'The All New Atom' #1 (September 2006).
John Byrne was born in 1950 in Walsall, England. His family emigrated to Canada in 1958, where wanderlust caused them to move around so much that Byrne attended nine schools in eleven years. Eventually he found himself at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, where he completed two and a half years of a four-year course in Fine Arts before he and his instructors came to the mutual conclusion there was little that they could offer to someone who wanted to be a "cartoonist".
Comic art by John Byrne, 1981.
Byrne pursued this profession until 1975 when he gained full-time employment in the comics field, starting with 'Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch' for Charlton Comics. He eventually moved on to Marvel and DC where he worked on virtually every character owned by either company, most notably 'The Fantastic Four' and 'Superman'.
'The All New Atom' #1 (September 2006).
In 1977, Byrne took on 'X-Men', Marvel's most popular series at the time. He worked continuously in comics, and seeking new heights to conquer, in 1986 he accepted the daunting assignment of revamping the oldest and most famous of all superheroes, 'Superman'. Beginning with the hugely successful 'Man of Steel' mini-series, Byrne brought Superman back to the attention of the fans, and that success continues today.
Artwork by John Byrne.
Finally, in 1990, Byrne decided to venture into the unpredictable waters of creator-owned works, launching 'Next Men' in 1991. Following that success he brought out 'Danger Unlimited', followed by 'Babe', both published by Dark Horse in 1994. Back at DC, Byrne wrote and drew 'Wonder Woman' from 1995 on, while also drawing for the Marvel titles 'X-Men: Hidden Years', 'Spider-Woman', and 'Marvel: The Lost Generation' . From 1999 on, he is the regular artist on 'Superman & Batman: Generation'. In 2002, he created 'Rat Labs', published by DC. John Byrne lives and works in Connecticut.
In 1987, rock musician Joe Satriani released an album named 'Surfing with the Alien', which featured an image of a 'Silver Surfer' comic by Byrne. Byrne claimed in an interview that this image was used without his permission and that he wasn't paid for it. Yet as it turns out, Marvel's copyright is acknowledged in the credits of the album.
John Byrne was an influence on Logan Kowalsky.
'The Amazing Spider-Man'.