Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Pitt by John Byrne. John Lindley Byrne (born July 6, 1950) is a British-born naturalised American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s Byrne has worked on nearly every major American . His most famous works have been on ’ X-Men and and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Contents. Quotes [ edit ] Pedophilia [ edit ] Pedophiles are almost certainly "born that way". Again, we go to evolutionary conditioning. Seek the youngest, strongest, most healthy, for breeding purposes. A sure (or as sure as it gets) way to guarantee the survival of your genes. Pedophilia also brings along a big heaping helping of learned responses, however. In a society like ours, where "normal" sex is considered by many to be filthy and disgusting, "abnormal" sex is of course even moreso. "Abnormal" in this case meaning anything—even simple physical attraction—that is not "age-appropriate", heterosexual, and strictly for procreation. Preferably missionary position. Thus, any confused individual who finds himself attracted to young girls is likely to find himself attracted to increasingly younger girls, as part of his pattern of self-loathing. So much emotional torment—in victims and victimizers—would surely be set aside if our society was sexually liberated enough to even be able to say "Sure, it's okay to be attracted to eleven year olds. Just don't do anything about it!" (2010) [1] Monthly comics and creator's ability to keep on schedule [ edit ] Imagine, 24 pages of superhero adventures produced by the same writer and artist every month!! How did they do it? (What? By being professional about it? But that's too much like work!) (2008)[2] One of the things that kept most comics from being monthly was that very few artists could produce 24 pages per month. was very much the exception to the rule, but his towering presence at Marvel started to dictate the whole shape of the industry—and that's where problems set in! (2008)[3] Alan Moore [ edit ] Tom Strong and the rest of the ABC bunch leave me cold for a lot of reasons. First—and I realize this is purely subjective, but what isn’t?—I find a smugness, a condescension that reads to me as nostalgia being done by someone who is not in the least bit nostalgic. Almost as if Moore sits down to write and flips his brain 180°, so he’s not really writing what he feels or what he likes, just the exact opposite of what he would usually write. Also, there is the whole pastiche/homage/whatever thing. I find this really annoying. Not just when Moore does it. I can look back on elements of my own work and be annoyed at myself for going down that path. I only did it on rare occasions, tho. Moore has turned it into a career. So much so, that in the post- Watchmen era I have trouble calling to mind much that he has done that was not based on someone else’s previous work. I am not the most original guy on the block, but at least when I do Superman, I do Superman. 1963 was an insult to all the craftsmen who actually worked to produce American comics in that period. I was appalled—and deeply saddened— by the number of “fans” who embraced the series as a “brilliant evocation” of the comics I’d read as a kid. I tried to tell myself the “success” of 1963 merely served to indicate how hungry fans were for “old fashioned” superhero comic books. So much so that they would embrace travesty as tribute. But eventually I came to see this as yet another harbinger of what was to come—of the ever increasing legions who are embarassed to be caught reading , and so would rather see them mocked (or changed beyond recognition, as with current M*****) than simply move on and make room for readers who are happy to enjoy them for what they are. (2005) [4] Grant Morrison [ edit ] I get no sense from Morrison’s work that he has any “love for the genre.” I get the same vibe I get from Moore—a cold and calculated mixing of ingredients the writer knows the fans like, but to which the writer himself has no eviceral [ sic ] connection. Nostalgia without being nostalgic, as I have dubbed it. (2004) [5] Superman [ edit ] Being an immigrant myself, I have something of an insight, I think, into the way Clark’s mind works. I was born in England, and I am proud of my English heritage (I was also quite a lot older than Kal-El when I left “home,” so my connections would be stronger) but I grew up in Canada and I have lived for the last 25 years in the US, and I don’t ever—ever—feel like a “displaced Englishman.” Clark would be proud, too, of his Kryptonian heritage, but later portrayals of him have tried to shoehorn in too much of the pychobabble of adopted children longing for and seeking out their biological parents. Excuse my French, but to me, they fall under the heading of “ungrateful little sh*ts.” On Neil Gaiman (after Gaiman announced his next work would be a re-vamp of Kirby’s ‘The Eternals’) [ edit ] When working with existing “franchises,” any good writer will return to the source material from time to time, to see if s/he can divine from that work something that might have been missed before. This is true whether the work is good, bad, or indifferent. The best place to start, however, no matter what the context, is not by saying “the creator didn’t get it right.” That’s the worst kind of hubris. I have been pilloried for my work on Superman , Spider-Man , Doom Patrol , and in the early days even FF and X-Men , yet I have never once said the creators of those series/characters “didn’t get it right.” It disgusts me not only to read Gaiman saying this—about Jack Kirby of all people!—but to see the cartwheels people are willing to turn in order to make his words seem other than what they are. Apparently, dissing one of the greatest talents this industry has produced is okay, as long as you’re on the Approved List. Next, how Eisner screwed up the Spirit, and Lee and Ditko on Spider- Man —what the heck were they thinking?? Maybe you should keep in mind, then, that the only person who knows if a creator “got it right” is the creator himself. Unless Kirby told Gaiman he felt he didn’t “get it right” on The Eternals , it’s pretty f***ing arrogant of Gaiman to make such a statement. “Kirby didn’t get it right, and I probably won’t either” sound like it should read “I don’t want to do this series.” (2006) [7] Regarding Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s version of Thor [ edit ] As I have noted elsewhere, and with the clarity of hindsight, I think Stan and Jack made a mistake when they decided to make Thor the “real” Thor. “Whosoever holds his hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor(r)! ” That was really all I needed to know. But, of course, the rest of the Norse mythology began appearing early on, so it was only natural (if a tad anal) that fans should start writing in wondering what had happened to the real Thor. (2007) [8] On taking comics back to the basics; ‘rewinding’ or ‘resetting’ to the status quo [ edit ] . were I in charge of either of the Big Two, my “solution” to the ills of the industry would be to “reset” all the books to where they were at some arbitrarily chosen point in time. Usually I say 1976, for many reasons good and bad. Mostly because that’s the last year when, while actually still working in the Biz, I really still felt like a fan. (2007) [9] To harken back to the pre- Crisis days is to play to exactly what I find most wrong with DC these days—their idea of “innovation” is to press “rewind”. And that is most definitely catering to the “old” crowd. (2007) [10] As I have said many times, I don’t care if they wipe away every trace of every book I have ever worked on. I just wish they’d stop doing so by pressing the “rewind” button. That’s just creative bankruptcy. (2005) [11] If ^^***** had the stones they’d say “Screw continuity! As of January 2007, we’re hitting ‘rewind’ and resetting all the books to where they were in 1972—just set in modern time.” No “cosmic events,” no 100 issue crossovers. Just an editorial fiat, like Man of Steel . Only way to get things done. (2006) [12] I’d go back to 1975. I commented elsewhere, recently, that pressing the “rewind” button would be a good idea, as long as it was done across the board, and not piecemeal or in stealth mode, a la “Birthright.” Take all the characters back to their status quo circa 1975, but set the stories now. Since the most anal-retentive fanboys need “explanations” for everything, have the Shaper of Worlds do it at M*****. Not sure who’d be up for the job at DC. (2004) [13] Christopher Reeve [ edit ] I have noticed that people have begun referring to Christopher Reeve as a hero. I do not wish to take away one iota of the courage he must have needed not to wake up screaming every single day, but the hard truth is there was nothing heroic in what happened to him or how he dealt with it. In fact, as far as how he dealt with it he didn’t even have a choice. We could imagine he spent every hour of every day when not in front of the cameras begging family members to simply kill him and get it over with—but none of them did so he had no choice but to deal with each day as it came.* Heroism I believe involves choice. *Not in any way suggesting this is what was happening, just in case there are those who are paralyzed from the neck up who might be reading these words. (2004) [14] Racial semantics [ edit ] There are lots of people who call black people “niggers.” Are both terms “right”? You seem to have missed the rather important point that my response indicated roughly the same percentage of fans and pros use the improper terms for various elements of what we do—but that percentage does not approach a balance. It is not that roughly half say “balloon” and half say “bubble.” It is that some say “bubble” and they are wrong. Um. in point of fact there are plenty of people who use the word “nigger” because that is the word they use, not because they imagine it has any negative racial connotations. That’s precisely why I chose that word as my illustration. The Onion [ edit ] The Onion lost all credibility for me a while back when they did a “story” on the Hudson River cleanup GE was forced to do. As some of you may recall, one of my neighbors is a GE veep, and he was directly in charge of this, so from him I found out all kinds of details the press did not bother to pass along to the public. Since The Onion apparently gets its info from other papers, the story was full of inaccuracies. Pitt (1987 Marvel) comic books. This item is not in stock. If you use the "Add to want list" tab to add this issue to your want list, we will email you when it becomes available. Written by John Byrne and . Art by and Stan Drake. Story continued from (1986) #12. Starring Col. Browning, , and the . Two years ago a phenomenon dubbed the changed the forever. Humans began to develop super-human abilities all over the world. They became known as Paranormal. Last night, Kenneth Connell, possessor of the Starbrand and most powerful of all the Paranormals, tried to place the Brand on an inanimate object. The result. another White Event. Except this time the entire city of , Pennsylvania was destroyed in the process. Thousands of souls snuffed out in an instant. All that remains is a gigantic crater and an unnatural maelstrom. This is the story of what happens next. Comic books in 'New Universe The Pitt' The Pitt Begins. "Farewell, Pittsburgh!" Story by John Byrne. Art by John Byrne and Tom Palmer. The beginning of the end. The mystery surrounding the White Event is finally revealed. What does the Star Brand have to do with it, and what unbelievable mistake does Kenneth Connell make that causes the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people? Story continues in Pitt (1987 Marvel). NOTE: Though this story begins on an up beat note (a portion takes place at a comic convention) it soon takes a dark turn for the worse. This is without a doubt the single most important issue of all the New Universe titles. It sets the stage for the rest of the series. - Odinson, Lone Star Comics Archivist Cover price $0.75. This item is not in stock. If you use the "Add to want list" tab to add this issue to your want list, we will email you when it becomes available. Written by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald. Art by Sal Buscema and Stan Drake. Story continued from Star Brand (1986) #12. Starring Col. Browning, Spitfire, and the Witness. Two years ago a phenomenon dubbed the White Event changed the New Universe forever. Humans began to develop super-human abilities all over the world. They became known as Paranormal. Last night, Kenneth Connell, possessor of the Starbrand and most powerful of all the Paranormals, tried to place the Brand on an inanimate object. The result. another White Event. Except this time the entire city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was destroyed in the process. Thousands of souls snuffed out in an instant. All that remains is a gigantic crater and an unnatural maelstrom. This is the story of what happens next. Marvel Comics New Universe The Pitt #1. THE PITT / COVER / 1 PAGE * Pencils Michael Heisler * Inks Michael Heisler * Colors Michael Heisler * Genre superhero the Pitt THE PITT / COMIC STORY / 46 PAGES * Script John Byrne; Mark Gruenwald * Pencils Sal Buscema * Inks Stan Drake; Chris Ivy (ar . Read More. Item Specifics. Item Description. THE PITT / COVER / 1 PAGE. * Pencils Michael Heisler * Inks Michael Heisler * Colors Michael Heisler. * Genre superhero the Pitt THE PITT / COMIC STORY / 46 PAGES. * Script John Byrne; Mark Gruenwald * Pencils Sal Buscema * Inks Stan Drake; Chris Ivy (art assistant); Donald Hudson (art assistant) * Colors Janet Jackson * Letters Agustin Mas; Michael Heisler; Rick Parker. John Byrne. John Lindley Byrne (born July 6, 1950) is a British-born naturalized American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero. His most famous works have been on Marvel Comics's Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics's Superman franchise. During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works including Next Men and Danger Unlimited . Early life and career. Byrne was born in Walsall, England, but he and his parents (Frank and Nelsie) moved to Canada when he was eight. His first exposure to the American superheroes that would dominate his professional life were reruns of American programs such as The Adventures of Superman on British television. In Britain, he was able to read domestic comics such as The Eagle as well as reprints of DC Comics. [1] He was married to photographer and actress Andrea Braun Byrne for fifteen years. His first encounter with Marvel Comics was in 1962 with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four #5. He later commented that, "the book had an 'edge' like nothing DC was putting out at the time." [2] Jack Kirby's work in particular had a strong influence on Byrne and he has worked with many of the characters Kirby created or co-created. Besides Kirby, Byrne was also influenced by the naturalistic style of Neal Adams. In 1970, Byrne enrolled at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary. He created the superhero parody Gay Guy for the college newspaper which poked fun at the campus stereotype of homosexuality among art students. Gay Guy is also notable for featuring a prototype of the Alpha Flight character Snowbird. While there, he also published his first , ACA Comix #1, featuring "The Death's Head Knight". [3] Byrne left the college in 1973 without graduating. He broke into comics illustrating a two-page story by writer Al Hewetson for Skywald Publications' black-and-white horror magazine Nightmare #20 (August 1974). [ citation needed ] He then began freelancing for Charlton Comics, making his color-comics debut the E-Man backup feature "Rog-2000". This starred a robot character he'd created in the mid-1970s that colleagues Roger Stern and Bob Layton named and began using for spot illustrations in their fanzine CPL ( Contemporary Pictorial Literature ). A Rog-2000 story written by Stern, with art by Byrne and Layton, had gotten the attention of Charlton Comics writer Nicola Cuti, who extended Byrne an invitation. Byrne went on to work on the Charlton books Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch , Doomsday +1 , Space: 1999 , and Emergency! . Professional History. Marvel Comics. Byrne's first story for Marvel Comics was "Dark Asylum" (written by David Kraft), published in Giant-Sized Dracula #5. He began drawing Marvel's lower-selling titles, including Iron Fist , The Champions , and Marvel Team-Up . For many issues, he was paired with writer Chris Claremont. In 1978, he joined Claremont on The Uncanny X-Men with issue 108. Their work together would make them both fan favorites and the X-Men became one of the industry's best-selling titles. Byrne has repeatedly compared his working relationship with Claremont to Gilbert and Sullivan, and has said that they were "almost constantly at war over who the characters were." [4] Byrne became "increasingly unhappy" and left the title with issue 143. He has described his current relationship with Claremont as "cordial" but said it would be "too frustrating" to work with him again. [2] In 2004, however, the two teamed up once more for a brief run on DC's JLA . In the early 1980s Byrne worked on a number of other Marvel books. His nine-issue run (#247-255) with writer Roger Stern on included an issue (#250) in which the Captain was nominated for the US presidency. Marvel persuaded Byrne to write and draw Alpha Flight , a Canadian superhero team who were first introduced "merely to survive a fight with the X-Men". [2] The book was popular (its first issue sold 500,000 copies [5] and critically well regarded, but Byrne has said the book "was never much fun" and that he considered the characters two- dimensional. [2] One of those characters, Northstar, became Marvel's first openly gay superhero. Though intended by Byrne to be gay from the beginning, his homosexuality could only be hinted at during Byrne's tenure on the book. After issue 28, he swapped books with Bill Mantlo, writer of The Incredible Hulk . According to Byrne, he discussed his ideas with editor-in-chief Jim Shooter ahead of time, but once Byrne was on the book, Shooter objected to them. [2] Byrne only wrote and drew six issues (314-319) of the Hulk . Byrne's most important post- X-Men body of work was his six years on The Fantastic Four (#232-293), considered by many to be a "second golden age" [6] on that title. Byrne said his goal was to "Turn the clock back. Get back and see fresh what it was that made the book great at its inception." [7] However, he also made a number of significant changes to the title: the Thing was replaced as a member of the quartet by the She- Hulk, while the Thing had adventures in his own comic (also written by Byrne), and his longtime girlfriend Alicia Masters left him for his teammate the Human Torch; the Invisible Girl was developed into the most powerful member with her heightened control of her refined powers and the self confident assertiveness to use it epitomized by her name change to the Invisible Woman; and the Baxter Building, their headquarters, was destroyed and replaced with Four Freedoms Plaza. Byrne has cited multiple reasons for leaving the book, including "internal office politics" [2] and that "it simply started to get old". [8] Return to Marvel. In 1989, Byrne returned to work on a number of titles for Marvel Comics. His work on West Coast Avengers (issues 42-57, soon renamed Avengers West Coast ) was contingent on his being allowed to do what he called "my Vision story". [2] |The Vision was a long standing Marvel superhero and member of The Avengers, an android originally created by the villain Ultron constructed with the body of the original Human Torch. The Vision went on to join the team, marry his teammate the Scarlet Witch, and father two children by her. Byrne radically changed this, revealing that Ultron lied about the Vision's creation. The android Human Torch was found and joined the WCA. The Vision was disassembled and stripped of his emotions. The couple's twins were revealed to be pieces of the soul of the demon Mephisto. In addition to these changes, Byrne's run is notable for the introduction of the Great Lakes Avengers, an eclectic group of new superheroes. At the request of editor Mark Gruenwald, Byrne wrote and drew a new series, the Sensational She-Hulk . Gruenwald demanded that it be significantly different from the character's 1970s series, the Savage She-Hulk . [5] Byrne's series was comedic and the She-Hulk, who was aware she was in a comic book, regularly broke the fourth wall. Byrne left the book after writing and drawing only the first eight issues. Traditionally at Marvel, writers and editors of regular series are consulted regarding side projects involving those characters, and Byrne was asked for input on Dwayne McDuffie's She-Hulk Ceremony graphic novel. According to Byrne, most of his objections to the story and notations of errors were ignored, and his editor, Bobbie Chase, "was rewriting my stuff to bring it into line with" the story in Ceremony . When Byrne complained to editor in chief Tom DeFalco, he reports that he was fired from the series. [9] He later returned to write and draw issues 31-50 under new editor Renee Witterstaetter. Byrne took over writing Iron Man (#258-277), which was drawn by John Romita Jr. and later by Paul Ryan. Byrne launched a second Armor War, restored The Mandarin as a major Iron Man nemesis and featured the 1950s monster Fin Fang Foom. In 1986, Marvel began publication of a new line of superhero titles created by then-Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, which took place in a continuum removed from the Marvel Universe proper, called the New Universe. In 1987, the New Universe line saw a revamp under the auspices of Executive Editor Mark Gruenwald, and Byrne took over writing and art breakdowns on the line's flagship title, Star Brand (which was renamed The Star Brand during Byrne's term on the book). Byrne's run started with issue #11 and continued until the cancellation of the title eight issues later, along with the rest of the New Universe line. The most significant event that occurred in that title under Byrne's tenure was the destruction of that continuum's city of Pittsburgh by the wielder of the Star Brand. Byrne also started a new series called Namor the Sub-Mariner . Byrne's take on the undersea antihero Namor cast him as the head of a surface company, Oracle, Inc., and had him involved in corporate intrigue. Byrne wrote and drew the book for 25 issues, until new artist Jae Lee inspired a sharp change in the mood and plot of the book. Byrne wrote the book until issue 32. Later works. In later years, Byrne has done titles for Marvel, DC, and other publishers. In particular his work in the late 1990s in Marvel is known as some of more controversial (and criticized by fans), especially the Spider-Man: Chapter One , where Byrne tried to revive interest in the Spider-Man character retelling his earliest adventures, changing some key aspects, and declaring that the new version had supplanted the original stories as official Spider-Man canon. His post-2000 works have often gone off the beaten tracks of the DC and Marvel universes and filled in characters and events in time periods mostly skipped by other comics ( Marvel: The Lost Generation ), or alternate timelines (DC's Superman & Batman: Generations ); a common feature is to have characters who actually age during the course of the series unlike typical characters in ongoing comics. At the present moment, Byrne is working on Star Trek comics. Art style. Byrne has stated his major influences on his art style are Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, and (best known as Moebius), as well as British comics artists Frank Hampson and Frank Bellamy and cartoonist Giles. He later described himself as "a sponge," and told several interviewers of his desire to incorporate influences from Miller and Gene Colan into his style. He has also cited artists John Berkey and as contributors to his style. [ citation needed ] Byrne's original work has been noted as being rough, with his drawings emphasizing curves over straight lines. Byrne has himself admitted to straight lines being "his least favorite artistic element." [10] Ron Goulart has called Byrne's artwork "an eminently acceptable mix of bravura, complexity and storytelling clarity". [11] In Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics , Byrne is charted along with other comics artists in the "Big Triangle". [12] McCloud's placement of Byrne within it identifies his style as similar to Gilbert Hernandez and Jim Lee, making the point that Byrne's line style is naturalistic without being overly detailed. Byrne is, in 2005, an accomplished comic book creator, and is capable of producing virtually all aspects of a book, although he does still produce work in collaboration. The one exception is coloring, since Byrne is color-blind. He has problems distinguishing between some shades of green and brown and penciled Iron Fist for a year believing the costume was brown. While he experimented with his own hand-developed lettering fonts in the early 1980s, he now utilizes a computer font based on the handwriting of the letterer Jack Morelli. [13] Byrne's artistic style, his layouts and his storytelling have been sources of instruction and inspiration to many comics artists, including George Perez, [14] Jim Lee, [15] Todd McFarlane, [16] Bryan Hitch, [17] and Marcos Martín. [18] Awards. He received the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Penciller in 1986 and 1998, and the Squiddy Award for Favorite Penciller in 1993. For his writing, he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Writer six times. For his work as an artist, he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Cover Artist five times. For his work as an inker he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Inker three times. For his work as a penciller, he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Penciller three times.