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Signed by John Byrne to the Real Kitty Pryde! Read on True Believer-
1st app of Kitty Pryde; 1st app of Emma Frost; 1st team app of Hellfire Club (in shadows); Dark Phoenix saga Part 1, Byrne cover; COMIC BOOK IMPACT rating of 8 (CBI)
Known primarily for introducing Kitty Pryde to the world of the X-Men, and well as Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, X-Men #129 also is the first issue in a story arc that would culminate in the Dark Phoenix saga, regularly regarded as one of the greatest achievements in the history of comics. It will come as no surprise that X-Men fans across the planet are awaiting the team’s reboot in the MCU, and, doubtless, that reboot will eventually involve Kitty Pryde, making this issue a potential barnburner down the road. The amazing interiors by John Byrne and the sustained respect for his run on the title in the late 70s and early 80s make each of his contributions to the X-Men a special collectible all its own.

This comic is signed by John Byrne on the 1st page and with a newspaper article about Kitty Pryde signed by Kitty Pryde.

All about the Real Kitty Pryde
There are days Kitty Pryde wishes she could walk through walls like the X-Men character that bears her name.

It would get her out of some rather annoying and embarrassing situations.

Pryde is a renowned Calgary artist whose pictures have been featured in galleries from China to Grenada and Baton Rouge to Boston.

No matter where she and her paintings travel, someone will inevitably ask Pryde if she knows that there is a comic book mutant with the same name.

I'm not amused by such recognition. I m an artist. I want some credibility. I don't want to seem to be basking in the notoriety this has brought me,  says Pryde.

The truth is the X-Men s mutant Kitty Pryde, who can walk through walls, was named for Pryde.

It all happened back in 1973 when she was a student at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary.

One of her classmates was John Byrne who would go on to become one of the more prolific writer/artists for Marvel Comics.

I first noticed John in our (still-life) classes. While the rest of us were drawing the nudes, John would be making sketches of Superman and Spiderman.

One day he told me he loved my name and promised when he became famous at Marvel Comics, he d name his first character after me. 

Pryde thought nothing of the compliment.

In 1980 when she was living and working in Toronto, Pryde received a package in the mail.

It contained one page of Byrne s original sketches for his Kitty Pryde character plus a signed copy of the comic book it eventually became.

He d signed it: To Kitty, the real one. Thanks for the use of the name. 

The X-Men comics became one of Marvel s best sellers.

Kitty eventually morphed into an action figure like so many of her mutant friends.

Kitty started out as a young girl with superhuman powers.

By the time they created her action figure, she d become a major chick.

With the success of the comics, the emergence of the doll and even a disco record, things got pretty tricky for Pryde.

For the first couple of years I got some good laughs out of the attention I received from X-Men fans, but that stopped pretty quickly when it began infringing on my work and life as an artist. 

In 1986, Pryde was hired as a guest art teacher for a Calgary school.

The students didn t give a damn about color theory. They just wanted me to autograph their comic books.

I desperately hoped John would kill Kitty Pryde off but... 

Pryde gained a bit of anonymity in the 90s by calling herself K.D. Pryde, but fans would track her down and continue to do so.


Artists Information

Terry Kevin Austin is an American comic book artist who is best known for his exceptional inking talents. Austin’s inking — especially in the period of the 1970s and early 1980s — is notable for its smooth, precise rendering; and extremely detailed backgrounds, making his embellishing work easily identifiable. His style has been highly influential on a subsequent generation of inkers including Al Gordon, Andy Lanning, Scott Williams and Rob Liefeld. Austin grew up in Detroit, Michigan and attended Wayne State University. He started inking comics as an assistant to Dick Giordano and Neal Adams, doing “Crusty Bunker” work for Adams’ Continuity Associates. Austin came to prominence in 1976–1977, inking Marshall Rogers’ pencils on a celebrated run of Batman stories for DC Comics’ Detective Comics collaborating with writer Steve Englehart. During this same period, Austin inked Michael Netzer (Nasser) on DC’s Martian Manhunter in Adventure Comics and Green Arrow/Black Canary in World’s Finest Comics, as well as Al Milgrom on Marvel Comics’ Captain Marvel. He later teamed with Rogers again on Marvel’s Doctor Strange. X-Men In 1977, Austin and penciler John Byrne became the new art team on Uncanny X-Men. With writer Chris Claremont they produced a series of stories — particularly “The Dark Phoenix Saga” — which elevated the title into the top-selling American comic book. Post X-Men Austin left Uncanny X-Men in 1981 and has since worked on a variety of titles for both Marvel & DC, including Doctor Strange (over Paul Smith and Dan Green pencils), Superman vol. 2 (over Byrne), Justice League (over Kevin Maguire) and Green Lantern (over Darryl Banks). Austin contributed to several anniversary issues for DC including Justice League of America #200 (March 1982), Superman #400 (Oct. 1984) and Batman #400 (Oct. 1986). He was the regular inker of DC’s Superman Adventures for nearly six years, from 1996–2002. His inking work since 2002 has included over fifteen years of inking the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series for Archie Comics, which he continued until the series cancellation in 2017.

John Byrne is one of the most storied creators in the history of comics. Beginning his career at Charlton he quickly moved over to Marvel Comics where he established himself early on as a workhorse and fan favorite, he would draw early appearances of Iron Fist before landing the gig working with Chris Claremont on X-Men. Claremont and Byrne would create several of the most memorable storylines in the history of the X-Men, their Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past stories have been adapted into three feature films. Byrne would convince Claremont to not kill Wolverine, proving to be one of the most lucrative decisions in Marvel's history, he would also introduce Kitty Pryde and Alpha Flight during this time. After his work on X-Men, Byrne would have a short run on The Avengers before launching his second classic comic run, this time on Marvel's first family The Fantastic Four, writing and drawing the title for five years. Byrne would leave Marvel for DC in the mid 1980s where he was tasked with revamping their flagship Superman titles, he would draw two Superman titles a month while writing a third. After two years at DC, Byrne returned to Marvel where he would create memorable stints on She-Hulk, Namor The Sub-Mariner, and Iron Man. In the 90's Byrne would work on several creator owner titles at Dark Horse, including his Next Men (which would introduce Mike Mignola's Hellboy), Babe and Danger Unlimited. In the years that followed Byrne would create many more books, often working on titles that inspired him as a boy including a revamp of Jack Kirby's Fourth World and DC's Doom Patrol and The Demon.