Written and Illustrated by John Byrne
Published by Marvel Arts /
Abrams ComicArts
Is it possible to feel nostalgia for something brand new?
Not just a slight twinge, either, but full-scale, soak it in, been-here-before enjoyment? If John Byrne’s X-Men: Elsewhen is any indication, then yes, it most certainly is.
If you aren’t familiar with this project, a few years back, the somewhat controversial veteran comic book creator John Byrne decided to write and draw what he might have done had he not left Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men at the height of its early resurgence.
Back then, writer Chris Claremont continued on and teamed with several other artists as he headed off in one direction to unprecedented success, while Byrne’s preferences were left in his own mind, for decades.
If you weren’t around at the time, you probably will never understand how crazy big The Uncanny X-Men—a title that had struggled mightily as an also-ran for its first full decade—became after Len Wein and Dave Cockrum relaunched the mutant team as the “new” X-Men in 1975. Before long, newcomer Claremont took on the title and made it his own.
Fan artist turned fan-favorite artist John Byrne was brought onboard and sales zoomed even higher! Back issues quickly soared as well. I actually sold my entire X-Men collection in 1982 to support my relationship with my first grown-up girlfriend. I was more than happy with what I got for it at the time (Money-wise! Get your mind out of the gutter!) but had I waited I could’ve gotten perhaps 50 times as much for those early issues! The girl was gone within the year. Wish now I had kept the comics!
Anyway, Byrne went on to be the acclaimed “showrunner” for Fantastic Four and was later awarded the plum assignment of rebooting Superman completely for DC Comics in 1986. There followed some uniquely Byrne projects such as a Captain America/Batman team-up and several volumes of the Generations Elseworlds stories for DC.
Old-time fans still speculated online as to whether Byrne might one day return to the X-Men but what passes for the X-Men these days is so radically removed from what it was back then, it wouldn’t really matter. It would just be a gimmick from Marvel. But then Byrne himself decided to do his own gimmick.
On social media, Byrne began drawing page after page of X-Men continuity that could have existed 40 years ago, but didn’t. He started his new retro-stories by stepping back a little ways before his original departure, and then never looking back.
The Phoenix is around, but mainly in the background; Jean Grey here has reverted to a child-like innocence; Sauron is back in the Savage Land; Kitty Pryde is around as Sprite and she shows a new student around; and the mutant-hunting Sentinels are back big time.
It’s the Sentinels story that grabs you, with its familiarity and overtones of Dr. Who’s Daleks and Cybermen. The X-Men are joined by the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man as well as several members of the Avengers to fight off the unstoppable giant robots and a new, associated menace.
The characters, the costumes, the virtually unchanged art style—all wonderfully nostalgic. The stories are exiting, filled with action and surprises, but not necessarily better than some of the now-classic Claremont stories that followed Byrne’s departure. (I caught up via all the graphic novel collections!)
Problems? Well, the dialogue has some anachronisms, such as a Harry Potter reference in a story seemingly set before JK ever typed a word about Hogwarts. And what’s with Iron Man saying his armor isn’t actually made of metal? Did I miss something? The inking—by the artist himself and Paul Wills (with a Walt Simonson cameo page!) did occasionally have me longing for Terry Austin.
Abrams ComicArts has done us veteran comics fans a big favor with this one. Having already seen some of the unfinished later pages online, I’m looking forward to the other volumes. Perhaps other creators might be enticed to return to their creations in a similar manner? Just a thought. A shame we missed Steve Ditko. Would have been interesting to see what his Lee-less Spidey might have been.
Booksteve recommends.
