fl was written by~Rov Thomas, and illustrated by a pair of relative newcomers, Neal Adams and Tom Palmer. And it was, in one fell swoop, a revolution - and not a revolution jn the making. A revolution done, complete. presented as a fait occompli in a single Issue. Comics would never be the same aqain. Because of that issue, that work, and the effect it had on the generations of comicbook writers and artists that followed.

So - a confession: I am not Neal Adams.

That might seem an odd thing to need to say, after nearly twentv-five years in the business, and with a reputation at least as firmly established as was Neal's, Io these manv years ago, when he was'Mister x-Men. But I do feel the need to say it, if far no other reason than that Neal, in what turned out to be relativety short tenure on the original X-MEN book, brought such a distinctive hand to the job, created such a defitive vision of those characters in those issues, that anything I do here will, Perforce, be compared to what he did thirtly years ago.

The comparison will be both fair and unfair. After all, I am presuming to fill some awfully big shoes here. Neal and Roy (with contributions by Denny O’Neil, Don Heck and Sal Buscema) took the X-Men to new heights of glory, and for me to come along now, more than a quarter of a century later, and essentially say '...and this is what happened next...' smacks of hubris. But, on the other hand, there is another period of X-Men history which is cited with as much awe and fervor as are the Thomas/Adams years, and those are the three years or so that Chris Claremont and I worked on the book So, really. who better to try to 'fill the gap' left by Neal and Roy when the book went to reprint status due to 'low’ sales?

Which brings me to my next 'confession’. I am not John Byrne

Not the John Byrne who drew the adventures of.the X-men in the late 1970, anyway. That was a different John Byrne. Oh, sure, he lived in the same body I live in-though it was newer, and still under warrantee!-and he had the same love for these characters. But he was younger, and in that youth was the shaping of different attitudes, different ideas, approaches, goals. When he sat down to draw a page. he was struggling with different demons than the ones I face today at the drawingboord. He was still trying to figure out How To Do It. Me, I know how to do it. Now I am trying to figure out How To Do it Better.

I say all this for a simple reason: those of you who come to this book expecting a seamless continuation of the work created by Neal and Roy will almost certainly he disappointed to some degree Those of you who come here expecting something closely akin to the work created by myself the last time I was the artist on the X-Men will also not find what you are looking for. Not quite

Times change. People change. The demands of the media change. If I were to try to recreate what Neal and Roy did, I would most likely fail. And if I succeeded, there is little doubt the work would seem hopelessly dated. Likewise, if I somehow attempted to press the ’rewind' button on my career, and take myself back to the artist I was twenty years ago.. I would also fail. And if did not, you might see all the weaknesses that the 'John Byrne Legend' has glossed over in the years since I produced that work

HIDDEN YEARS is intended to represent the 'last' adventures of the X-Men during that period at their original series (#s 67 thru 93) that the book was a reprint title. It is being done, however, in full awareness of the fact that this is not 1970-not for us, and with the application of 'Marvel Time,' not for the characters either - and the X-Men and the company have come a long way since then. So has the audience. So, sit back, relax, and I think I can pretty much guarantee a fun ride. Just a different ride from the last couple of times.

Oh - and I am not Tom Palmer, either. But, as it turns out, I don't have to be!

John Byrne