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Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus
Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus, Vol. 1
He's one of the most successful comic creators in history, known for epic stints on FANTASTIC FOUR, UNCANNY X-MEN, ALPHA FLIGHT and more! Now, savor John Byrne's wider influence on the Marvel Universe in this collection of shorter -- but no less classic -- runs on top-tier characters! Enjoy Byrne's definitive takes on icons like Captain America, the Hulk, the Avengers, Wolverine and the Silver Surfer, as well as Black Widow and her fellow Champions! Watch as Byrne helps build the legend of Star-Lord, unite Luke Cage and Iron Fist, and introduces an astonishing new Ant-Man!
CHAMPIONS #11-15; MARVEL PREVIEW #11; AVENGERS (1963) #164-166, 181-191; POWER MAN #48-50; MARVEL PREMIERE #47-48; CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #247-255; SILVER SURFER (1982) #1; INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #314-319; WOLVERINE (1988) #17-23; and material from MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #29
Written by John Byrne, Archie Goodwin, Roger Stern, Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, Steven Grant, Mark Gruenwald, Chris Claremont, and Stan Lee
Art by John Byrne with Terry Austin, Klaus Janson, Josef Rubinstein, Bob Layton, Pablo Marcos, Dan Green, Tom Palmer, and more
CHAMPIONS #11-15; MARVEL PREVIEW #11; AVENGERS (1963) #164-166, 181-191; POWER MAN #48-50; MARVEL PREMIERE #47-48; CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #247-255; SILVER SURFER (1982) #1; INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #314-319; WOLVERINE (1988) #17-23; and material from MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #29
Written by John Byrne, Archie Goodwin, Roger Stern, Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, Steven Grant, Mark Gruenwald, Chris Claremont, and Stan Lee
Art by John Byrne with Terry Austin, Klaus Janson, Josef Rubinstein, Bob Layton, Pablo Marcos, Dan Green, Tom Palmer, and more
1120 pages, Hardcover
First published April 19, 2016
4 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
John Byrne
2,965 books363 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.
Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.
Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 17, 2020
I never liked the idea of compilation books, I like the continuous stories and I want to know every little detail tied into a story. But Byrne is one of my favorites so I wanted to get this book (and vol.2), and I'm not disappointed at all.
I don't want to spoil anything although it's not a new book, it contains 5 issues of Champions, 14 issues of Avengers - which are fitting together with the GoG: Tomorrow's Heroes omnibus well (with that you get 10 more issues), and the few missing issues are just irrelevant fillers, so you don't have to read those (although I read them in digital format out of curiosity), you get 24 issues of continuous Avengers - contains 9 issues of Captain America, 7 issues of Hulk, 7 issues of Wolverine, 2 issues of Ant-man (the origin of Scott Lang) 1 Starlord black and white graphic novel and one giant sized issue of the Silver Surfer. Also contains 3 issues of Power man, but I left this for the end of the list because these 3 issues actually the sequel for the 17 issues of Iron Fist (15 Fist/2 team-up) in the vol.2 omnibus.
First it was wierd to read a couple of issues of this and a couple of issues of that, and around half of the book I realized that this kind of presentation actually is refreshing. You get a good amount of stories from every comic series. So it's a compilation of decent runs.
In my opinion, the best stories are the one issue of Silver Surfer (written by Stan) and the Captain America run. I haven't read much Cap, but these issues felt like a bit of Spider-man. He tries to live and ordinary life like Peter Parker, and I think that's why I loved the story so much.
My final thought is that if you like Byrne's work than this book is a must have.
I don't want to spoil anything although it's not a new book, it contains 5 issues of Champions, 14 issues of Avengers - which are fitting together with the GoG: Tomorrow's Heroes omnibus well (with that you get 10 more issues), and the few missing issues are just irrelevant fillers, so you don't have to read those (although I read them in digital format out of curiosity), you get 24 issues of continuous Avengers - contains 9 issues of Captain America, 7 issues of Hulk, 7 issues of Wolverine, 2 issues of Ant-man (the origin of Scott Lang) 1 Starlord black and white graphic novel and one giant sized issue of the Silver Surfer. Also contains 3 issues of Power man, but I left this for the end of the list because these 3 issues actually the sequel for the 17 issues of Iron Fist (15 Fist/2 team-up) in the vol.2 omnibus.
First it was wierd to read a couple of issues of this and a couple of issues of that, and around half of the book I realized that this kind of presentation actually is refreshing. You get a good amount of stories from every comic series. So it's a compilation of decent runs.
In my opinion, the best stories are the one issue of Silver Surfer (written by Stan) and the Captain America run. I haven't read much Cap, but these issues felt like a bit of Spider-man. He tries to live and ordinary life like Peter Parker, and I think that's why I loved the story so much.
My final thought is that if you like Byrne's work than this book is a must have.
April 23, 2020
I should really rate this 5 stars but I needed to deduct a star for the duds at the end Hulk and Wolverine. Wolverine - written by Goodwin and only breakdowns by Byrne had a real boring, convoluted story of a South American drug lord trying to develop cocaine that turned people into fighting machines. Not sure why. But worse - the reason the cocaine did this was because it was infected with an intelligent spore that was created by the Deviants - the enemies of the Eternals. There was even a heroine whose powers ran off the "hope of people" so when the people around her start to lose hope she gets weak. Wow. What a stupid power. No wonder I have never seen her used again. Like I said - convoluted.
The Hulk had some okay art but not Byrne at his finest and the story was cut short because Marvel refused to publish a Hulk story made entirely up of full page splash pages. This work was later published in Marvel Fanfare and shown here - it is a weak story but a sad reason to quit the company. Regardless - the story we see is barely developed. We have Hulk and Banner being physically separated and a random group of uninteresting people becoming the Hulk Busters.
But other than the duds the rest is John Byrne at his best. You have my fav runs of Byrne - his Captain America run and his Avengers run. His art sings and the stories are the best the 70's/80's had to offer in comics. Byrne was at his best story telling when working with another writer. And his art was at its best a few years into his Marvel career. The inks by Josef Rubinstein on Captain America make Byrne's art especially gorgeous. Other than Terry Austin I can't name an inker that worked better with John. Which only goes to highlight how bad the Wolverine art looks at the end.
The Avengers run was fun and beautiful.
There are also a few other gems - Ant-man, The Champions and Star Lord (I think the first time Claremont, Byrne and Austin teamed up before the X-Men run). The Star Lord story is another game changer.
Overall - I love this omnibus and it is a Must Have for fans of Byrne. This is his art at the height of his powers.
The Hulk had some okay art but not Byrne at his finest and the story was cut short because Marvel refused to publish a Hulk story made entirely up of full page splash pages. This work was later published in Marvel Fanfare and shown here - it is a weak story but a sad reason to quit the company. Regardless - the story we see is barely developed. We have Hulk and Banner being physically separated and a random group of uninteresting people becoming the Hulk Busters.
But other than the duds the rest is John Byrne at his best. You have my fav runs of Byrne - his Captain America run and his Avengers run. His art sings and the stories are the best the 70's/80's had to offer in comics. Byrne was at his best story telling when working with another writer. And his art was at its best a few years into his Marvel career. The inks by Josef Rubinstein on Captain America make Byrne's art especially gorgeous. Other than Terry Austin I can't name an inker that worked better with John. Which only goes to highlight how bad the Wolverine art looks at the end.
The Avengers run was fun and beautiful.
There are also a few other gems - Ant-man, The Champions and Star Lord (I think the first time Claremont, Byrne and Austin teamed up before the X-Men run). The Star Lord story is another game changer.
Overall - I love this omnibus and it is a Must Have for fans of Byrne. This is his art at the height of his powers.
April 24, 2025
I’ve got a bit of a love-hate thing with John Byrne. I absolutely dig his work on X-Men, Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and She-Hulk -- those runs are legendary. But he started rubbing me the wrong way in his later years. It felt like he got too big for his britches or just coasted on his name, with less of that creative spark that made his early stuff soar.
Thankfully, Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus is all early Byrne -- his formative years, and the bits in between the big titles. It’s not one big story but a sharp highlight reel from the late ’70s to early ’80s, showing off his range and rise.
The collected edition is an eclectic mix: some scrappy Champions work, a Star-Lord revival with Claremont that hints at things to come, and a Power Man and Iron Fist arc that’s way better than it has any right to be. There's key Avengers drama, tight Captain America issues with Roger Stern, a defining Ant-Man two-parter, and a Silver Surfer one-shot that finally lets the Surfer leave Earth -- with Stan Lee back on script.
In his Hulk, Byrne literally splits Banner and Hulk like an atom, and his short Wolverine run leans into pulpy spycraft. His art is crisp, dynamic, and evolving -- his style tightens up before your eyes. Extras like sketches and interviews add some nice behind-the-scenes touches.
While Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus isn’t a cohesive saga, it's one fun look at Byrne's early resume. If you’re a Byrne fan, a Marvel history buff, or just curious about the connective tissue between the classics, this 1100-paged, 6-pound book has wings.
Thankfully, Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus is all early Byrne -- his formative years, and the bits in between the big titles. It’s not one big story but a sharp highlight reel from the late ’70s to early ’80s, showing off his range and rise.
The collected edition is an eclectic mix: some scrappy Champions work, a Star-Lord revival with Claremont that hints at things to come, and a Power Man and Iron Fist arc that’s way better than it has any right to be. There's key Avengers drama, tight Captain America issues with Roger Stern, a defining Ant-Man two-parter, and a Silver Surfer one-shot that finally lets the Surfer leave Earth -- with Stan Lee back on script.
In his Hulk, Byrne literally splits Banner and Hulk like an atom, and his short Wolverine run leans into pulpy spycraft. His art is crisp, dynamic, and evolving -- his style tightens up before your eyes. Extras like sketches and interviews add some nice behind-the-scenes touches.
While Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus isn’t a cohesive saga, it's one fun look at Byrne's early resume. If you’re a Byrne fan, a Marvel history buff, or just curious about the connective tissue between the classics, this 1100-paged, 6-pound book has wings.
September 20, 2021
John Byrne as the artist is great, not so much as a storyteller. He best work in this series is with The Incredible Hulk. Some of the other features (Champions, Power Man and Iron Fist) seem somewhat dated and clumsy.
August 26, 2023
Hello my name is Rick and I’m a Byrne-victim. Don’t blame me, I didn’t coin the phrase. But in any case, I am a fan of John Byrne’s comic book work. I have been for a long time. In fact, since before he worked at Marvel. I first enjoyed his art style while he was working for Charlton and his pencils graced the pages of their media-tie-in series for Space: 1999. Yep I go all the way back to there. But I actually started becoming aware of him while he was doing The Champions, Iron Fist and the Uncanny X-Men. And I’ve pretty much followed him to every title he’s worked on. This omnibus collection doesn’t have anything new for me, except the bonus pages in the back - there’s some new, sweet stuff in there, but this is still a lot of spectacularly good things. Byrne’s style has a very cinematic quality to it, the pacing and angles really help showcase how much film story boarding and the comics page have in common.
As for what included in this particular volume? I loved the original Champions title when it was coming out, and these issues are among my favorites for that short lived title. I loved his take on Star-Lord even more than the original story. Again, his issues of the Avengers are among my favorites from that era. While I adore Iron Fist and Power Man together, it was a tough sale for me to keep buying the title after Byrne left. The only thing I didn’t like about his run on the Hulk was that he left Alpha Flight to do it. That leaves his runs on Wolverine (good but not his best work) and Captain America (great stuff, that I didn’t read when it was first coming out). And last but not least the new Ant-Man and a one-shot Featuring the Silver Surfer to round off the volume. There’s so much great stuff here that I almost don’t mind not having so much other stuff included, like Alpha Flight, She-Hulk and Marvel Team-Up. But then he’s done so many long runs in these titles that including everything would be downright impossible.
As for what included in this particular volume? I loved the original Champions title when it was coming out, and these issues are among my favorites for that short lived title. I loved his take on Star-Lord even more than the original story. Again, his issues of the Avengers are among my favorites from that era. While I adore Iron Fist and Power Man together, it was a tough sale for me to keep buying the title after Byrne left. The only thing I didn’t like about his run on the Hulk was that he left Alpha Flight to do it. That leaves his runs on Wolverine (good but not his best work) and Captain America (great stuff, that I didn’t read when it was first coming out). And last but not least the new Ant-Man and a one-shot Featuring the Silver Surfer to round off the volume. There’s so much great stuff here that I almost don’t mind not having so much other stuff included, like Alpha Flight, She-Hulk and Marvel Team-Up. But then he’s done so many long runs in these titles that including everything would be downright impossible.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews