does anyone know why John Byrne left the Atom title?

[jam]

The thread title says it all.

Was it prearranged that he would help "launch" the title and then leave?

I'm a self-confessed Byrne-victim so I was sorry to see him go. What else is he doing at the moment?

I'm certainly not dropping the title, I'm very much enjoying what Gail Simone is doing, and I hope we are in for a long run.

[the4thpip]

What else is he doing at the moment?

Private commissions. Oh, and he has a chapter in the upcoming DC Christmas special. But other than that, John Byrne is not currently working in the comicbooks industry.

[david r]

Some have speculated that John Byrne is off the new Atom title because he refused to draw the "Superman Returns" comic book adaptation. Which he had originally agreed to drawing, thinking it was for "Superman" from 1978.

Not only did he leave "Atom", but his planned reunion with Roger Stern on JLA: Classified seems to have gone missing. And Byrne said that "Generations 4" was also nixed.

So conspiracy theorists continue to speculate on why Byrne is finished with DC Comics. I think John said that he'd only agreed to illustrate the first few Atom issues.

[jam]

Some have speculated that John Byrne is off the new Atom title because he refused to draw the "Superman Returns" comic book adaptation. Which he had originally agreed to drawing, thinking it was for "Superman" from 1978.

Not only did he leave "Atom", but his planned reunion with Roger Stern on JLA: Classified seems to have gone missing. And Byrne said that "Generations 4" was also nixed.

So conspiracy theorists continue to speculate on why Byrne is finished with DC Comics. I think John said that he'd only agreed to illustrate the first few Atom issues.

I'm rather disappointed about the JLA:Classified and Generations 4 not going to happen. I would've liked to see his work on the Superman Returns adaptation but that was down to Mr. Byrne's choice.

I kind of wondered if he'd just done the first couple of Atom issues to help launch it. Still, a great shame.

So, as far as I understand it, Mr. Byrne is now finished with DC and Marvel. Hmm. Where to next, I wonder?

[Agentum]

He is not hot enough to be able to back out of work like that, they will not miss him.

He can try to do his own comics of course but i think he has had his 15 minutes.
He is not the Alan Moore of artist that people is waiting on to get whatever he choose to do almost.

[david r]

So, as far as I understand it, Mr. Byrne is now finished with DC and Marvel. Hmm. Where to next, I wonder?

John is a workhorse. The fact that he's only drawing commissions right now, tells me that DC Comics have let him go. Otherwise, he'd be hard at work on his new title.

I could see Byrne return to DC though, because I've read that Top DC editor Dan Didio is a big fan of his.

[DDM]

John is a workhorse. The fact that he's only drawing commissions right now, tells me that DC Comics have let him go. Otherwise, he'd be hard at work on his new title.

I could see Byrne return to DC though, because I've read that Top DC editor Dan Didio is a big fan of his.

I think Byrne's only DC book was The Atom. DC may be working with Byrne for some possible new books to pencil &/or write.

I thought I read somewhere Byrne was talking to Marvel again since he was quiet about the rumor itself.

[Ontir]

I seem to recall that he was off Atom, and out of DC. He won't go back to Marvel with Quesada there, which leaves me hoping, that if he hasn't burned bridges @ Darkhorse, he'll re-start his creator-owned properties again. I'd love to see him get Next Men and Danger Unlimited back on track. They're actually the only titles he could do, that I'd consider spending money on, again.

He's been a giant in the field for a long time, and was a great inspiration to me, as a developing artist in the 80's; but I have a hard time looking solely at his current, not-as-good, work, and not his horrendous statements and treatment of people. What comes across, is that he's a man who is too set in a certain time, to be a part of the present, and it's made him incredibly bitter, and unbearable. Seeing a vanguard become passé is quite sad.

[Fatguy]

Hmm, I hadnt heard he wasnt the artist anymore. Somewhat too bad, I was liking his stuff on Atom more than I had any of his work for some time now.

Any word on who the regular artist is gonna be now? I love what Gail's doing, a very off-beat book so far ;)

[david r]

I thought I read somewhere Byrne was talking to Marvel again since he was quiet about the rumor itself.

There were rumors that Byrne was the new artist on Ultimate Spider-Man. Byrne came on his message board and shot that rumor straight down.

Joe Quesada was asked at a convention what creators he would never hire for Marvel. In a humorous way, Quesada tried to not answer, but did say one name--- "John Byrne".

[Gozwald73]

look, no offense to a guy I never met, but I really didn't agree with the way he makes everyone look like little gnomes.

[G. Boney]

Now that he's off of Atom I can check it out...

[Sean Whitmore]

I seem to recall that he was off Atom, and out of DC. He won't go back to Marvel with Quesada there, which leaves me hoping, that if he hasn't burned bridges @ Darkhorse, he'll re-start his creator-owned properties again. I'd love to see him get Next Men and Danger Unlimited back on track. They're actually the only titles he could do, that I'd consider spending money on, again.

Everyone keeps saying that if Byrne returned to Next Men, they would buy it. Even the people who hate him say it.

So is there some reason he HASN'T returned to Next Men in all this time? Legal issues, boredom of the characters, anything?


SEAN

[Ontir]

When he left Next Men he was being sued by Marvel, who felt it was too close to X-Men; but in that last issue, we saw the cover to the next issue, and he told us he was taking a break, and when he came back, it would be re-titled. I'm not sure if anything is blocking him from returning, other than his statement that he wasn't making enough money from Next Men, Babe, and Danger Unlimited to make it worthwhile.

Supposedly he was making in excess of a half million/year working for Marvel & DC (that's what was reported), so I can see that going indie might be a bit less money; but at the same time, after a certain amount of time in a successful career, it seems a person ought to be able to do his own thing, even for a bit less. That's just a guess though.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I've been both disgusted and saddened with what John Byrne has done with his reputation and career over the past several years, but I also think that returning to Next Men and finishing off that epic would be the best project to do right now.

He's burned his bridges at both Marvel & DC and claims he has enough money that he doesn't need to work for either. So, what's stopping him?