Next Men
Encyclopedia
John Byrne's Next Men (also known as Next Men or JBNM) is a comic book
series written and drawn by John Byrne. The first volume of the series was published by Dark Horse Comics
between 1991 and 1995. A nine issue miniseries was published by IDW Publishing
in 2010 and 2011.
Portfolio in 1986. Byrne had originally pitched the series to DC, but the series for some reason never surfaced. With some changes, Byrne changed the concept to fit in with his work on the graphic novel
2112 to become the John Byrne's Next Men series. Two characters from the "Freaks" artwork somewhat retained their physical looks and became the lead characters of the Next Men series: heroine Jasmine and villain Aldus Hilltop.
The Next Men saw their official debut in a four-part storyline in Dark Horse Presents
#54-57 (later reprinted, in color, as John Byrne's Next Men #0). The series ran until issue #30 and ended with a cliffhanger. Byrne had intended to conclude the story in a second series, but the collapse of the American
comic book industry in the mid-1990s made it financially unfeasible for him to do so, and he returned to working for hire at DC Comics
and Marvel Comics
.
On October 12, 2007, Byrne announced on his website that comic publisher IDW would release black & white "phonebook"-sized reprints of the Next Men series sometime in 2008, with the first collection released in May 2008. He stated on his message board: "All the Next Men stuff will be coming from IDW in big, honkin' black and white 'phonebooks' in the New Year. Don't have a more precise schedule than that, but when I know, you'll know.”
In an interview with IDW appearing in the publisher's April 2008 books, when asked about the possibility of a new Next Men series, Byrne answered, "If it looks like Next Men can be done as something other than a vanity project, I will certainly do it. The series has a definite ending--I even know the last line!--and I would very much like to shake those 20 or so issues out of my head someday!"
At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, Byrne revealed that he was creating new issues of JBNM to be published by IDW Publishing. Byrne said that the new series would be both a continuation of the previous series as well as a place for new readers to discover the characters. He expects the entire story (previous series plus new series) to run about 50 issues. IDW's John Byrne's Next Men #1 was released on December 15, 2010.
It was revealed in February 2011 that Byrne and IDW will finish the Next Men series proper with issue #9 of the 2010-2011 series, but a sequel named "Aftermath" will immediately follow.
named Sathanas, who kills all but one of the scientists, whom Sathanas uses to meet Senator Aldus Hilltop. Together, with Sathanas' existence kept secret, the three construct Project Next Men, whose goal is to create superhumans. The project used babies who were given up for adoption by single mothers (due to Hilltop's racial concerns all of the mothers were white). The children were experimented on and grew to maturity in a lab while in their minds they experienced an idyllic virtual reality world.
Eventually five of these "Next Men" manage to escape from confinement, but once free they find that their powers are very greatly enhanced from how they were in their virtual world. The Next Men are:
After escaping from the Project, the Next Men have a number of interactions with outsiders, including a previous escapee who is deformed. Eventually, they are taken in by a US government secret agent who works for an agency or individual known as Control. Tony Murcheson works as their handler from that point in the series, intervening when she can and offering a reality check to her naive charges. While the other Next Men are on a mission in Russia, Danny goes on a quest to find, and reunite with, his birth mother. He meets her along with his half-sister, who convinces him to take her away from her abusive mother. The two run off to New York City and meet up with a comic book publisher, who decides to exploit Danny and the other Next Men for a new comic book series. This brings the Next Men to the attention of law enforcement authorities investigating the damage left in the wake of the Next Men's escape from the Project. The Next Men are arrested, tried, and sent to prison, but later escape.
During his time at the comic book publisher, Danny is befriended by a young girl named Sandy who is in charge of babysitting him. The two eventually have sex and the woman goes on to develop reality-altering powers. These powers cause her to go crazy and attempt to remake the island of Manhattan. Once she is stopped by the Next Men it is discovered that the powers which they have are sexually contagious; anyone who has sex with one of the Next Men will develop their own superhuman abilities.
As the series progresses, Sathanas continues to influence Senator Hilltop, who becomes Vice President and then President, and attempts to manipulate the Next Men for his own ends. As part of this effort, he brainwashes Jasmine into believing that she is his lover, and that her time with the Next Men was merely an involved dream. Towards the end of the series, Hilltop has sex with Jasmine and develops powers similar to Sathanas, leading him to realize that Sathanas is in fact a future version of himself in an example of a predestination paradox
.
In issue #7, a backup story, "M4" (Mark IV) started. It dealt with an android, Mark IV, or "Mark Ivey" as one character called him. Initially appearing as a separate storyline, eventually the series started to tie into the Next Men storyline, and finally merged with it in issue #23.
and is experimented on by a Nazi scientist. Jasmine is stranded in Elizabethan era
England
, and succumbs to the Plague. Murcheson is stranded in the South during the American Civil War and ends up becoming a slave; she later escapes and uses her knowledge of the past to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
. Bethany is stranded in a futuristic setting by an unknown captor, who claims to be punishing her friends for having betrayed her.
It is later revealed that Bethany's captor is Bethany herself, who came from a future alternate timeline where an accident left her buried alive for over 200 years and drove her insane. Having been retrieved by scientists who mastered control over time, she ended up travelling to the past and kidnapped her former friends to scatter them throughout time. Soon, the scientists who retrieved Bethany arrive to stop her. They then retrieve Jasmine and Nathan, and one of the scientists, Gil, reveals to them his intention to send them back in time one last time to prevent Sathanas from arriving in 1955 (thereby undoing the events of the original Next Men series).
Jasmine, who has second thoughts about the mission, backs out, leaving Nathan and Bethany to go alone. Having successfully arrived in 1955, Bethany explodes a bomb which prevents the arrival of Sathanas and his mutates.
A sequel series called Aftermath, to be written by John Byrne and published by IDW right after the conclusion of the Next Men series proper, and according to some sources, expected to continue with the numbering from the original series, starting with #40.
JBNM has also been collected by IDW Publishing. The "Compleat" volumes are in black-and-white; the "Premiere" volumes are in color.
The IDW series has so far been collected in John Byrne's Next Men Vol. 1: Shattered (reprints issues #1-4).
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series written and drawn by John Byrne. The first volume of the series was published by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
between 1991 and 1995. A nine issue miniseries was published by IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
in 2010 and 2011.
History
The Next Men made a prototypical appearance as "Freaks" in a lithography plate that was published within the History of the DC UniverseHistory of the DC Universe
History of the DC Universe is a two-issue comic book limited series created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, and published by DC Comics following the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was an attempt to summarize the new history of the DC Universe to establish what was canonical after Crisis...
Portfolio in 1986. Byrne had originally pitched the series to DC, but the series for some reason never surfaced. With some changes, Byrne changed the concept to fit in with his work on the graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
2112 to become the John Byrne's Next Men series. Two characters from the "Freaks" artwork somewhat retained their physical looks and became the lead characters of the Next Men series: heroine Jasmine and villain Aldus Hilltop.
The Next Men saw their official debut in a four-part storyline in Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
#54-57 (later reprinted, in color, as John Byrne's Next Men #0). The series ran until issue #30 and ended with a cliffhanger. Byrne had intended to conclude the story in a second series, but the collapse of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book industry in the mid-1990s made it financially unfeasible for him to do so, and he returned to working for hire at DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
.
On October 12, 2007, Byrne announced on his website that comic publisher IDW would release black & white "phonebook"-sized reprints of the Next Men series sometime in 2008, with the first collection released in May 2008. He stated on his message board: "All the Next Men stuff will be coming from IDW in big, honkin' black and white 'phonebooks' in the New Year. Don't have a more precise schedule than that, but when I know, you'll know.”
In an interview with IDW appearing in the publisher's April 2008 books, when asked about the possibility of a new Next Men series, Byrne answered, "If it looks like Next Men can be done as something other than a vanity project, I will certainly do it. The series has a definite ending--I even know the last line!--and I would very much like to shake those 20 or so issues out of my head someday!"
At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, Byrne revealed that he was creating new issues of JBNM to be published by IDW Publishing. Byrne said that the new series would be both a continuation of the previous series as well as a place for new readers to discover the characters. He expects the entire story (previous series plus new series) to run about 50 issues. IDW's John Byrne's Next Men #1 was released on December 15, 2010.
It was revealed in February 2011 that Byrne and IDW will finish the Next Men series proper with issue #9 of the 2010-2011 series, but a sequel named "Aftermath" will immediately follow.
1991 - 1995
In 1955, an explosion in Antarctica draws the attention of a group of scientists. There they discover dozens of charred bodies, some of which don't appear to be human. Among them is a creature in a mechanical exoskeletonExoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
named Sathanas, who kills all but one of the scientists, whom Sathanas uses to meet Senator Aldus Hilltop. Together, with Sathanas' existence kept secret, the three construct Project Next Men, whose goal is to create superhumans. The project used babies who were given up for adoption by single mothers (due to Hilltop's racial concerns all of the mothers were white). The children were experimented on and grew to maturity in a lab while in their minds they experienced an idyllic virtual reality world.
Eventually five of these "Next Men" manage to escape from confinement, but once free they find that their powers are very greatly enhanced from how they were in their virtual world. The Next Men are:
- Nathan, whose mutated eyes allow him to see a wide spectrum of light.
- Jasmine, a young super-acrobat.
- Jack, who is super-strong but cannot control his strength.
- Bethany, who is invulnerable to harm to the point of having razor-sharp hair, but who loses physical sensation and whose skin bleaches white.
- Danny, who can run at superhuman speeds.
After escaping from the Project, the Next Men have a number of interactions with outsiders, including a previous escapee who is deformed. Eventually, they are taken in by a US government secret agent who works for an agency or individual known as Control. Tony Murcheson works as their handler from that point in the series, intervening when she can and offering a reality check to her naive charges. While the other Next Men are on a mission in Russia, Danny goes on a quest to find, and reunite with, his birth mother. He meets her along with his half-sister, who convinces him to take her away from her abusive mother. The two run off to New York City and meet up with a comic book publisher, who decides to exploit Danny and the other Next Men for a new comic book series. This brings the Next Men to the attention of law enforcement authorities investigating the damage left in the wake of the Next Men's escape from the Project. The Next Men are arrested, tried, and sent to prison, but later escape.
During his time at the comic book publisher, Danny is befriended by a young girl named Sandy who is in charge of babysitting him. The two eventually have sex and the woman goes on to develop reality-altering powers. These powers cause her to go crazy and attempt to remake the island of Manhattan. Once she is stopped by the Next Men it is discovered that the powers which they have are sexually contagious; anyone who has sex with one of the Next Men will develop their own superhuman abilities.
As the series progresses, Sathanas continues to influence Senator Hilltop, who becomes Vice President and then President, and attempts to manipulate the Next Men for his own ends. As part of this effort, he brainwashes Jasmine into believing that she is his lover, and that her time with the Next Men was merely an involved dream. Towards the end of the series, Hilltop has sex with Jasmine and develops powers similar to Sathanas, leading him to realize that Sathanas is in fact a future version of himself in an example of a predestination paradox
Predestination paradox
A predestination paradox is a paradox of time travel that is often used as a convention in science fiction. It exists when a time traveller is caught in a loop of events that "predestines" or "predates" them to travel back in time...
.
In issue #7, a backup story, "M4" (Mark IV) started. It dealt with an android, Mark IV, or "Mark Ivey" as one character called him. Initially appearing as a separate storyline, eventually the series started to tie into the Next Men storyline, and finally merged with it in issue #23.
2000s
The 2011 miniseries (which Byrne labels with a "3" in superscript beside each issue number, to continue the numbering of the original series) expands on the time travel and alternate reality plots from the initial series, picking up from the cliffhanger ending by stranding each teammate and Agent Murcheson in divergent time periods. Nathan ends up stranded in Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and is experimented on by a Nazi scientist. Jasmine is stranded in Elizabethan era
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and succumbs to the Plague. Murcheson is stranded in the South during the American Civil War and ends up becoming a slave; she later escapes and uses her knowledge of the past to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. Bethany is stranded in a futuristic setting by an unknown captor, who claims to be punishing her friends for having betrayed her.
It is later revealed that Bethany's captor is Bethany herself, who came from a future alternate timeline where an accident left her buried alive for over 200 years and drove her insane. Having been retrieved by scientists who mastered control over time, she ended up travelling to the past and kidnapped her former friends to scatter them throughout time. Soon, the scientists who retrieved Bethany arrive to stop her. They then retrieve Jasmine and Nathan, and one of the scientists, Gil, reveals to them his intention to send them back in time one last time to prevent Sathanas from arriving in 1955 (thereby undoing the events of the original Next Men series).
Jasmine, who has second thoughts about the mission, backs out, leaving Nathan and Bethany to go alone. Having successfully arrived in 1955, Bethany explodes a bomb which prevents the arrival of Sathanas and his mutates.
A sequel series called Aftermath, to be written by John Byrne and published by IDW right after the conclusion of the Next Men series proper, and according to some sources, expected to continue with the numbering from the original series, starting with #40.
Collections
JBNM was initially collected as a set of graphic novels published by Dark Horse Comics. These collections are in color, but do not include the early "M4" stories that were separate from the main storyline.- 2112 (published in both prestige formatPrestige formatPrestige format is a term coined by DC Comics and later came into wider use to refer to a square-bound comic book with cardstock covers. A prestige format comic book is usually longer than a normal, stapled 32-page comic...
and limited edition hardcover) - Book One (reprints issues #0–6, published in both hardcover and trade paperback)
- Parallels (reprints issues #7–12)
- Fame (reprints issues #13–18)
- Faith (reprints issues #19–22)
- Power (reprints issues #23–26)
- Lies (reprints issues #27–30)
JBNM has also been collected by IDW Publishing. The "Compleat" volumes are in black-and-white; the "Premiere" volumes are in color.
- John Byrne's Compleat Next Men, Volume 1 (ISBN 1600101739) (May 2008) reprints 2112 and issues #0-12, including the first five "M4" stories.
- John Byrne's Compleat Next Men, Volume 2 (ISBN 1600102727) (Nov 2008) reprints issues #13-30, including the "M4" backup stories.
- John Byrne's Next Men: The Premiere Collection, Vol. 1 (ISBN 1600103650) (Mar 2009) reprints issues #0-10.
- John Byrne's Next Men: The Premiere Collection, Vol. 2 (ISBN 1600105491) (Dec 2009) reprints issues #11-20.
- John Byrne's Next Men: The Premiere Collection, Vol. 3 (ISBN 160010696X) (Jul 2010) reprints issues #21-30.
The IDW series has so far been collected in John Byrne's Next Men Vol. 1: Shattered (reprints issues #1-4).