Comments on: Death and sex in comics - John Byrne's Next Men

By: carthell

carthell — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:02:16 +0000

Point of order: Ms. Tolliver, the artist at Dollar Comics, has a first name of "Sandy," not "Sally." Back in the early '90s I managed to pick up three issues, and couldn't go on because of my personal financial situation. Fifteen years later, I get a chance to pick up the entire series. I and a few of my family members like what was produced and would like Byrne to finish the story, but we have serious doubts that he ever will. The amount of time that has passed is a factor. Another is the state of the monthly-produced comic. All of my purchases have been solely directed to the trade paperback during this decade, and I wouldn't have it any other way. (I await a certain Perez-drawn "Final Crisis" collection that will be published later this year.) I'm not sure whether Byrne or his publisher would have the patience to wait for a customer like me to open my wallet.

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:38:33 +0000

Hilltop and Jasmine definitely had actual sex. In fact it was a plot point. Superpowers were sexually transmitted in the world of Next Men. The whole reason Hilltop turns into Sathanas is because he had sex with Jasmine.

In fact, I believe Hilltop even mentions that Sathanas told him to have sex with Jasmine. He mentions it to his aide and when his aide questions it he says something about "assuming it is a reward" or something. In reality, Sathanas was merely assuring his own existence.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:48:09 +0000

for a while now, seemingly fixated on the idea that comics achieved perfection in 1969 and anyone who messes with that might as well pee on Jack Kirby’s grave.

YOU ARE SO WRONG!

He thinks anyone who messes with that, except for him, is pissing on Kirby's grave.

Check out his board - you change a character slightly from how they were originally, you're wrong.
You change a character back to how it was from a change he made, you're wrong.

By: C adams

C adams — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:22:01 +0000

I like the stories and own the Dark Horse TPBs but I find them so depressingly dark that I have a hrd time re-reading them.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:18:53 +0000

Felicity: Whoops, I forgot to mention the discrepancy. Byrne names TWO characters "Sally." The first Sally, the one with whom Hilltop has sex, is the lady who leads Danny to the computer so he discovers that his mother is still alive. She doesn't appear after we learn that she's a mole for Hilltop. The later Sally is the girl who works at the comic company. Byrne likes the name Sally, apparently. You're probably right about Hilltop's sex with Jazz. I should change that.

By: Felicity

Felicity — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:46:11 +0000

Was Sally the girl working at the comic company? I don't remember Hilltop having sex with her (see "Next Men #10"). And I don't think the sex Hilltop had with Jazz in #28 was "virtual." It was real; he was just lying to her and saying that everything before that was virtual.

By: Jbird

Jbird — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:52:36 +0000

The difference is that six death scenes an issue is pulp, while six sex scenes an issue is smut.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:13:08 +0000

Blackjak: Possibly. I want to do complete runs in these posts, and so far I don't own all the issues of Elementals, but when (or if, I suppose) I get them, that would be an interesting series to check out.

By: Ryan Day

Ryan Day — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:55:53 +0000

On the one hand, I loved Next Men and I'd like to see it return. But Byrne's been really ... off .. for a while now, seemingly fixated on the idea that comics achieved perfection in 1969 and anyone who messes with that might as well pee on Jack Kirby's grave. I don't think he's the same artist he was when he was doing the book. Besides, the ending is pretty great, and that "Next issue..." picture with the dinosaur is awesome. I don't know if you could top that. A bit like the Angel finale, actually - and it turned out that yes, in fact, everything after that really is anticlimactic.

By: Blackjak

Blackjak — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:33:41 +0000

Think you might be able to push the death/sex balance the other way by going through "Elementals"?

By: Tom Fitzpatrick

Tom Fitzpatrick — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:31:14 +0000

@Jack Norris:

I think you might be pleased to know that IDW is reprinting DANGER UNLIMITED/BABE in an upcoming tpb.

I think there's even a possibility that there may be a NEW Danger Unlimited series (mini?) out this year too.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:47:19 +0000

Cory - in fairness to Byrne, Next Men was a comic published by a smaller publisher marketed to an older audience. I don't think it's that inconsistent to be ok with adult-level themes in books like that while still objecting to adult-level themes in Big Two books that have more widespread distribution and have traditionally served as the gateway for new, younger comics readers.

By: stealthwise

stealthwise — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:40:53 +0000

That's better, it wouldn't let me change it the first time. Yeah, I was gonna make some comment about Next Men, but now I can't remember what it was.

By: Cory Strode

Cory Strode — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:59:27 +0000

And Byrne is one of the first creators to talk about how bad it is that comics are now all full of adult level themes and stories.

Funny, that.

By: Jack Norris

Jack Norris — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:43:12 +0000

You know what came out around the same time period and I liked a lot better? Danger: Unlimited. I was almost convinced that Byrne had made some kind of turnaround in his slide into shittiness with that book. Then he cut it ridiculously short by preemptively cancelling it and devoting his energies to stuff that didn't grab me, like this.

By: Nitz the Bloody

Nitz the Bloody — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:57 +0000

Having read the first Next Men compilation, I wish it would return as well; it could go from being a flawed masterpiece as an incomplete creator-owned experiment to a full masterpiece, if revisited by Byrne with proper care.

By: David

David — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:43:32 +0000

I have all of the Next Men trades, and I sure would be thrilled if Byrne would finish the story...

By: Tom Fitzpatrick

Tom Fitzpatrick — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:01:02 +0000

Mr. Burgas, thy name is "bodycount"!

You really have sex on the mind, don't you?

Maybe John Byrne will have lots of sex 'n' death in the next new NEXT MEN series.

If there is any new series from the Byrne.