John Byrne’s WW

[Gaius]

That is something I have always wondered about. How does the board view Diana's armour/costume/suit?

I was researching Adam Hughes and other WW artists and discovered that for him, he viewed the costume as two pieces--one crimson and gold piece and a cloth short. I think Yanick Paquette interpreted it as a cloth or other textile with only the gold pieces being armoured. Perez consider it three pieces--all metal/armoured--judging from his art and his text. He never had it sundered. That was one of the few elements Messner-Loebs kept as he incorporated narrative text that indicated that her costume was high indestructible and defied analysis.

How do you guys view it? Is it regular cloth or leather with only some bits metal? Can the Amazons create indestructible metal clothing?

The pre-Flashpoint swimsuit always looked like cloth to me save for the belt and chest emblem, in the runs I read at least. New 52 is when I noticed it looked to be armored rather than just fabric.

[Enigma]

If I had to sit down and rank my favourite WW runs, John Byrne's doesn't even come into my thought process. That said, I don't think it's especially bad, it's just regular OK WW.

[Pinsir]

If I had to sit down and rank my favourite WW runs, John Byrne's doesn't even come into my thought process. That said, I don't think it's especially bad, it's just regular OK WW.

So...what's the list?

[Mel Dyer]

So...what's the list?

I think John had such a BRILLIANT start and could have been a definitive WW run. More than anything, it had a balance of action, situation drama, backstory and plotting, comparatively superior to runs that finished much better, than his. However, all of that doesn't count for much, because he couldn't carry it off, in a consistent, linear fashion. Could good editing have prevented this crash? Maybe...probably.

I think Stan Lee would have hung a boot up his caboose, if John, fresh off of those first six or seven amazing issues, started handing him, piece by piece, ..the truly horrid, wasteful work that would eventually become his run. The Byrne run makes me very sad, ..and I'm nuts about John Byrne.

[Zahina]

Simplifying the star spangled-ness of her shirts to just 2 big stars as a time saver as an artist was a BAD sign of being overworked. I did like Byrnes connecting the belt with the emblem, though. It unified the design.

I heard that George Perez criticized John Byrne for being lazy by only putting 2 stars and not multiple stars on the outfit.

[Agent Z]

Do you mean Donna's original post-Crisis origin? Because that was still needlessly complicated compared to the pre-COIE one they had finally got settled, so much so that even Wolfman considered it a shame that they had to do it at all.

I meant the pre-COIE one.

[Stanlos]

I heard that George Perez criticized John Byrne for being lazy by only putting 2 stars and not multiple stars on the outfit.

Alex Ross famously called him out in a Wizard interview.

[Enigma]

So...what's the list?

Perez > Simone > everything else in one pile. To be fair though, the only other WW I've picked up so far are Jimenez, Byrne Deodato, ML (only the first recent collected volume) and a few stand alone works. Lot's still to enjoy I was planning to read Rucka's run next, but wasn't huge on The Hiketeia so it's gone down my list of priorities a little. Getting my first golden age omnibus at Christmas.

Honestly though, from what I've read, Perez's run sits high above the rest for me. I don't know if there is an aspect of it being my introduction to WW, but I'm glad that it was.

[SJNeal]

On the "John Byrne tried to do too much front", whenever he writes, pencils, inks, and even letters a comic, his overall work suffers. I think he maxes out at 3 of those roles and is probably best left at only 2.

Completely agree. Had he been confined to inking and lettering, I'd have probably loved this run!

[SJNeal]

It's cute there but it started like this...
Attachment 101763

I remember in the letter column of #100 it was stated that Brian Bolland would be back on covers after #101, but alas, that never happened. What I don't recall reading is a reason why...?

I'm gonna be cynical and assume Byrne's infamous ego kicked in and he insisted on doing *everything*.

[Jim Kelly]

I heard that George Perez criticized John Byrne for being lazy by only putting 2 stars and not multiple stars on the outfit.

Alex Ross famously called him out in a Wizard interview.

There must be more context, as I just can't believe professionals like Perez and Ross would make such irresponsible comments about the creative choices of a colleague in the industry. Did they make the same comment about Bob Oksner's Wonder Woman?

[Largo161]

Byrne was writing, penciling, inking and lettering the book...and folks use the 2 -star costume as an example of him being lazy?

Make it make sense.

[Koriand'r]

Byrne was writing, penciling, inking and lettering the book...and folks use the 2 -star costume as an example of him being lazy?

Make it make sense.

It was pure laziness, you can tell by the way he undid all his changes to the costume in his final issue.

JB LAST ISSUE RCO023.jpg

Also notice the under eye and laugh lines are gone and replaced by dimples. Like I said she got prettier after he stopped doing his own inks.

[Largo161]

It was pure laziness, you can tell by the way he undid all his changes to the costume in his final issue.

JB LAST ISSUE RCO023.jpg

Also notice the under eye and laugh lines are gone and replaced by dimples. Like I said she got prettier after he stopped doing his own inks.

Did he not ink the panel above?


At any rate, to each his own.

Cutting corners on a relatively minor detail, while doing the work of four people on the book, every month for three years, isn’t what I call lazy.

[SJNeal]

There must be more context, as I just can't believe professionals like Perez and Ross would make such irresponsible comments about the creative choices of a colleague in the industry. Did they make the same comment about Bob Oksner's Wonder Woman?

Byrne was writing, penciling, inking and lettering the book...and folks use the 2 -star costume as an example of him being lazy?

Make it make sense.

Byrne's a polarizing figure with a long reputation of being difficult to work with.

I'm gonna speculate that these digs by other professionals are the result of personal interactions they may have had with the man.