Most significant X-Men

[Dr. Balls]

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Could have just been a trend thing, perhaps? After all Vision/Scarlett Witch, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, etc, etc had their own "limited series" books which seemed to be all the rage during that timeframe before 1988 - perhaps the idea behind ongoing series' wasn't fully realized at that time?

 

Could have been a big step to take an established character in a title and give him a second title - which at this point - had only been reserved for the likes of Cap, Iron Man and Spidey.

 

I mean, they gave Wolvie his own series and MCP in 1988 - so there is definitely reason to think he hit the stratosphere at that time, but I think his popularity was still very strong before then. The explanation for underuse could simply be that editors didn't have the right ideas in place to take advantage of that popularity pre-88.

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

Another hypocritical, typical, and predictable response from RMA.

 

If you don't like what someone says, or the way they say it, either make a real effort to resolve it, or ignore it.

 

As Broke says, "why do people have to get confrontational?"

[gaz973]

Me, I didn't read the X-Men. Could not have cared less about the X-Men.

Knew who Wolverine was, but didn't really know or care.

So as I remember it, it was an X-Men thing.

I suppose the rest of fandom weren't all that into it.

 

I remember I ALMOST picked up the mini-series, because it was Frank Miller...

But didn't because it was 'mutant stuff'. Didn't care about that mutant stuff.

 

I think Wolverine was an X-Men favorite... but he wasn't the break out star he would become YET.

I mean... don't CLEAR breakout stars get their own regular series?

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Looking back at it:

Alpha Flight had been going for 5 years before Wolvie got his own book.

They had a whole book devoted to the WEST COAST portion of the Avengers team for the last three years, before Wolvie got a book.

Power Pack was going on it's way to FOUR YEARS! Power Pack was more deserving of it's own title than Wolverine?

The Punisher was a YEAR into his series before Wolvie got his own book...

Speedball had TWO ISSUES released before Wolvie got his own book...

 

I don't think there's any question, X-MEN FANS, liked him.

I just didn't think he became a break out star until later.

 

I know it happened before I personally got into it... for me it was the Barry Windsor-Smith MCP's Weapon X stuff....

 

Personally, I don't think that argument holds much ground. Wolverine's story was already being told in Uncanny X Men, it wasn't common for someone from a team book to receive their own series unless they were one of the original Sixties mainstays like Cap, Iron Man, Thor.....

 

The adventures of Alpha Fight, Punisher, Speedball, etc could only be found in their new series.

[Darkowl]

 

Another hypocritical, typical, and predictable response from RMA.

 

If you don't like what someone says, or the way they say it, either make a real effort to resolve it, or ignore it.

 

As Broke says, "why do people have to get confrontational?"

 

And here you are again, NOT ignoring me, or resolving anything. Perhaps you should look into practicing what you preach.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Me, I didn't read the X-Men. Could not have cared less about the X-Men.

Knew who Wolverine was, but didn't really know or care.

So as I remember it, it was an X-Men thing.

I suppose the rest of fandom weren't all that into it.

 

I remember I ALMOST picked up the mini-series, because it was Frank Miller...

But didn't because it was 'mutant stuff'. Didn't care about that mutant stuff.

 

I think Wolverine was an X-Men favorite... but he wasn't the break out star he would become YET.

I mean... don't CLEAR breakout stars get their own regular series?

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Looking back at it:

Alpha Flight had been going for 5 years before Wolvie got his own book.

They had a whole book devoted to the WEST COAST portion of the Avengers team for the last three years, before Wolvie got a book.

Power Pack was going on it's way to FOUR YEARS! Power Pack was more deserving of it's own title than Wolverine?

The Punisher was a YEAR into his series before Wolvie got his own book...

Speedball had TWO ISSUES released before Wolvie got his own book...

 

I don't think there's any question, X-MEN FANS, liked him.

I just didn't think he became a break out star until later.

 

I know it happened before I personally got into it... for me it was the Barry Windsor-Smith MCP's Weapon X stuff....

 

It very much was an "X-Men" thing, as opposed to a "Wolverine" thing. Marvel Team Up Annual #1, Power Man & Iron Fist #57, Rom #17-18, What If #27, Bizarre Adventures #27, Avengers Annual #10, all X-MEN appearances, as opposed to spotlighting any single character. Arguments that Wolverine was a breakout star by or at X-Men #133 are unsupportable.

 

As you point out...Dazzler got her own book. New Mutants got their own book. Alpha Flight, Power Pack, Avengers West Coast (Mini AND regular), X-Factor, Cloak & Dagger...yes, CLOAK AND DAGGER...Punisher...ALF...the New Universe...Star Comics....all of these characters got their regular series before Wolverine got his own. Spidey was in FOUR titles, three new and one reprint. Beast, Nightcrawler, Magik, Longshot, Punisher, Hercules (TWICE), Vision and the Scarlet Witch (TWICE) all had minis.

 

Was Marvel just stupid? Weren't they afraid of "overexposing" Spidey? Spidey had Amazing, Spectacular, Team-Up, Web, Marvel Tales. Or Dazzler? Or any of the above? Clearly, if we have learned anything, it is that Marvel was NEVER afraid of "overexposure" and would deal with the fallout, if any, at a later date. Pimp those characters while the pimping could be done was the standard of the day at Marvel, from 1939 to 2014!

 

If a billion people "remember" something a certain way, does that make it "more" true? It is a documented fact that even eyewitnesses see things that didn't happen, days or weeks after the event. How much less so when discussing memories of 30+ years ago?

 

And lest we forget: in 1982-1984, Uncanny X-Men wasn't always the best selling title...they fought with New Teen Titans the entire time.

 

I am willing to concede, wholeheartedly, that we're trying to pin down jello. There's really no way of knowing precisely when Wolverine became *the* fan favorite of X-Men. I do wish those arguing for that, however, would recognize that as well.

[asteroid-comix]

(Allow me to help the "Wolverine was *the* fan favorite X-Man in the early 80's" crowd a bit... )

 

http://www.cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/cbg-fan-award-winners-1982-present

 

*NOTE: The results are not scientific.

 

 

Lobo in 1990 was definitely deserved.

 

That mini ruled!

 

What I find absolutely fascinating (keeping firmly in mind that these results are NOT scientific in ANY way) is that Batman was voted favorite character 5 times between 1982 and 1988, and yet, his sales during this period were abysmal. Just abysmal.

 

Then, of course, Batman has won 19 times, while Wolvie...only twice.

 

Could have the mid-late 80's popularity for Batman been driven by the movie and graphic novels more so than the comics? You also had the DKR series in there...not sure what the sales were for that series, but guessing it was high.

 

Favorite Orginal Graphic Novel

1987: Batman: Son of the Demon by Mike W. Barr and Jerry Bingham (DC)

1988: Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland (DC)

1989: Batman: Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean (DC)

1990: Elektra Lives Again by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (Marvel)

1991: Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham by Alan Grant and Simon Bisley (DC)

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

And here you are again, NOT ignoring me, or resolving anything. Perhaps you should look into practicing what you preach.

 

If you don't like what someone says, or the way they say it, either make a real effort to resolve it, or ignore it.

 

As Broke says, "why do people have to get confrontational?"

[Prince Namor]

Me, I didn't read the X-Men. Could not have cared less about the X-Men.

Knew who Wolverine was, but didn't really know or care.

So as I remember it, it was an X-Men thing.

I suppose the rest of fandom weren't all that into it.

 

I remember I ALMOST picked up the mini-series, because it was Frank Miller...

But didn't because it was 'mutant stuff'. Didn't care about that mutant stuff.

 

I think Wolverine was an X-Men favorite... but he wasn't the break out star he would become YET.

I mean... don't CLEAR breakout stars get their own regular series?

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Looking back at it:

Alpha Flight had been going for 5 years before Wolvie got his own book.

They had a whole book devoted to the WEST COAST portion of the Avengers team for the last three years, before Wolvie got a book.

Power Pack was going on it's way to FOUR YEARS! Power Pack was more deserving of it's own title than Wolverine?

The Punisher was a YEAR into his series before Wolvie got his own book...

Speedball had TWO ISSUES released before Wolvie got his own book...

 

I don't think there's any question, X-MEN FANS, liked him.

I just didn't think he became a break out star until later.

 

I know it happened before I personally got into it... for me it was the Barry Windsor-Smith MCP's Weapon X stuff....

 

Personally, I don't think that argument holds much ground. Wolverine's story was already being told in Uncanny X Men, it wasn't common for someone from a team book to receive their own series unless they were one of the original Sixties mainstays like Cap, Iron Man, Thor.....

 

The adventures of Alpha Fight, Punisher, Speedball, etc could only be found in their new series.

 

You think Marvel overthought it that much?

 

If his story was already being told, why did he get a mini series previously?

Is it really about the stories?

 

I mean seriously, was their REALLY all that much to tell about the Punisher that he needed his own series, or was it maybe that HE was the top dog, that Marvel thought was first up for his own series?

 

Remember, when Wolvie's first regular series began, it coincided with the Punisher's SECOND monthly series: The Punisher War Journal.

 

Being a Spider-man reader at the time, I was aware of the tremendous popularity of the character - though was puzzled as to why at a certain point - because really - how much is their to say....?

 

There isn't.

It's a sales decision.

And once the Punisher proved to be a hit, and they saw that even Alpha Flight could hold it's own, they thought, why not give Wolverine a shot at it - his mini series did great, he's super popular within the X-men, maybe he can be as big as Punisher...

 

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

Those using the CBG Fan Awards, please note...again...that that information is far from scientific, and only contains information from people who read CBG and cared enough to vote.

 

That's like looking at the People's Choice awards, and using those to determine what films/shows/singers were the best according to everyone in those industries.

 

It's not useless...and it is a good indicator...but it is not the end all, be all of documentation, and that should be kept firmly in mind when discussing it.

 

By the way...where's my credit for bringing in actual poll data, when I was flat out told no such thing existed...?

 

 

(I kid, I kid...mostly. )

[Dr. Balls]

I think this thread has jumped the shark. The conjecture has reached cirtical mass when we are trying to speculate why Marvel created Power Pack before Wolverine.

 

This is now easily chalked up to "We'll never know." - well, at least for me.

 

Kudos to RMA for the cool data, though. I loved the CBG Fan Awards info and the Hulk 184 letters pages. Oh, and for Dekker for the Wolvie subscription page. I always loved that graphic, the foreshortening on Wolvie is perfect.

[RockMyAmadeus]

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Could have just been a trend thing, perhaps? After all Vision/Scarlett Witch, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, etc, etc had their own "limited series" books which seemed to be all the rage during that timeframe before 1988 - perhaps the idea behind ongoing series' wasn't fully realized at that time?

 

Could have been a big step to take an established character in a title and give him a second title - which at this point - had only been reserved for the likes of Cap, Iron Man and Spidey.

 

I mean, they gave Wolvie his own series and MCP in 1988 - so there is definitely reason to think he hit the stratosphere at that time, but I think his popularity was still very strong before then. The explanation for underuse could simply be that editors didn't have the right ideas in place to take advantage of that popularity pre-88.

 

MCP was NOT a Wolverine title...initially.

 

He was featured in the first 10 issues, of course to get the title off the ground, but then he disappears until issue #38, at which point it does indeed become a Wolverine title.

 

And I don't think I agree with your argument about the editors not understanding how to take full advantage of a character...Cloak & Dagger, after all...but I do grant that it is a fair argument.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Me, I didn't read the X-Men. Could not have cared less about the X-Men.

Knew who Wolverine was, but didn't really know or care.

So as I remember it, it was an X-Men thing.

I suppose the rest of fandom weren't all that into it.

 

I remember I ALMOST picked up the mini-series, because it was Frank Miller...

But didn't because it was 'mutant stuff'. Didn't care about that mutant stuff.

 

I think Wolverine was an X-Men favorite... but he wasn't the break out star he would become YET.

I mean... don't CLEAR breakout stars get their own regular series?

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Looking back at it:

Alpha Flight had been going for 5 years before Wolvie got his own book.

They had a whole book devoted to the WEST COAST portion of the Avengers team for the last three years, before Wolvie got a book.

Power Pack was going on it's way to FOUR YEARS! Power Pack was more deserving of it's own title than Wolverine?

The Punisher was a YEAR into his series before Wolvie got his own book...

Speedball had TWO ISSUES released before Wolvie got his own book...

 

I don't think there's any question, X-MEN FANS, liked him.

I just didn't think he became a break out star until later.

 

I know it happened before I personally got into it... for me it was the Barry Windsor-Smith MCP's Weapon X stuff....

 

Personally, I don't think that argument holds much ground. Wolverine's story was already being told in Uncanny X Men, it wasn't common for someone from a team book to receive their own series unless they were one of the original Sixties mainstays like Cap, Iron Man, Thor.....

 

The adventures of Alpha Fight, Punisher, Speedball, etc could only be found in their new series.

 

You think Marvel overthought it that much?

 

If his story was already being told, why did he get a mini series previously?

Is it really about the stories?

 

I mean seriously, was their REALLY all that much to tell about the Punisher that he needed his own series, or was it maybe that HE was the top dog, that Marvel thought was first up for his own series?

 

Remember, when Wolvie's first regular series began, it coincided with the Punisher's SECOND monthly series: The Punisher War Journal.

 

Being a Spider-man reader at the time, I was aware of the tremendous popularity of the character - though was puzzled as to why at a certain point - because really - how much is their to say....?

 

There isn't.

It's a sales decision.

And once the Punisher proved to be a hit, and they saw that even Alpha Flight could hold it's own, they thought, why not give Wolverine a shot at it - his mini series did great, he's super popular within the X-men, maybe he can be as big as Punisher...

 

 

 

There was a time, for a while, that Spidey #129 was worth more than Hulk #181.

 

True story.

[Dr. Balls]

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Could have just been a trend thing, perhaps? After all Vision/Scarlett Witch, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, etc, etc had their own "limited series" books which seemed to be all the rage during that timeframe before 1988 - perhaps the idea behind ongoing series' wasn't fully realized at that time?

 

Could have been a big step to take an established character in a title and give him a second title - which at this point - had only been reserved for the likes of Cap, Iron Man and Spidey.

 

I mean, they gave Wolvie his own series and MCP in 1988 - so there is definitely reason to think he hit the stratosphere at that time, but I think his popularity was still very strong before then. The explanation for underuse could simply be that editors didn't have the right ideas in place to take advantage of that popularity pre-88.

 

MCP was NOT a Wolverine title...initially.

 

He was featured in the first 10 issues, of course to get the title off the ground, but then he disappears until issue #38, at which point it does indeed become a Wolverine title.

 

And I don't think I agree with your argument about the editors not understanding how to take full advantage of a character...Cloak & Dagger, after all...but I do grant that it is a fair argument.

 

I don't think they didn't know how to take advantage, but perhaps there were some other more... tangible reasons to why he didn't get his title. Perhaps there was no room in the budget. Maybe paper cost skyrocketed. Maybe they had big plans for him in X-Men and they didn't want to split the readership. I don't have the answer, but I have to believe that somewhere in the equation, the human element plays a part to why he got a series in 1988, but maybe not 1987.

[Prince Namor]

Me, I didn't read the X-Men. Could not have cared less about the X-Men.

Knew who Wolverine was, but didn't really know or care.

So as I remember it, it was an X-Men thing.

I suppose the rest of fandom weren't all that into it.

 

I remember I ALMOST picked up the mini-series, because it was Frank Miller...

But didn't because it was 'mutant stuff'. Didn't care about that mutant stuff.

 

I think Wolverine was an X-Men favorite... but he wasn't the break out star he would become YET.

I mean... don't CLEAR breakout stars get their own regular series?

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Looking back at it:

Alpha Flight had been going for 5 years before Wolvie got his own book.

They had a whole book devoted to the WEST COAST portion of the Avengers team for the last three years, before Wolvie got a book.

Power Pack was going on it's way to FOUR YEARS! Power Pack was more deserving of it's own title than Wolverine?

The Punisher was a YEAR into his series before Wolvie got his own book...

Speedball had TWO ISSUES released before Wolvie got his own book...

 

I don't think there's any question, X-MEN FANS, liked him.

I just didn't think he became a break out star until later.

 

I know it happened before I personally got into it... for me it was the Barry Windsor-Smith MCP's Weapon X stuff....

 

Personally, I don't think that argument holds much ground. Wolverine's story was already being told in Uncanny X Men, it wasn't common for someone from a team book to receive their own series unless they were one of the original Sixties mainstays like Cap, Iron Man, Thor.....

 

The adventures of Alpha Fight, Punisher, Speedball, etc could only be found in their new series.

 

You think Marvel overthought it that much?

 

If his story was already being told, why did he get a mini series previously?

Is it really about the stories?

 

I mean seriously, was their REALLY all that much to tell about the Punisher that he needed his own series, or was it maybe that HE was the top dog, that Marvel thought was first up for his own series?

 

Remember, when Wolvie's first regular series began, it coincided with the Punisher's SECOND monthly series: The Punisher War Journal.

 

Being a Spider-man reader at the time, I was aware of the tremendous popularity of the character - though was puzzled as to why at a certain point - because really - how much is their to say....?

 

There isn't.

It's a sales decision.

And once the Punisher proved to be a hit, and they saw that even Alpha Flight could hold it's own, they thought, why not give Wolverine a shot at it - his mini series did great, he's super popular within the X-men, maybe he can be as big as Punisher...

 

 

 

There was a time, for a while, that Spidey #129 was worth more than Hulk #181.

 

True story.

 

Yep.

 

And Punisher had THREE monthly comic titles!

[RockMyAmadeus]

Me, I didn't read the X-Men. Could not have cared less about the X-Men.

Knew who Wolverine was, but didn't really know or care.

So as I remember it, it was an X-Men thing.

I suppose the rest of fandom weren't all that into it.

 

I remember I ALMOST picked up the mini-series, because it was Frank Miller...

But didn't because it was 'mutant stuff'. Didn't care about that mutant stuff.

 

I think Wolverine was an X-Men favorite... but he wasn't the break out star he would become YET.

I mean... don't CLEAR breakout stars get their own regular series?

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Looking back at it:

Alpha Flight had been going for 5 years before Wolvie got his own book.

They had a whole book devoted to the WEST COAST portion of the Avengers team for the last three years, before Wolvie got a book.

Power Pack was going on it's way to FOUR YEARS! Power Pack was more deserving of it's own title than Wolverine?

The Punisher was a YEAR into his series before Wolvie got his own book...

Speedball had TWO ISSUES released before Wolvie got his own book...

 

I don't think there's any question, X-MEN FANS, liked him.

I just didn't think he became a break out star until later.

 

I know it happened before I personally got into it... for me it was the Barry Windsor-Smith MCP's Weapon X stuff....

 

Personally, I don't think that argument holds much ground. Wolverine's story was already being told in Uncanny X Men, it wasn't common for someone from a team book to receive their own series unless they were one of the original Sixties mainstays like Cap, Iron Man, Thor.....

 

The adventures of Alpha Fight, Punisher, Speedball, etc could only be found in their new series.

 

You think Marvel overthought it that much?

 

If his story was already being told, why did he get a mini series previously?

Is it really about the stories?

 

I mean seriously, was their REALLY all that much to tell about the Punisher that he needed his own series, or was it maybe that HE was the top dog, that Marvel thought was first up for his own series?

 

Remember, when Wolvie's first regular series began, it coincided with the Punisher's SECOND monthly series: The Punisher War Journal.

 

Being a Spider-man reader at the time, I was aware of the tremendous popularity of the character - though was puzzled as to why at a certain point - because really - how much is their to say....?

 

There isn't.

It's a sales decision.

And once the Punisher proved to be a hit, and they saw that even Alpha Flight could hold it's own, they thought, why not give Wolverine a shot at it - his mini series did great, he's super popular within the X-men, maybe he can be as big as Punisher...

 

 

 

There was a time, for a while, that Spidey #129 was worth more than Hulk #181.

 

True story.

 

Yep.

 

And Punisher had THREE monthly comic titles!

 

Don't remind me.

 

[Dr. Balls]

There was a time, for a while, that Spidey #129 was worth more than Hulk #181.

 

True story.

 

Yep.

 

And Punisher had THREE monthly comic titles!

 

Punisher ROCKED in the 80s. I wanted a #129 way more than a #181 when I was a kid.

[Dr. Balls]

And Punisher had THREE monthly comic titles!

 

Don't remind me.

 

 

 

I loved the Punisher titles.

[Prince Namor]

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Could have just been a trend thing, perhaps? After all Vision/Scarlett Witch, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, etc, etc had their own "limited series" books which seemed to be all the rage during that timeframe before 1988 - perhaps the idea behind ongoing series' wasn't fully realized at that time?

 

Could have been a big step to take an established character in a title and give him a second title - which at this point - had only been reserved for the likes of Cap, Iron Man and Spidey.

 

I mean, they gave Wolvie his own series and MCP in 1988 - so there is definitely reason to think he hit the stratosphere at that time, but I think his popularity was still very strong before then. The explanation for underuse could simply be that editors didn't have the right ideas in place to take advantage of that popularity pre-88.

 

MCP was NOT a Wolverine title...initially.

 

He was featured in the first 10 issues, of course to get the title off the ground, but then he disappears until issue #38, at which point it does indeed become a Wolverine title.

 

And I don't think I agree with your argument about the editors not understanding how to take full advantage of a character...Cloak & Dagger, after all...but I do grant that it is a fair argument.

 

I don't think they didn't know how to take advantage, but perhaps there were some other more... tangible reasons to why he didn't get his title. Perhaps there was no room in the budget. Maybe paper cost skyrocketed. Maybe they had big plans for him in X-Men and they didn't want to split the readership. I don't have the answer, but I have to believe that somewhere in the equation, the human element plays a part to why he got a series in 1988, but maybe not 1987.

 

Punisher War Journal, the Punisher's SECOND series began the same month as Wolverine's first....

[gaz973]

I remember reading a comic magazine interview with Claremont on the mid eighties where he commented directly about the popularity of Wolverine. He commented that He was concerned with the possibility of overexposing Wolverine risked undermining the character.

 

Maybe this was why he hadn't been overused previous to this, the interview made it sound like Claremont had been trying to fight the pressure from Marvel to feature him more.

 

 

This is how I saw it too.

 

By the time Wolverine got his own regular series Claremont had lost the good fight with the powers at be at Marvel in terms of keeping his X-universe all tied to himself. I know he started out writing the wolverine ongoing but I don't think it lasted very long. Corporate Marvel knew the key to sales was making Wolverine as big as Spider-Man.

 

Of course back in 83' Wolverine was the number one mutant in the number one book for fans. If anything Claremont tried to downplay his role knowing how popular he had become.

 

If anyone has any actual evidence that demonstrates that Wolverine was "the number one mutant" (and let's not even talk about New Teen Titans, which gave the X-Men a SERIOUS run for their money in the early 80's), by all means, PLEASE share that.

 

A reader poll printed in a magazine, an article from the time posted, any actual DATA which demonstrates this position. It would be much preferable to a lot of "that's how I remember it" statements, especially from childhood memories, which are most unscientific.

 

I would be most interested them!

The magazine interview I was referring to is fact but I haven't had the magazine for many years.

If I can track down which magazine it was then I'll post it here.

 

Please do, I would be very interested in reading it.

I've been trying to google a clue as to the identity of the magazine that I was referring to but so far it's proven to be a needle in a haystack. I don't remember the title of the magazine or even if it was a US or UK publication. I think it may have been more late Eighties than mid Eighties now though so probably wouldn't hold as much sway over this discussion.

 

Having been a comic reader through the Eighties, my memories are that Wolverine was the most popular X Man easily at the beginning of the Eighties but nowhere near at the same levels as later on. He gained popularity slowly but was boosted by the mini series and finally took off to real levels of popularity and over exposure after his ongoing was launched.

 

My take on the interview that I read (bearing in mind that it was a long time ago and my memory of it isn't 100% but the general gist of it should be fairly accurate) was that Claremont acknowledged that Wolverine was the key character but that the overexposing him would undermine what made him popular. Unfortunately I can't substantiate this currently.

[gaz973]

Me, I didn't read the X-Men. Could not have cared less about the X-Men.

Knew who Wolverine was, but didn't really know or care.

So as I remember it, it was an X-Men thing.

I suppose the rest of fandom weren't all that into it.

 

I remember I ALMOST picked up the mini-series, because it was Frank Miller...

But didn't because it was 'mutant stuff'. Didn't care about that mutant stuff.

 

I think Wolverine was an X-Men favorite... but he wasn't the break out star he would become YET.

I mean... don't CLEAR breakout stars get their own regular series?

If he was THAT big of deal, why wouldn't Marvel just give him his own regular series?

 

Looking back at it:

Alpha Flight had been going for 5 years before Wolvie got his own book.

They had a whole book devoted to the WEST COAST portion of the Avengers team for the last three years, before Wolvie got a book.

Power Pack was going on it's way to FOUR YEARS! Power Pack was more deserving of it's own title than Wolverine?

The Punisher was a YEAR into his series before Wolvie got his own book...

Speedball had TWO ISSUES released before Wolvie got his own book...

 

I don't think there's any question, X-MEN FANS, liked him.

I just didn't think he became a break out star until later.

 

I know it happened before I personally got into it... for me it was the Barry Windsor-Smith MCP's Weapon X stuff....

 

Personally, I don't think that argument holds much ground. Wolverine's story was already being told in Uncanny X Men, it wasn't common for someone from a team book to receive their own series unless they were one of the original Sixties mainstays like Cap, Iron Man, Thor.....

 

The adventures of Alpha Fight, Punisher, Speedball, etc could only be found in their new series.

 

You think Marvel overthought it that much?

 

If his story was already being told, why did he get a mini series previously?

Is it really about the stories?

 

I mean seriously, was their REALLY all that much to tell about the Punisher that he needed his own series, or was it maybe that HE was the top dog, that Marvel thought was first up for his own series?

 

Remember, when Wolvie's first regular series began, it coincided with the Punisher's SECOND monthly series: The Punisher War Journal.

 

Being a Spider-man reader at the time, I was aware of the tremendous popularity of the character - though was puzzled as to why at a certain point - because really - how much is their to say....?

 

There isn't.

It's a sales decision.

And once the Punisher proved to be a hit, and they saw that even Alpha Flight could hold it's own, they thought, why not give Wolverine a shot at it - his mini series did great, he's super popular within the X-men, maybe he can be as big as Punisher...

 

 

 

Good points, particularly pointing out that it coincided with War Journal.