In 1995, John Byrne took what was supposed to be a short break from his series Next Men after issue 30. But thanks to the implosion of the comics market, the 31st issue never came. Now, 13 years later, Byrne says a revival could very well be possible, but it's in the hands of comics reader.
Byrne is teaming with IDW Publishing on Compleat Next Men, which will collect the entire series in large black and white paperbacks. And depending on how the volumes sell, the final piece of the Next Men story may finally be released. "This package is going to be the big test," Byrne said. "Next Men was planned as a finite project. I even know the last line! If this collection generates encouraging sales, perhaps I will finally get those last 20 issues out on paper!"
For now, fans will have to satisfy themselves with the Compleat volumes, the first of which is out now. The story follows five teens who were genetically engineered to have superpowers and their battle against the corrupt government agency that created them. The first volume features issues 0-12, plus the 2112 graphic novel that served as both sequel and prequel to the series. IDW publisher and editor-in-chief Chris Ryall reached out to Byrne about collecting Next Men, which he had long admired.
"The series has always been one of my favorite things he's done. It really just takes all of his experience with other people’s superhero titles and extends that promise into characters and situations he could fully control and change in ways that he'd never been free to do before," Ryall said. “It's really a masterful piece of work, and something that deserves to be easily accessible for readers. The series just feels vibrant and current even 15 or so years later.”
“The [graphic novel] format is great because it not only allows us to present a good 20-plus issues of story in one volume,” Ryall explained, “but it shows off the amazing detail in John's art. The coloring on the original series didn't necessarily flatter the artwork as well as it could have."
Looking back at the series, which offered commentary on the shape of things to come, Byrne said he's surprised by some of his story elements that are now topical, including paranoia about the government and gene manipulation. He also noticed a few things that didn't come true, including a reference to Colin Powell as president. "Maybe I should have that changed to Obama," Byrne said
The series first appeared in 1991, after Byrne decided to try something outside of the mainstream books he was working on, such popular series as X-Men, Superman and Fantastic Four. Those projects were limiting, Byrne said, because so much already had been done, and editorial policies called for stories to follow fairly standard formats. With Next Men, Byrne decided that instead of writing so each issue would be easy to understand for a first-time reader, he would challenge himself by crafting a complete story with each issue as a true chapter free of too much exposition.
"That very much changed the way the book was written, and, most especially, the way it reads in a collected format like this new package," Byrne said. Byrne also wanted to write a superhero story more grounded in reality. "I was weary of various other books being referred to as 'realistic' in their take on superheroes," he said. "I would respond, yes—especially when they beam in the telepathic monster at the end!'" Byrne said he wouldn't label Next Men as "realistic," which he said has become a "meaningless buzzword" for modern comics.
"One of the fun challenges for me, doing books like Superman or Fantastic Four, was to address real world issues without stepping outside the familiar boundaries," he said. "Alas, many writers and artists today seem to want to pull everything down to ground level and pick it apart, in the name of 'realism,' instead of hanging on to the essential grandeur of the superhero motif and viewing reality through that lens,” Byrne explained. “Even in Next Men, I tried to keep that 'this is amazing stuff' vibe going, while the stories and interactions were more down to earth. It's all about context and, importantly, contrast."
While Byrne is widely known for his work for Marvel and DC, Ryall said it's Byrne's more personal work in Next Men that gives readers a full sense of who he is as an artist. "The thing about guys who've been in the business for decades is that there's a tendency to almost take them for granted, since some of their work is so familiar, so often read and reprinted," Ryall said. "But series like this that maybe didn't have the reach of John's X-Men or Fantastic Four are solid evidence that even creators who people think they know are capable of so much more than what their well-known books show."
In addition to putting together the Compleat Next Men volumes, Byrne is also writing several Star Trek books for IDW, including Assignment: Earth, Romulans: The Hollow Crown and an upcoming book tentatively titled Crew. He also hinted at a couple other non-Star Trek projects in the works, though no word yet if that includes the final 20 issues of Next Men.
