John Byrne and Terry Austin's X-Men Artist Edition! Unbeatable Artwork! 

A glorious time to grow up reading comics. The art work on this run was all anyone was talking about at school. The story too.

By the by, that second page cover spread, just before the promo break, was from 1984's "Phoenix: The Untold Story" (which collected the original version of Uncanny 136 before Shooter mandated that the team kill her off).

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Guys. I was in high school when the Clairemont/Byrne X-Men was coming out and my friends and I were always excited to see what the next issue would be. X-Men was such a breath of fresh air compared to the other comics coming out at the time I kept thinking that the feeling we got from it must have been what the kids in 60s felt with the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four. Since I live in Southern California I started going to San Diego Comic-Con around this time and there was one right after X-Men 137 came out. Clairemont and Byrne were sitting next to each other in the dealer's room and Clairemont had a stack of X-Men pages he was selling. I don't remember the prices, but probably around $50 each, which was still too much for me at the time. One page he was really trying to get me to buy was one from 137 where the Nightcrawler figure had been cut out so it could be printed as a single color in the book and Clairemont said he would get Byrne to draw in a new Nightcrawler if I bought the page. Arrgh! I should have found a way to get the money! Ed, your red sleeve with the yellow cuff was great, I kept think of Billy Batson when you pointed to things on the pages.

Awesome stuff. The John Byrne Terry Austin work has so much fine detail, the Artist edition is a must for process heads. Knowing how much fine hatching was done with the pen instead of a screen is eye popping. Classic art, classic comics. Happy New Year Ed & Jim!

🔥✒️🖤🖋️🔥 a Terry Austin Shoot Interview would be RAD! Great to hear some tales about maintaining that deadline… would Byrne’s pencils get loose and Terry had to maintain the look? Also his work with Michael Golden, Mike Mignola etc etc 🔥

You can see the improvements to Byrne's art from his Luke cage & Iron-Fist days,more detail in his art-work. I just may buy this book from amazon. Cockrum laid the foundation for the new X-Men,but,Byrne & Claremont took the baton then ran with it. But,I also have great respect for Cockrum serving in the navy,I also served in the navy for 7 yrs ( and I had-FUN-in the navy,maybe too fun tho-LOL ) I served aboard air-craft carriers most of my time and what fun,carriers have a library,a barber shop,2/3 huge gyms,a ship's store,a couple running tracks,etc,etc,..I LOVED serving on them. GO-NAVY !!! LOL.

Bringing back a lot of great memories for me buying these books on the newsstand and later at the comic shop! B&W Essentials are a poor man’s artist edition and to see monthly Herculean art blown up is so eye opening! As you go through the book you exactly watch Cyclops’s yellow boots go from buccaneer to gradual boot and I only say this because Byrne mentioned it in a interview! Cyclops cut himself shaving in 114& at least through 116 has a notch on his chin! The devil is in the details and to do it month in and month out? Terry Austin always brought his A game to whoever he embellished especially during this era! X-men truly came into their own,first with Dave Cockrum and Byrne and Austin! 1975-1980 in my opinion is my favorite for these characters and you can’t catch lightning like this in a monthly title that often! What a ride!🎯❤️ Happy New Year 2024,guys! Keep reading and making comix!🙏

Unbeatable Artwork is Right! Thank you for the awesome video.

This is amazing to see. I bought all these issues originally as a teenager and readed them to death. John Byrne was my art hero. Still have them in storage sealed in plastic.

Great vid. Yeah, that team of creators was top notch. Like you said, hit after hit. There’s some Byrne Scholastic pages out there somewhere?? Wow! Let the search begin!

The inside cover art is from the wrap around cover of a “what if?” Phoenix untold story.

Great book and perfect video. I particularly like Ed’s “Billy Batson” shirt sleeves peeking into frame!

Hell yes! I need this one

Stunning book, stunning art - thank you for sharing

Byrne is like freestyle, superhero comicbook storytelling at it's finest! Sans ref.

A fantastic Byrne retrospective! My fingers remain crossed for a Transmetropolitan episode(s) in 2024!

Love these artist editions, the ONLY downside to them - is the cost!! Over $100 for a book!?! Geez!!

Just found out X-Men the Animated series was based off these Great Men's artstyle, those Guy knew how to draw *women.*

This has been in my shopping cart but I haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I’ll watch after I get my copy

Such a great pairing. Byrne didn't like some of the things Austin did with zip as he mentioned that at a convention back then. I loved the look. You almost never saw any original art from these X-Men books for sale back in the day. I saw one page for sale at a Creation convention and that was it.

You guys always have interesting content. Best of luck in the new year!

Always thought something was wrong with that Vindicator panel but I wasnt able to put my finger on it... You got it tho. Its very flat. Thanks as always for putting a voice to my eyes.

Idea - analyze Kraven's last hunt...

Yep, (30 minutes in) it's from The Art of John Byrne, right at the start of the book, if I recall right.

that "out of the mind of Byrne" drawing always read different to me. it looks more like he is making a coment on the pressure he is under during the time he marked the self portrait. rather than a ballistic wound. 5 pages a day. YOOOOOOOOOO!!!

SENSEI JOHN BYRNE can say inasmuch as he wants that joe sinott was the best artist who finished his p pencils,. BUT with all due respect,nome understood his ART best than SENSEI TERRY AUSTIN. Austin is a LIVING LEGEND,an ART MONSTER & 1of the most underrated comics book artist of ALL time alongside JOHN TOTLEBEN, STEVEN BISSETTE,VAL MAYERIK

That book is pricy.