That Time The Vision Went On The Tonight Show With Charo And Pee-Wee Herman!

You remember back in the day when John Byrne ruined the Vision, right?

Well, he almost redeemed himself by having the Vision go on Johnny Carson.

See, it turns out that after his transformation, no one recognized our favorite syntheziod:

Gee, a little bit of self-aware commentary there, Mr. Byrne?

Well, the Vision takes that advice to heart...

And, in his logical mind, the best move is...

To interrupt a taping of the Tonight Show!!

And based on the audience reaction...

...yeah, he really does need the PR!

Johnny knows how to roll with the unexpected...

Did I mention Charo was a guest that night?

Sigh...

Well, Vision's TV appearance was no doubt effect, but it also amused the hell out of his teammates:

Reminder: you were only allowed to be on Byrne's West Coast Avengers if you wore red and/or black, or gave up color altogether. No one knows why...

From Avengers Spotlight #23 (1989)

Another Hidden Crossover/Art Lesson!

A couple of months ago, we took a look at a sub rosa Fantastic Four/Avengers crossover. They were unknowingly working on the same threat from different ends, as it were. And as John Byrne did the art for both issues, he drew the same scenes from different perspectives for each title.

Well, it's a couple of years later, and it's time for another "hey, what are you guys doing here" crossover, courtesy of Fantastic Four Annual #19 (1985) and Avengers Annual #14 (1985).

Let start with the covers, showing the same scene, first from the FF's perspective, by Kerry Gammill and Joe Sinnott:

Same scene, from the Avengers' point of view, cover by Gammill and Kyle Baker:

The interior art for both annuals was by Byrne, and we have one more panel of same scene/different viewpoint:

But here's where this crossover differs from the last one...because while we get several pages depicting the same scenes, they abandoned the different perspective part, and basically used the exact same set of pencil breakdowns for each story. And it makes for a fascinating lesson in the contributions of inkers, colorists, and even letterers.

First, the FF version--pencils by Byrne, inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Glynis Oliver, and letters by Jim Novak:

And the Avengers version: same script, pencils by Byrne, inks by Kyle Baker, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by John Workman:

Fantastic Four version:

Avengers version:

FF:

Avengers:

FF:

Avengers:

FF:

Avengers:

FF:

Avengers:

FF:

Avengers:

FF:

Avengers:

Lots and lots of interesting choices and differences there, eh? Don't ever let anyone tell you that inkers and letterers and colorists don't make a huge difference!

Manic Monday Triple Overtime--Same Crossover, Different Perspectives!

Back in July 1983, Marvel had a kind of hidden crossover between Avengers #233 and Fantastic Four #256.

Annihilus was dying, you see, and had taken over the Baxter Building in a plan to end both our universe and the Negative Zone in one vainglorious attempt to take everyone with him.

The FF were trapped in the Negative Zone at the time, and had to work to get back to Earth.

Meanwhile, the Avengers knew nothing of that, but were trying to burst through an impenetrable "null field" that was spreading from the Baxter Building.

So, both teams working on the same problem, from a different end, unbeknownst to the other. A crossover that wasn't quite a crossover...until the last two pages of each issue--which were the identical scene!!

Of course, John Byrne wrote and drew the FF version. He also "co-plotted" the Avengers version (scripted by Roger Stern), and did the "breakdowns," with "finished art" by Joltin' Joe Sinnott!

So, for your continuing comic education, please take note the same scene done my (mostly) the same artist, but from different perspectives. (Also note the the word balloon attributed to Johnny in the FF version is given to Reed in the Avengers version--No-Prize!! No-Prize!!)

Fantastic Four #256:

Avengers #233:

Fantastic Four #256:

Avengers #233:

I hope you were taking notes; this will be on the test.

Manic Monday Bonus--Byrne: 1999!!

Then there was that time that John Byrne had Martin Landau trapped in space without a helmet...

I have no idea what the rights situation might be. But given the hunger of some comic companies to throw classic genre franchises at us with all-star art teams and infinite variant covers, it's a bit surprising that no one is currently giving us a Space: 1999 comic right now. Hey, IDW, you listening?

And, hey, if someone wanted to do another one of those interminable Green Lantern crossovers, well, Space: 1999 seems a natural. See, Mongul wanted a new Warworld, and so he tried to steal the moon, and...this is why I'm not allowed to write comics.

From Space: 1999 #6 (1976)

Assemble!

Henry Peter Gyrich gives good meeting:

By John Byrne and Gene Day.

Or, if you prefer, you can try the George Perez/Terry Austin version:

From Avengers #181 (1979)

Ff Week #27--Covering Byrne!

I haven't spent a lot of time on the John Byrne era of the Fantastic Four this week, so just let me say...

...I loved it.

Let me also add that I'm glad that post-Superman John Byrne didn't take on the book. Whether it was being spoiled by the ability to rebuild an icon from the ground-floor at DC, or just a general change in his overall style, Byrne's second stint at Marvel seemed obsessed with retcons and "hidden years," as if playing in a shared continuity was no longer good enough for him. He lost that sense of building and expanding, I think, that his FF run had, and moved on to a tearing-down and reshaping mode. or maybe it was just me...