John Byrne

John Byrne is a Scottish comic book author, artist and writer best known for his work on Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, X-Men, Alpha Flight, and The Uncanny X-Men. His career spans four decades, during which he has worked for almost every major comic book publisher including DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics and many others.

Although Byrne was born in England, he spent most of his life in Scotland and his career in comics started in 1976 when he drew the cover of Uncanny X-Men #114. This was the beginning of an extremely successful career, as John Byrne quickly became one of Marvel's most popular artists. In the following years he would produce a huge amount of artwork, also becoming a writer in 1979.

Byrne quickly gained considerable fame with his take on the classic Marvel superhero team, the Fantastic Four. This relaunch of the series, with its well-received cover art, brilliant writing and masterful storytelling, immediately propelled him to the top of the comics industry. This series ran for several years and earned acclaim for Byrne's sharp dialogue and for the team-up of the four characters. It was also during this time that Byrne was critically acclaimed for his original romantic triangle between Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch and the Invisible Woman, their love-triangle dynamic making excellent drama.

Another major contribution from Byrne during this time was his take on the X-Men. He opted to bring the original Stan Lee-Jack Kirby characters back to the fore, and portrayed them as a more realistic and humanistic mutant superhero team. In his stories, he heavily emphasized the themes of equality, heroism and humanity – themes that were very popular in the X-Men comics at the time. Byrne also added a sense of complexity to the series which greatly increased readers’ interest and involvement in the X-Men saga.

Byrne also has quite a few highly acclaimed creator-owned series to his name. In particular, he is known for his work on Alpha Flight, Next Men, and Danger Unlimited. Alpha Flight is a team of Canadian super-heroes and features a roster of original characters – something rare for superhero titles. Next Men is a science fiction series based around five genetically engineered superhumans, and is notable for its mature themes and innovative artwork. And Danger Unlimited follows the story of a superhuman mercenary team.

In addition to his work in comics, Byrne has also had an extensive career in television and film. In 1986, he wrote and directed the pilot episode for the American version of the British series Dangermouse, which was adapted for the Disney Channel. He also wrote and directed the live-action film and TV series, The Sensational She-Hulk.

John Byrne has been a major force in the comic book industry and has helped shape many of the popular characters we are familiar with today. He not only helped create and develop characters, but also developed interesting relationships and back stories to bring them to life. He is an artist with a distinct style and an influential writer, who has had a major impact on the comic book industry over the last four decades.