustration featuring Superman relishing in his victory of Marvel's Greatest Team.  Poor Ben Grimm!

DC's strangest super-team, The Doom Patrol, take on Modok in this one.  Rick Hannah colored these two pieces, check out his ComicArt page here!

The original Captain Marvel meets the Marvel usurper who stole his name and trademark.  Love the fact that the Marvel version has the classic Gil Kane designed costume.

Check out the John Byrne Online Gallery for more commissions!  Nuff Said.

Avengers Assemble! John Byrne Commissions

John Byrne has done some amazing commissions over the past few years.  I can't help but be impressed by the following pieces where the classic Avengers Assemble once again...

Rich Cirillo (from ComicArtFans) has not one by two pieces of the Mighty Avengers, with colors provided by Cirillo himself.  A true Avengers fan loves many incarnations of this team, but which one would you select for a commission from your favorite artist?  According to Cirillo, "...this piece is actually two requests on one board: The Avengers circa issue #1 (A tribute to Jack Kirby) and the group of circa issue #28 (A tribute to Don Heck)." I loved both the short lived "Hulk" era (which only lasted 2 issues) plus the new team with those reformed criminals Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver.

The second piece features the Roy Thomas / Steve Englehart eras with the Vision, Mantis, Swordsman, Beast, Yellowjacket, etc.  This actually forms a poster when paired with the first illustration.

Jim Warden (from ComicArtFans)  also went for an Avengers commission from Byrne in a very big way.  This one is titled "Avengers Universe" and according to Warden it features "...a crowd scene of his choice of characters from the Avengers starting with issue 1 and going through his run on the title."  Look at how many versions of Iron Man are here--I counted at least 4!  There is more than one version of Wonder Man and I suspect the Wasp as well.  I love all the little details here: the Lady Liberators in the back, the Super Adaptoid on the right, even Warlock and Captain Marvel are in there.

For more fantastic artwork, click on Cirillo's ComicArtFans gallery for more (including Golden and Hughes) and check out Jim Wardens DOA (Distinctive Original Art) Gallery (Zeck, Chadwick, Davis, etc).  Nuff Said!

Dark Phoenix meets the Black Queen by John Byrne

Here is a great little pinup I found on Scott Williams Deviant Art page, a John Byrne pinup that he inked, featuring Jean Grey in two evil (and kinky) alter egos: Dark Phoenix and Black Queen.  I never thought of these two personalities having so much in common before but it’s obvious.  Of course, the Queen has much better fashion sense.

Byrne did another pinup featuring the Black Queen in the 1980s, for a Pretty Girls Portfolio.  Tim Townsend had a great scan of this on on ComicArtFans.

If you need more Black Queen on this St. Patrick’s Day, check out Mike Mayhew’s Black Queen on Giant-Size Marvel.  Nuff Said!

Amazing Heroes: Post-Crisis Superman cover by John Byrne

When the 1985 series Crisis on Infinite Earths ended, the DC Universe was rebooted.  New versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman appeared.



Amazing Heroes 96 from 1986 presented the new Superman in all his glory, drawn by Marvel’s long time superstar, John Byrne.  I don’t recall if this cover came out around the same time as Byrne’s Man of Steel limited series…I suspect that it did.



To go along with Superman’s reboot, the other heroes in the Justice League pantheon were affected as well.  We had another mini-series, Legends, to see how these heroes came together for the first time in the new DC Universe.  Amazing Heroes presented this ad for the series in 1986 as well.  If I recall correctly, the new Justice League and Suicide Squad series were launched after this one concluded.  Nuff Said!

Superman #400 Pin-Up Gallery: Bolland, Wrightson, Kirby, Byrne, Chaykin

On July 4th, I posted a Steranko page from Superman #400.  There were a number of great artists that editor Julie Schwartz snagged for drawing pin-ups in this landmark 1984 issue.  Here are just a few of them...

Howard Chaykin painted a wonderful cover with all the classic elements of Superman's origin.

Here's probably my favorite and most off-beat pinup, by Berni Wrightson.  I always wanted to see Wrightson tackle Superman.  I think he did a wonderful job by focusing on Kal-El's face here.

Jack Kirby provided a nice Superman illustration--inked by Terry Austin.

Brian Bolland's pinup freeze frame's another famous Superman motif--taking off his business man uniform to reveal the S emblem.

John Byrne, a Marvel creator, was even allowed to draw this pinup of his favorite character.  This was a portent of things to come--Byrne would take over Superman just two years later in 1986 with the Man of Steel limited series!

You can see a few more pinups on my Flickr Superman set.  You can also read the story behind Superman 400, plus a number of full story pages, at superman.nu.  I am amazed at how many websites/blogs actually repost full scans of every single page of comics.  Nuff said.