and Next Men: Aftermath 40-44
IDW Publishing
John Byrne, writer and artist
***mature content warning***
Last time, we talked about a creator-owned series from Dark Horse Comics titled John Byrne's Next Men, which ran for 31 issues (0-30) in the mid-1990s. I wasn't aware of the series when it debuted, instead learning of it later and tracking down the full run in back issues and trade. But then I put off reading the series for a while. That delay proved to work to my advantage as the initial run of the title ended on a cliffhanger that would not be resolved until the past couple years.
Byrne had promised readers that he had an ending in mind for the science fiction tale centered around five exceptional young people -- Jasmine, Nathan, Bethany, Jack and Danny -- who were grown and raised in a controlled lab environment, and the special government agent, Tony Murcheson, who worked alongside them. But it took 15 years for the next chapter of their story to finally see print.
John Byrne's Next Men volume 2, No. 1, debuted from IDW in December 2010. While the cover clearly is marked "#1," another box next to the cover logo has a small number "3" inserted before the "1" -- a nod to the first volume of the series to let unfamiliar readers know that this was really issue No. 31.
In that first volume of JBNM, our heroes had been subjected on more than one occasion to alternate realities that would ultimately prove to be a ruse meant to deceive one or more of them. The Next Men and Murcheson were also no strangers to the concept of time travel. The conclusion of Byrne's series relies heavily on both those concepts. Various members of the team find themselves in prehistoric jungles, amid Roman centurions, deposited in the middle of America's Civil War or captured by Nazi concentration camp guards, not to mention a number of varying future scenarios. Either individually or in small groups, the protagonists of our story seem to just get their bearings when they are whisked away yet again. In some of these adventures, the Next Men's true history remains intact, and they continue to try to thwart the machinations of Sen. Aldus Hilltop and the evil Sathanas. But in other realities, the heroes seem to have lost their identities completely.
As with all of the best stories, the seeds of the final resolution were planted long ago in the pages of the first volume of this series. Seemingly random, new characters turn out later to be familiar faces. The internal logic of the story is maintained while arriving at an ending that seems both fitting and rewarding. Just when I thought Byrne had forgotten a particular plot thread or off-hand comment by a character I wanted explained, there was the explanation. And most of the explanations, while not what I was anticipating, were nonetheless, rational for the context.
In case it hasn't been obvious enough yet, I recommend John Byrne's Next Men to anyone who hasn't tried it. I might not have endorsed the tale as strongly without this new conclusion, as it can be very disheartening to have a good story stopped in the middle. But this conclusion makes this tale well worth a read.
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