The Art of John Byrne; or, Out of My Head (Volume 1) Paperback – January 1, 1980

I just ordered a new copy of this from Amazon. I lost the original copy which I purchased through the mail from Heroes World when I was in 9th grade (1981!). At that time, John Byrne was the hottest comic book artist around and his work profoundly influenced me as a budding artist then. When I excitedly opened the package containing this book after school I knew that I had something sacred (in comic book terms) in my hands. Pages and pages of unpublished sketches, a great interview, an original story in the back of the book, and great color artwork on the covers. I must have stared at every page for hours. I highly recommend this book for the lovers of John Byrne's art. He brought comic book art into a new era and strongly inspired artists like MacFarlane and Jim Lee. This book is pure fun stuff.

Awesome book for a John Bryne fan. I've been a fan of Bryne's art since childhood and this book is a great find. I found out things about the artist that I never knew in the forward pages and that to my knowledge isn't found online. I just wish there was more pages, still a great book.

The book is as good as I remember. John Byrne was my favourite artist, when growing up in the early 80s. His work on the Xmen, along with Terry Austin and Chris Claremont first brought his talent to my attention. Thanks very much.Ernest Henry

My husband is a huge John Byrne fan and had this book when he was younger, but it had been lost. The seller sent the item quickly, and it was in great shape, especially for the price. A wonderful homage to John Byrne, covering his earlier work that will bring back memories if you read comics as a kid in the 80s and 90s.

Frankly, I was hoping for more sketches and art throughout. Perhaps more color pieces as well. I love John Byrne's art, but was a bit disappointed with this book.

I used to have this book in High School, and it is a very good understanding of the artist.

Thank you.

This "Art Of" book gives us a glimpse of the early John Byrne. At a time when he was just starting his run on the X-Men. For me the X-Men came to a screeching halt when he left the book. Sure there were other outstanding artists but they never portrayed the characters like John Byrne has nor will anyone ever capture his definitive vision of the X-Men. We get to see an early version of John Byrne's Superman. Eventually he did migrate to DC to work on that iconic character. This book is more of a historical snapshot of an artist that was well on his way to becoming a living legend. He took the best of Kirby's designs and raw emotional power in the Marvel characters and redefined them for a new generation of fans. At the time of the publication of this book, which must have been in 1977, 1978 or 1979, John Byrne was the superstar artist and in many ways is now better than ever. It's a crime that he isn't drawing for Marvel or DC Comics anymore because he has so many good years left in him.

A book I've waited to long to buy, the best Byrne art book out there.