Where's John Byrne?

[PatrickG]

He announced recently (http://jb.24-7intouch.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4755&PN=1&totPosts=79) that he's been writing a DC book under a pseudonym for a year now.

So I challenge you all:

What title has John Byrne been secretly writing?

A.J. Lieberman on Gotham Knights is a popular pick, apparently. I doubt he's Gail. :)

[the4thpip]

He's not sexy enough to be Ben Raab.

[Spackling Compound]

He announced recently (http://jb.24-7intouch.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4755&PN=1&totPosts=79) that he's been writing a DC book under a pseudonym for a year now.

So I challenge you all:

What title has John Byrne been secretly writing?


http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0345476522/ref=sib_rdr_fc/102-6685716-5806569?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S001#reader-page

[PatrickG]

Holy crap.

I just noticed that whenever he talks about it, he puts odd words in quotations.

"notice" - Not ice?

"leaked"

Do you think he could be Will Pfeifer?

Pfeifer popped up out of nowhere on H-E-R-O. He did Aquaman. Now he's doing The Demon with John Byrne. Yet, I've never seen a picture of him or seen him at a con...

[the4thpip]

Ah, no. Let's just say I would have been told if Byrne were Pfeifer.

[PatrickG]

Without getting too personal... Do you know Will Pfiefer?

[the4thpip]

No, but I'm friends with an artist who worked with him and I chat often with the artist's wife.

Has Dan Jolley done anything before Firestorm?

[Joe no Sleep]

If it were A.J. Lieberman, than he would also have been writing Harley Quin for over a year.

Maybe Anderson Gabyrach?

Or maybe we need to think outside the box and look at the Wildstorm/Vertigo/Humanoids/Johnny DC titles

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Without getting too personal... Do you know Will Pfiefer?

Have seen piccies of Pfieffer...he works for a local US newspaper too

[Joe no Sleep]

Oh, I got it! He's writing for Mad Magazine!

[TCJohnson]

Will Pfieffer works over at Lurid Studios. www.lurid.com. He posts there all the time.

[Matches Malone]

That read like a joke to me; I don't think he was serious. He did create an interesting game, though. It's fun to pick out which writer might be Byrne.

Lieberman had a background writing for MTV, iirc. Gabrych has an.. uh.. film credit. Really doubt he's Byrne.

Chuck Austen? Heh. Nah; that's too mean.

Maybe Byrne = "Warren Ellis".

[Crowley]

Chris Clairmont?

[Tobias March]

Sandy Duncan?

[The Xenos]

Holy crap! I got it! John Byrne is Hush! um.. er.. or not..

-Xenos

[Beastfan07]

Anderson Gabrych

[PatrickG]

Who?

Yeah, it read like a joke but he goes on later in the linked thread to say that it isn't a joke.

[Matches Malone]

Who?

Yeah, it read like a joke but he goes on later in the linked thread to say that it isn't a joke.

You can very easily count the number of writers who've actually been on the same book for more than a year. Gail, Johns, Winick, Rucka, Willingham, Lieberman, Jolley, maybe a few others... unless it's a Johnny DC book...

This is a fun game, but despite his protestations to the contrary, I don't think Byrne is ghost-writing a book.

[johnny mo]

I'm trying to think of the book with the clumsiest, awkwardly expository dialogue and all I get is Doom Patrol, and we know who writes that one....I give up.

[Brenz]

ANDERSEN GABRYCH can be rearranged to spell BYRNE'S RAD CHANGE, interestingly enough, but that presumes Byrne wanted to change the phrase "Byrne's rad change" into a pseudonym, which I sincerely hope he was not so lame as to do. So probably not.

Unless he's Si Spencer, I got nothing, and I sincerely doubt that, unless he's completely overhauled his writing style.

[the4thpip]

andersen gabrych

http://www.breedingground.com/images/andersengabrych.jpg

an actor, writer, and coffee boy. He has appeared in the films Edge of Seventeen, Bumping Heads
(upcoming), The Look (upcoming), Gypsy 83, and Hit and Runway. Stage appearances include: Space
(Public Theater), Heights (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and Shyness is Nice (Westbeth). TV: Law & Order
and The Sopranos. He has performed in the HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO, and the Toyota
Comedy Festival (NYC). He has an MFA Acting from Brandeis University and writes comic books for
DC when not slinging lattes at Naidre’s in Park Slope.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I think it's this J.D. Finn guy. If for no other reason, we know next to nothing on the guy. Not even a photo.

[the4thpip]

I think it's this J.D. Finn guy. If for no other reason, we know next to nothing on the guy. Not even a photo.
Finn has not been on a book for over a year.

[Shades0077]

No, but I'm friends with an artist who worked with him and I chat often with the artist's wife.

Has Dan Jolley done anything before Firestorm?
Dan Jolley wrote a Sabretooth miniseries for Marvel a couple years ago. Pretty sure he also wrote the first Voltron series that Devil's Due put out.

[Donar]

Dan Jolley wrote a Sabretooth miniseries for Marvel a couple years ago. Pretty sure he also wrote the first Voltron series that Devil's Due put out.

He also co-wrote the Dr. Strange MK mini series ilustrated by Toni Harris.

[ssurly]

I'm trying to think of the book with the clumsiest, awkwardly expository dialogue and all I get is Doom Patrol, and we know who writes that one....I give up.

Gotta say, tired of the shooting fish in a barrel humor about Byrne.

tiiiiiiired. and I don't like doom patrol either.....but sheesh. Don't like him, don't purchase him. enuff.

[PatrickG]

Someone suggested Powerpuff Girls.

I could see it being a Johnny DC book.

Unless Byrne is pulling a serious stunt with his writing as A.J. Lieberman (and Byrne's Batman stories DO have a different feel anyway) I'm inclined to think he must be doing a Johnny DC book as his expository dialogue would be less unusual there.

Thing is, what would he have to gain from doing a Johnny DC book under a pen name? What would he have to lose from his real name being associated with a Johnny DC book?

Whereas if he were, say, A.J. Lieberman, he could pull a HUGE gotcha on his critics by indicating that he isn't locked into a 1970s writing style but that when he employs that style on books like Doom Patrol, it's a conscious choice on his part. And I can see editorial going along with it on a Bat-Title since I imagine Byrne (in spite of "The Many Deaths of Batman" and "Generations") probably isn't a name draw to Batman fans...

And I can imagine the jokes about him "rebooting" Hush if his name WAS attached...

[PatrickG]

I've met virtually everyone else working for DC. I'm stumped...

But wait! Hear me out!

Nobody's considered the Wildstorm books...

Dan Abnett, maybe?

Uhm. Maybe Alan Moore got a shave and started balding back in 1970 and has been recycling old photos while juggling two personas? Not that I believe it but I always see the same two outdated pictures of Alan Moore and it would amuse me GREATLY if Moore pulled an Andy Kaufman by creating John Byrne.

Dan Abnett seems possible though.

We're narrowing the list at least...

[Paradox]

Since y'all have done the major legwork (and you're people I trust), I'm wondering if John isn't just stirring the pot. It's not unlike John to totally bullshit just to get us to notice him. Even if he's telling the truth...um, grow up, John. Stop playing games and actually concentrate on your work, ya lazy git.

He was a master in his day...now he's a sad parody of himself, all wrapped up in "attention whore" syndrome. :(

[the4thpip]

Powerpuff Girls is written by Ivan Velez, jr. Ivan wrote the entire run of Blood Syndicate and several other Milestone books, the Eradicator mini, a long run on Ghost Rider and the online gay coming-out strip Tales From the Closet.

[palaeomerus]

Yeah...he's so lazy that he's only penciling three books and writing one of those to boot and still getting his work in on time. He sure needs a lecture from an industry savy wizard like paradox.

Uh huh.

[Matches Malone]

I could see it being a Johnny DC book.

Unless Byrne is pulling a serious stunt with his writing as A.J. Lieberman (and Byrne's Batman stories DO have a different feel anyway) I'm inclined to think he must be doing a Johnny DC book as his expository dialogue would be less unusual there.

Thing is, what would he have to gain from doing a Johnny DC book under a pen name? What would he have to lose from his real name being associated with a Johnny DC book?

Whereas if he were, say, A.J. Lieberman, he could pull a HUGE gotcha on his critics by indicating that he isn't locked into a 1970s writing style but that when he employs that style on books like Doom Patrol, it's a conscious choice on his part. And I can see editorial going along with it on a Bat-Title since I imagine Byrne (in spite of "The Many Deaths of Batman" and "Generations") probably isn't a name draw to Batman fans...

And I can imagine the jokes about him "rebooting" Hush if his name WAS attached...

Byrne's not Lieberman. Lieberman has a past pre-DC, with MTV.

I could see him doing a Johnny DC book. It'd give him a chance to flex a different set of creative muscles, but using a pen-name would keep him from being typecast as "that kind" of writer.

AND it would let him sit around smugly proclaiming that "no one noticed". Well, duh - hardly anyone reads those books. And the few who do are kids who probably don't pay any attention to the credits at all.

It would be ironic, though, if he turned out to be writing a book that his devotees have been *bashing* for over a year, and they all had to scramble to backtrack.

[Brenz]

If Dan Abnett is revealed as John Byrne, I will scream, but only uncontrollably because my head will have spontaneously combusted.

I'll keep my issues of CONSPIRACY, though.

[blast_front]

He's not Dan Abnett. Abnett's been writing novels for Games Workshop's Black Library imprint for years.

[Typo Lad]

Abnett's been around for some time, actually.

[jimmything2681]

Abnett's been around for some time, actually.

I'll cross this thread over with the "what do you want to see in print" thread and mention that Abnett co-wrote Legion Lost, which I DEMAND in trade.

[Typo Lad]

I'll cross this thread over with the "what do you want to see in print" thread and mention that Abnett co-wrote Legion Lost, which I DEMAND in trade.

Sigh. Life's not fair, is it?

They also wrote Ressurection Man before that.

[comicartfan]

there is a John Rozum writing scooby-doo.Didn't Chuck Austen admit to being J.D. Finn?

[Loren]

there is a John Rozum writing scooby-doo.

Rozum had a run on Topps' "X-Files" comic back in the '90s, and he also wrote "Xombi" for Milestone. Here (http://www.manwithoutfear.com/interviews/ddINTERVIEW.shtml?id=Rozum) is an interview with him.

Loren

[the4thpip]

there is a John Rozum writing scooby-doo.Didn't Chuck Austen admit to being J.D. Finn?
John Rozum is another great Milestone talent (Xombi and Kobalt). He also wrote two Midnight, Mass. mini series for Vertigo.

[PatrickG]

I think what we're pretty much left with are three possibilities:

1) John Byrne has been using a pen name for a decade.

2) John Byrne has been using someone as a stand-in for his pseudonym at conventions.

3) John Byrne is full of #$%#.

[stealthwise]

I'll take what's behind door number three. :)

[Sean Whitmore]

3) John Byrne is full of #$%#.


That's gotta be the answer.

I like Byrne's writing, so nobody take this as an insult, but he has a definite style that he hasn't deviated from since...well, since I'VE been alive, anyhow.

LOTS of dialogue (not stuttering starts and stops like Bendis' characters, but full-on verbal diarehha). Lots of explanations (why Superman's costume doesn't tear, why Namor is violent). Changes in status quo (Invisible Girl becomes Invisible Woman, Vision goes from red/green to white). Retcons to things that don't really make sense (Scarlet Witch's children not real, Vision isn't the original Human Torch). Lots of science (or at least pseudoscience). Heroes show extreme intelligence, and usually defeat bad guys in ways other than just hitting them. Heroes make jokes or witty insights constantly during fights (even Jason Blood was a little more verbal). Lots of new villains rather than using old ones. No "story arcs", stories flow from one to another without predetermined start and stop points. Lots and lots of subplots, which always get at least a little mention every issue.

If Byrne has been writing a DC book for any amount of time, believe me, it'd be almost instantly noticeable. Unless he's using the term "DC" loosely (Vertigo, Wildstorm, Johnny DC), or there's some regular DC book out there I've NEVER read in the past year or so (and I can't think of any), then this is B.S.



SEAN

[ssurly]

right...you sure got it pegged sean...

cause NEXT MEN sounded SOOOOO much like Lab Rats...

And FF sounded soooo much like HELLBOY

and Generations I??? man, if that wasn't trial of Galactus, I don't know what is?

are you kidding?
Nothing better than pseudo intellectual comicbook theories....wow....I miss the days before the internet when the only over the top comicbook opinion I got was from my LCS owner.

David

[Sean Whitmore]

right...you sure got it pegged sean...


Thanks, I know I did. :D


cause NEXT MEN sounded SOOOOO much like Lab Rats...


Didn't read either, so I honestly can't say. Although more than likely, if I had read either one of those titles without knowing beforehand that Byrne wrote them, I'd have been able to figure it out. Which was my point.


And FF sounded soooo much like HELLBOY


Byrne only scripted Hellboy, but don't let that get in the way, you've got some fine satire brewin' there.


and Generations I??? man, if that wasn't trial of Galactus, I don't know what is?


You...you CAN read, right? I just wanted to make sure, because you either didn't read or didn't understand my post. The latter is forgivable, the former is just plain irritating.

As irritating as the compulsive need to defend Byrne from something that was in no way, shape, or form an insult. But I guess that's my fault for opting to go with a small "I like Byrne's writing" disclaimer rather than a 20-point font, bold, underlined love letter to the man.


SEAN

[ssurly]

"I like Byrne's writing, so nobody take this as an insult, but he has a definite style that he hasn't deviated from since...well, since I'VE been alive, anyhow.

LOTS of dialogue (not stuttering starts and stops like Bendis' characters, but full-on verbal diarehha). "

Yep, you got me....you sure LIKE his writing...I can tell by the glowing praise you offer in the first two sentences of your first post (pasted above).

Well, I refuse to defend his work overall, like other fans of his work may, as I don't enjoy everything he has done (Lab Rats, Doom Patrol or Wonder Woman) BUT I refuse to generalize in my negativity either, as you have done (something I try not to do...well, since I'VE been alive, anyhow).

So anyway, I'm off to have some full on diarehha and I'll see ya later....

David

[Sean Whitmore]

"I like Byrne's writing, so nobody take this as an insult, but he has a definite style that he hasn't deviated from since...well, since I'VE been alive, anyhow."


And in my opinion, he hasn't. Doesn't mean I don't like it. Tarantino and David Mamet haven't changed their styles much either, and I still like them. Sticking with what works isn't a crime.


LOTS of dialogue (not stuttering starts and stops like Bendis' characters, but full-on verbal diarehha). "


Oh, take the stick out, it was a joke. His characters are wordy, like Claremont's. It's almost endearing, in a way.


Yep, you got me....you sure LIKE his writing...


Thanks, glad I could convince you. Now I can die fulfilled that a complete stranger doesn't think I'm lying. :)


SEAN

[Matches Malone]

right...you sure got it pegged sean...

cause NEXT MEN sounded SOOOOO much like Lab Rats...

And FF sounded soooo much like HELLBOY

and Generations I??? man, if that wasn't trial of Galactus, I don't know what is?



You *read* LAB RATS?!?

Well, I didn't. Maybe that was totally different from his other work. But the writing styles of Next Men, FF, Incredible Hulk, Generations... yup, Sean pretty much nailed it. Love it or hate it, Byrne has a very consistent style.

[Typo Lad]

I think content is being confused with style by some.

Mr. Byrne's content changes. DIfferent plots. However, stylistically he's pretty conisitant.

Which isn't a BAD thing, per se.

[the4thpip]

Nothing better than pseudo intellectual comicbook theories....wow....I miss the days before the internet when the only over the top comicbook opinion I got was from my LCS owner.

David
Few people realize that Comic Book Message Boards are much older than the internet.

As far back as the 1940s, fans would exchange on the National and All American message boards, big wooden boards hung outside the main offices that people could attach notes to with thumb tacks.

You may find that primitive, but consider this: They had the ability to post pictures and edit posts long before the internet forums got those features.

For many people, that was the Golden Age of message board posting. It was far from a perfect world, though: The Comics Cavalcade board was full of trolls.