Modern Masters Volume 7: John Byrne

Modern Masters #7

by Jon B. Cooke, John Byrne, Eric Nolen-Weathington

The next volume of the Modern Masters series celebrates the life and work of one of today's top artists, John Byrne! From the death of Phoenix to the rebirth of Superman, Byrne is one of the most influential comic book artists working in the business. On X-Men, he penciled the greatest stories in the history of the title and helped propel the X-Men to their current household-name status. His work as writer and artist of Fantastic Four returned the group to prominence within the Marvel Universe. And his reboot of the Superman mythology brought national attention to the comic book industry. This volume features an extensive, career-spanning interview lavishly illustrated with rare and unpublished art, as well as a large sketchbook section.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Comics, Art

125 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2006

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byrne is one of my top 5 favorite comic artists of all time. This is an exceptional colletion of his work. Highly recommended

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first artist I not only consciously tried to imitate but also the first artist I bothered to find out who he was. Until then I liked or disliked stuff, but Byrne just impressed me that much!
So this book about one of my favourite comics creator was a must-buy for me. And it does not disappoint. Modern Masters 7 deals with John Byrne's career from his beginnings to his (then) current work and also gives a decent insight into the man's thoughts about his work and the greater industry.
Big like here!

[Ian Massey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've loved most of Byrne's work, without knowing a great deal about his background. This is, essentially, what seems to be a number of interviews, organised into one long one. (There are repetitions, which is why I think this.)

The problem is, while it all seems to start out as a "Byrne tells his life story" - everything begins as his family move from England to Canada (twice) - it all too soon drops into sketches if his career. For example, his work on West Coast Avengers is pretty much mentioned in passing.

The later bits, dealing with his technique and some quite outspoken opinions, are interesting but, overall, there's not as much nearly in the bone as I would have liked. Still, some nice pieces of art dotted throughout and in the gallery which forms the final section of the book.

[Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it's a little out of date, this long-form interview should be of interest to Byrne fans and students of comics history. The sketchbook pages and other samples of his artwork are a treat.

[Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, but on the whole not very informative considering the amount of time spent on the in-depth interview. Great artwork as there always is in this Modern Masters series. Perhaps less interview and more context could have improved it for a general reading

[Brian Stillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

He never should've tried to revive Spidey. From that point on he's been on a skid like Rob Reiner since the mid '90s, but he was definitely a god for a time.

[Tim Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another nice entry in the Modern Masters series. It's hard to cover a career as long as Byrne's in a book of this length, so it was a bit cursory. But a decent short read.