JOHN BYRNE NEXT MEN #3

Were you wondering what happened to Bethany? Find out this issue, as another layer is removed from the mystery-and perhaps another is added! Meanwhile, the rest of the gang faces new threats and old!

By John Byrne

Price: $3.99
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  1. I’m really enjoying this series. I found the original series “okay” (yes, I’ve mentioned this before, but thought I would say it again), and expected this new series to be “okay”-to-bad, but I’m really enjoying the story going on. The whole reality/”time travel”/whatever is going on angle is a lot of fun. (It kind of reminds me of “Danger Unlimited”, another Byrne run which I really liked.)

  2. I re-read the series last month and it held up better than I thought it would.  But I’m with you powerdad, I think this has been good so far…it was almost funny when Byrne upped the ante with the eyes guy getting to the concentration camp following the slavery scene earlier last issue.

    I’m definitely still intrigued and hope that the Ifanboys give this another look if the series progresses well and a TPB is made of the first six odd issues…

  3. Yeah, I really miss Byrne. This is okay. It’s fun and I’ll keep on it, because I really miss Byrne. But, this issue borers on (arguably): sexism, racism, and now, antisemitism… but I don’t think it’s crossed any lines yet. A good fun read. 

  4. Yea, talk about pulling out all the stops.  This is almost a bit like Batman: Odyessy,..ya know, sort of insane.  And yet, I’ve got to say that so far this book has a real kick to it and a carefully thought plot.  It has been absolutely horrific in some of its foreshadowing, and Byrne playing out stories in the slavery south and holocaust is provocative and has things right on the edge of the line DenverDave is talking about.  And Jasmine…wow…despite everything in her life she continues to have a lust for life…or just lust.

    Bottom line: so far this is as good or better than the original Next Men stories…if Byrne sticks the landing on this storyline it will make for an amazing TPB.

    And, oh yea, the art is fantastic, detailed, and always a lesson in comic book storytelling.  5 stars.

    But will the plot come together?  And who thinks the mystery woman is future Betheny?

  5. @DenverDave  I’m not sure I understand your comment on this story bordering on “…sexism, racism, and now, antisemitism.”  Honestly, I might be misreading what you’re saying here, but in short all the “villains” of the issue are the sexists, racists, and anti-Semites; and Byrne isn’t putting them into a favorable light.  His sympathies lie with Nathan, Jaz, Toni, Bethany, and Jack.  To put it another way, you wouldn’t think the graphic novel “Maus” is bordering on anti-Semitism because it has Nazi’s in it (even Nazi Cats); the story is about anti-Semitisim, but is not anti-Semitic.  (Again, might be misreading your statement, so please feel free to correct me.)

    Nathan, Jaz, and Toni are the obvious victims of what’s going on at the hands of Nazis and slave owners.  Jaz’s victimhood might be little more blurry, since she’s “playing the game” to simply survive. She doesn’t want to be thrown out on the street (as Edward is implying) and thus succumbs to Edward’s sexual advances. (Please note: having sex with the Next Men is never a good thing — except perhaps for the story.) She might not be a “strong” as Nathan and Toni as a character, but she’s doing her best to survive in her situation. 

    (Mild spoiler alert for any who haven’t read the original Next Men run. I ask a lot of leading questions which hint at answers to mysteries from that series.)
    Personally, I don’t find this story all that strange; but I think that’s because I’m not taking everything at face-value.  The first issue of this run emphasized that everything in the Next Men Universe isn’t what it seems.  In the case of the Next Men Project, we have these mutants living in a fake world (The Greenery) who wake up and discover that everything they know is a lie.  But this “trope” is used throughout the series.  The Omega Men are the exact opposites of the Next Men, in which the lead scientist Dr Fleming Jorgenson believes he’s created a bunch of mutants, when we learn something very different. (Who’s experiencing the illusion, and who’s experiencing the reality here?)  Who’s the REAL President at the end of the previous Next Men run — if you said Aldus Hilltop, NOT SO FAST (don’t forget Mark IV)!!  Who’s Sathanas…I mean, who is he really?  Willis (Control) is their benefactor…or is he?  Who’s the “Phoenix” woman…we thought we knew, and then it turned out to be “someone” else?  Besides the characters from Concrete, Elf Quest, Hellboy, and other comics making an appearance (all of which we’re “illusions” or a sort).

    So I don’t believe everything in the current story is “real“.  In fact, I’m only about 50% convinced they’ve actually travelled in time.  This situation reminds me more of them being held by the Omega “Men” — a situation in which we learn not all is as real as first thought.

  6. @Urthona  Nah, I don’t think the mystery person in the black armor suit is Bethany from the future.  If it is someone we’ve seen before, then my money is on David — the “other” Next Man ejected from the Greenery after being beaten by Jack, and later turned into a creepy looking green dude.

    And, if I may be so bold, I think…or I wouldn’t be surprised if it was David and Ignus working together.  (ORIGINAL SERIES SPOILER: Ignus was the little guy who was fooling Dr Jorgenson and everyone else into believing in the Omega Men.) All or some of this time travel stuff could be in the characters heads.

    I could see David feeling betrayed in the same way as Bethany, and I see no reason for him to like Toni either. In fact I remember the last time we saw him he stated something about how they (the Next Men) shouldn’t be afraid of regular people, it’s the regular people who should be afraid of them — an angry sort of statement similar in nature to attitude we’re getting from the black-armor person.

    But if my guess is right about David, then I would assume Jack is also in terrible danger, because Jack did beat David to a bloody mess in the Greenery.

    But I’m doing a lot of speculation here with little evidence to back me up, so I better stop. 🙂

  7. Did anyone else notice the original issue numbering is slowly creeping back on the cover?  Next to the 3 on the cover, there is a little number 3 preceding it; thus making this issue 33 (of the original run).

    I found this blurb indicating the original numbering is coming back…
    http://www.byrnerobotics.com/FAQ/listing.asp?ID=15&T1=John+Byrne%27s+Next+Men#224

  8. I also like how Byrne has inserted the whole debate over Shakespeare authorship into the comic.  I remember years ago Byrne had mentioned being on the “Oxfordian” side of the debate (believing someone such as Edward De Vere was the original author of these works), and I assume he still holds to this position.

    See more about the debate here: http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/authorship/authorship.htm

    Of course, we learned in the first issue of this run (or maybe it was the second) that Toni saved Lincoln‘s life, and thus we’re dealing with a different timeline/alternate reality, and thus this could be a “safe” way of dealing with the whole Shakespeare authorship; if you believe it was actually Shakespeare, then this is simply an alternate timeline version; and if you don’t believe Shakespeare was the author then this comic just plays along with that idea.

    And as previously stated, I’m only 50% convinced there is any time travel going on here — and thus it’s all just an illusion anyway.  Hahaha!!

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