Alpha Flight 3 pg 12 JOHN BYRNE

A page from Byrne's 1983 run on Alpha Flight. This is actually the second page to ever feature the 'MASTER (of the World).'

A few things. I was at the end of my High School days when this issue would have been published, right smack in the middle of the apex of my interest in Doctor Who, when JB introduced 'The Master' to the book... and it always seemed to me that if the Doctor Who arch-villain were to step over into the Marvel Universe, he'd have looked like this. (Google 'Roger Delgado' if you don't believe me) Strangely enough, JB confirmed the inspiration at a Mid-Ohio Con years later.

Marvel apparently needed to adjust the nonclementure of the character in later appearances, as he is currently 'The Master of the World' rather than simply 'The Master' ...no question which one is more elegant.

This is my third purchased JB page. The page is stunning to run your hand over, as pieces from this time period are typically festooned with editorial changes and artistic corrections. (The only corrections here are on word balloons) The art on this page is so clean, so precise, and so confident, one almost thinks that the art was printed on the page... but the art is dutifully stamped on the reverse as being published in 1983, long before computer corrections became the norm. (Although I believe JB was experimenting with computer lettering by this time)

As usual by this time, JB preferred to choose his own paper stock rather than use the company-issued blueline, and, while I generally prefer the overall effect of artwork on a formatted page, the final product here flows effortlessly from Byrne's pen. Brush strokes are only visible in the large black areas. There seems to be no pencil prelims on the page. Stunning, confident work by 'The Master' Byrne.