Byrne selittää lähtöään West Coast Avengerista
What was the (presumably editorial) disagreement that caused such a sudden departure from the book?
JB: The departure was as sudden as it was for a simple reason: a bone-head EiC who did not pay attention. Several months before the Immortus storyline got started, we writers and editors were summoned to the EiC's office for the purpose of concocting the latest . . . shudder. . . Summer Crossover. As I had a storyline coming up in AWC that would be pretty cosmic and wide reaching, I offered it as the basis for the Crossover. The EiC said no, he didn't want to do that for the Crossover. So Howard Mackie (AWC Editor) and I returned to our jobs on the book, and went ahead with the story as planned. One month before we got to the Big Reveal, as it were, the EiC suddenly noticed we were doing the storyline he had "rejected". He ordered us to change it, immediately. Howard protested -- the EiC had not said we could not do the storyline, only that he did not want to use it for the Crossover. Finally the EiC pulled rank -- we Must change our story, as we did not have "permission" to do it. (Permission was needed only if stories caused major changes to characters or continuity. This did neither.) Since there was nothing I could do with all my months setup, other than the story as planned, I quit in protest, with Howard's support.
Missään tapauksessa lähtöön ei ollut syynä siirtyminen Dark Horselle, koska Byrne kuitenkin jatkoi muiden Marvelin sarjojen (Namor, She-Hulk) tekemistä vielä tuon jälkeenkin. Tuohon aikaanhan Byrne oli jo ruvennut freelanceriksi eikä sopimukset mitenkään sitoneet häntä vain yhteen kustantamoon. Vasta 90-luvun lopulla Byrne teki taas exclusive-sopimuksen Marvelin kanssa pariksi vuodeksi ja tuotti sinä aikana Hämistä ja vanhaa Ryhmä-X:ää ja muutamia muita juttuja.
Legendin Byrne kumppaneineen perusti vasta 1993 ja Next Menissä se esiteltiin numerossa 19.
Next Men 24:ssä esiintyy tosiaan Byrne ja Mignola. Kolmatta en muista minäkään, mutta mun muistini mukaan se oli Adams. Saattaa olla kyllä Chadwick (en kyllä tiedä, miltä se näyttää). Täytyy kattoo, jos jostain löytyis tuo tieto.