I think John Byrne got overconfident in his own abilities. He took on too much in the 80s after he became convinced that he was the ultimate comics creator in the field. He started off drawing them (UXM), then writing and drawing them (FF), then re-conceptualizing them (Superman).

I recall a spread in USA TODAY back in 86 or so where Byrne's pulling aside his Oxford shirt to reveal Superman's S on a shirt underneath. Life imitates art. Byrne probably was convinced he could do it all.

Now, it seems, not only is he convinced he can still do it all, he's convinced that his visions for comics are the RIGHT ones. Just read his SLUSH shit. Or his posts on his own site. The man reeks of perceived self-importance. Good ole 50K Byrne.

I have little use for his work nowadays. I totally ignored his LAB RATS because the premise didn't grab me. The last serious reading I did of his work was his THE HIDDEN YEARS series of the X-Men he did. I found it had promise, but I disagreed with much of his execution and found his insertion of Storm to be nothing more than a cheeky wink and nod to the 4th Wall.

I still treasure those old UXM. But for me, Byrne is someone from my past.

--Jim