RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Byrne hates comics fans!!

The following excerpt is from one of Byrne's posts in a thread discussing Superman's origins.One of the posters brought up All-Star Superman's one page origin recap to which Byrne didn't really have much of a comment on until this:



Poster-Usually, I'd agree with you here, but in the case of Superman, the origin is common knowledge by now. In comics alone, there's been at least half a dozen Superman origins, then there are the movies, tv shows (live-action and animated). It's come to a point where re-telling the origin is a waste of pages. That's why I like the All-Star Superman one-page summary. It tells you everything you need to know.And in the highly improbable chance that the reader is not familiar with Superman at all, later issues have Superman speak of Krypton and that he was rocketed to Earth.

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Byrne:It TELLS you NOTHING you NEED to know. It merely reiterates what the writer assumes you already know.

You're looking thru the wrong end of the telescope at this. YOU already know this stuff. You have known it for years. But THINK BACK. There was a time when you DIDN'T know this stuff. You were not born fully conversant with the details of Superman's origin. This was something you had to LEARN. You may have learned it from a TV show, or a movie, or a comic book, or somebody telling you about it -- but whatever the source, the first time you encountered Superman you had NO IDEA who he was. You could not have.

And it is the worst kind of arrogance -- the arrogance that permeates virtually every corner of this industry today -- to ASSUME anyone who reads that page ALREADY KNOWS what it is about. Its the fanboy circle jerk, and it has helped to destroy the medium.

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Poster:That first page is a refresher, not an explanation.

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Byrne:And a big ol' FUCK YOU to anyone who isn't already in the circle.

Now then,it clearly shows to me that Byrne doesn't like fans who like comics other than his work or original GA source material.I got this far in the thread,which was mostly fans of Byrne's "Man of Steel" series and then this landed on the screen and I thought....wow.....this guy really hates comic fans.I understand the point of assuming that everyone knows Superman's origin is a bit presumptuous(but not by much because even those that don't read comics know his origin for the most part),but jeez!! this post bordered on pure hatred for long-time fans. I know Byrne has grown bitter over the years but wow....

P.S. GA="Golden Age" and I put Byrne in red cuz Mama says he's the devil.

This is the same John Byrne who admittedly loved (and to some extent, for Man of Steel, borrowed elements of) the 1950s Superman TV show.

You know, the show where all people had to know about Superman's origin in any given episode other than the pilot was that he was a "strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men."

That dude is a fucking nutbag! He has absolutely lost his marbles. What a whiny cunt. I bet he'd be singing a different tune if The Big Boys were paying him the big bucks...

The worst part of it is, his basic argument makes some sense in that anyone new to Superman (or any character for that matter) doesnt necessarily know the origin, which is why companies like DC and Marvel redo or reprint the origin stories from time to time, but its his way of getting the point across that turns people against him.

Granted, you dont need the origin being told once a year every year, but its a useful thing to do every five to ten years as it not only helps newer readers, but it also allows creative teams to expand on things and maybe drop in some extra bits to help a current storyline.

Thats a rational way of putting it. Byrne is not rational.

Is his board raid-able?

...especially here, where his whole beef was not that All Star Superman didn't retell the origin but that it didn't retell it in a way he approved of.

In 6 panels you can give the basics of Superman.
Panel 1- The planet Krypton is ready to explode and no one believes kal-el's father, jor-El. So Jor-El-Builds a Spaceship to send baby Kal-el to Earth.

Panel 2- Krypton blows up and the ship crashes on Earth where Martha and jonathan Kent find baby Kal.

Panel 3- Teenager Clark Kent (formerly baby Kal) discovers he can run fast , lift heavy objects , and shit.

Panel 4- Clark realizes (somehow) he has to be hide his abilities from the world to keep his loved ones safe, and have a normal "human" life.

Panel 5- Clark decides to become a reporter where he meets the woman he loves...Lois Lane.

Panel 6- Here you can show how Superman's powers matured, or you could talk about Lex luthor....

That is all...you don't need to talk about kryptonite, Doomsday, Jimmy Olsen...nothing....the rest should be there as a mystery for the reader or a surprise...

Superman is an alien (the last of his kind---maybe depending on the year), Superman tries to be human by being Clark kent, Superman is amazingly powerful, superman loves Lois and fights Lex luthor, and Clark is a reporter.

Isn't that enough....?

You forgot, Superman sucks balls!

quoted for truth!

but seriously? if someone didn't know, they could find out SO easy. they could ask the person at the store (book/comic/grocery) they are buying the comic from, they could ask the friend/acquaintance/fuck-buddy they are borrowing it from, or - in the case where they find the comic at the bottom of a garbage can after having ZERO experience with Superman in ANY incarnation EVER in their entire life - they can either look it up on the internet, in a library book or encyclopedia, in the dictionary, OR! OR or or! they can just read the comic and WOW! looks like THIS guy can shoot freakin' lazer beams from his freakin' eyeballs! AND CAN FLY! WOW! and then just... *read* the story. Is all I'm sayin'. People ain't that stick-shit stupid.

Nu-uh!

im ashamed of the way john byrne represents my "gender"

Are you sure you aren't confusing the word 'panel' with 'page'? Cuz you got a lot of shit going on in single panels.

I agree with this assessment. We don't need a Byrne 'Man of Steel' mini every few years, but once in a while, especially in relation to outside media like movies and TV shows, the origin needs to be retold for the new generation so that they can link to the characters and become fans. I think too many people here are thinking about themselves too much and not looking at the big picture. The youngest of us here is at least, what, in the mid 20's or so age wise. And the oldest is a survivor of the Titanic (sorry to out you there G-man). Of course we're familiar with the origin story. But why are we familiar with it? Because Richard Donner retold it with Christopher Reeve and Marlon Brando in the late 70's. Because Byrne retold it in the mid-80's. Because George Reeves retold it in the early 50's(and the 50's & 60's comics brought Krypton in every other issue). Dean Cain and crew as well as Paul Dini and Bruce Timm retold it in the 90's. And Tom Welling and the bleeding vaginas on the WB/CW retold it again in the 2000's {wink}. Each generation is given the origin as a basis for how to understand their Superman. Just because you get it and have yours doesn't mean that the five or six year olds who watch the next movie or start reading the comics/buying the toys shouldn't have theirs.

G-man is a survivor of the ice age.

plus Superman's origin needs updated every few years. it gives the writers a chance to do something fresh without all the baggage.

DC has retold the origin three times in the past 10 years (Loeb, Waid, Johns). I don't think All Star Superman needed to do it again, so the one page intro was fine.

<GASP!> John Byrne does not love me! After I bought all of those multiple copies of Man of Steel! I feel so...so...so VIOLATED!!!!!!!

you aint sposed to stick multiple copies of man of steel up your ass!

MAN OF STEEL FUCKER!

Actually when the dirty deed was done Clark was calling me his "Man of Steel"! teehee!

He may have also have made a crack about me being "...faster than a speeding bullet..." but I digress! Tee hee!

Damn! I didn't know John Byrne was a morphadite?!?

is that a power ranger?

...or are you just happy to see me.