WATCH: John Byrne talks about his runs on Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, and Superman

"Sometimes I wrestle with my demons. Sometimes, we just cuddle." - John Byrne

In comic book circles, it would be sacrilege to call anyone the "Jack Kirby of my generation" ... except for John Byrne, a writer and artist who not only lives up to that comparison, he built a legend of his own. SYFY WIRE recently had a chance to visit Byrne in his very impressive home studio.

Even icons start somewhere, and Byrne happily told us about the comic creators that influenced him.

"There's a British editorial cartoonist of my youth named [Carl] Giles, who was a huge, huge influence," noted Byrne. "There are some British comic book artists, [including] Frank Bellamy, Frank Hampson, and then we come over to this side of the pond, and I start to see people like Dick Sprang, and Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby. And then of course, Neal Adams blew everybody away.”

Byrne also spoke with us about his time on Fantastic Four and Superman, as well as how he developed his uniquely comedic take on She-Hulk.

"When [Marvel editor] Mark Gruenwald was talking to me about doing a new She-Hulk book, he said, 'Find a way to make it different,'" recalled Byrne. "I took the subway home, and on the way I thought, 'She knows she's in a comic book.'"

That notion allowed Byrne to break the fourth wall in She-Hulk and experiment with the comic format while making it one of Marvel's funniest books.

"I have a wacky sense of humor that I don't get to use too much in the regular work," said Byrne. "But She-Hulk allowed me to have both."

For more comic memories and insights from Byrne, check out the entire video!