John Byrne (comics) - Controversies

Controversies

Over the years, Byrne has gained a reputation as a controversial figure, and has noted this himself, stating that “as the people who have figured me out have said, I just don’t suffer fools gladly.” Gail Simone, who worked with Byrne on The All New Atom in 2006, described Byrne, “John is very opinionated; a lot of artists are opinionated, and I'm okay with that. Actually, I think John Byrne is brilliant and his forceful personality is part of that." Byrne’s opinions can lead to disputes, and commentators have noted disputes with Peter David, Jim Shooter, Joe Quesada, Mark Evanier, Marv Wolfman, and Erik Larsen. In 1982, during a panel discussion at the Dallas Fantasy Fair, Byrne made unflattering comments about longtime comics writer and one-time Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas. After a transcript of the panel was published in The Comics Journal No. 75 (September 1982), Thomas threatened a libel suit if Byrne did not apologize. In a letter printed in The Comics Journal No. 82 (July 1983), Byrne retracted his statements, claiming he was only repeating information from others, writing, “I acted only in the office of a parrot."

In the 1980s, Steve Gerber and Jack Kirby lampooned him in Destroyer Duck, drawing him as a character called Cogburn, possessing a removable spine and existing only to serve as a cog in the mammoth corporation that owned him. Erik Larsen created a villain in the 1990s for his Savage Dragon and Freak Force series, Johnny Redbeard/The Creator, who also parodies Byrne; a massive cranium with atrophied appendages, he can bestow superpowers indiscriminately. Tony Isabella has commented upon Byrne’s approachability when at comic conventions, describing him as “friendly, funny, and well-received by those who attended the show.”