Thread by @GailSimone

Okay, I have a theory, and I'm going to share it with you, even though I haven't fully thought it out and it may have bits that are not fully considered, agreed?

It's about the X-Men, and a couple theories I have.

Again, this is just random supposition, but it seems legit.

It may seem like I'm trolling, but I assure you, I'm not, and once I explain my theory, maybe you can see where I'm coming from.

It's actually two theories.

One is WHY the X-Men were so popular,
the other is how they might have damaged comics income, unintentionally.

All right, to start with, I am only speaking of the X-Men after Giant Size X-Men revitalized the book entirely. Before that, it was rarely a good seller and certainly not an industry leader. So this is AFTER Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, etc. join, okay?

If someone is relatively new to comics, they may not be aware of how MASSIVELY successful the X-Men were at one point. They were so successful, that Marvel was essentially two publishers, X-Men and everything else. Even Spider-Man couldn't compare to the number of mutant books.

Cap, Iron Man, Hulk, these books were almost afterthoughts in terms of importance to Marvel. Even before the films, the X-Men ruled comics, with only Batman to compare, really. They lopsided Marvel a little bit, through sheer popularity.

Even characters who weren't mutants would tell stories to tie in with X-Men plots, themes and characters.

But still, for the most part, the X-Men were a separate publishing imprint, even though there were crossovers and the like.

With me so far?

When the editors I had got promoted to the X-Men books, it was seen as a HUGE deal, like the Bat-offices at DC.
Jim Lee's X-Men one sold numbers unlike anything outside of the early Image books.

All of that's good, that's what's supposed to happen.

So that's a huge, huge balloon, and Marvel isn't stupid, they relied on that heavily.

Most companies are lucky to have ONE cash cow property, the X-Men had an entire little herd, with Wolverine at the top.

And while some might say that they were overexposed at times, that feels a little like sour grapes because for a long time, almost any mutant book sold plenty well enough to be profitable.

Now, the second theory first. It's no secret that due to a series of unfortunate choices in Marvel's rougher times, they gave away movie rights for very low return. And this caused some problems, and suddenly, the X-Men were no longer to be supported as Marvel's primary asset.

Mutants were removed from promotional material, toy and merch emphasis went elsewhere, this isn't industry secret stuff, it's all out there already.

It's fine, it's their IP. But here's the question.

Marvel had essentially split their line, I know because I worked with editorial on both sides, they were very distinct. There was X-Men, there was the rest of the stuff (some very great stuff, no value judgment here).

But there were clearly a lot of X-Men readers who ONLY followed X-Men. I remember meeting lots of them at comic shops. They might pick up a few other books, but it was the X-Men that made them comics fans.

So my question is, when there was such a serious reduction on emphasis for X-books and product...

...where did those readers go?

Do we assume they went over and started buying Batman or Spidey to make up for less X-stuff?

I kind of doubt it, because Batman and Spider-man do not provide the same experience as an X-title (note, I probably prefer Batman and Spider-man personally, although I was a big X-fan for a long time).

So where might they go?

This leads into my FIRST theory.

Basically, here is the question.

If someone loves your product because you put out the X-Men, then you de-escalate the X-Men, does handing them an Iron Man book have the same loyalty purchase effect?

I would say probably not.

The X-universe is SO large and SO well-defined, that the rest of the MU plays only a marginal part. The Baxter Building is huge for FF, but I would venture many X-readers have no idea of its significance.

So, two separate audiences with some crossover, right?

Then the deliberate compacting of mutant emphasis happens.

To the X-readers, there are fewer books. But they still like comics.

Where do they go?

And why were the X-Men so popular in the first place?

HERE'S MY THEORY!

The X-Men are America's first manga.

Come at me.

Okay. They had a great main writer, they had dynamite characters, they had great artists. A LOT of books have that and still tank.

Why did the X-Men grow to crush all competition?

Think about it.

How many hugely successful manga have the following traits?

1) Takes place at a school
2) Features attractive teens with powers
3) School uniforms
4) Constant romance subplots over long periods

cont.

5) Blurring of the lines between good and evil
6) Apocalyptic themes
7) Super-powered teacher/mentor figures
8) Surrogate theme of extended family
9) Specific arena for safe combat (Danger room)

How many manga series, HUGELY popular manga series, fit most of these criteria?

And the second rise of manga occurred just as the decree came down to spotlight the X-Men less in the actual comics.

My theory is that they meant to create something a bit like a superhero Star Trek, but very quickly it became a school-based soap opera action adventure, where the continuing emotional subplots were as important as the fight scenes.

That was mostly a NEW thing for comics.

Even more, you can almost effortlessly put almost any X-character created during that time of huge popularity into any similarly=themed manga and have them fit like a glove.

Conversely, a BUNCH of Academia characters could be X-Men with almost no effort to change them.

I think they stumbled onto a formula for success that many other Western comics imitated, but that was already being done well in manga and has kept popularity all this time.

It's not superhero comics, it's an action soap opera for students. OR as someone once called it...

A "School for Gifted Youngsters."

Anyway, that's my theory for the day. I'm not saying it's correct, but it has connected several dots in my mind that make pretty good sense.

Fight me. :)

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Have a great day!

PS. I will say that the X- comics I've read recently were of an insanely high quality, and I am delighted they are enjoying a resurgence.

I think this is a great course correction.

Real end/

PPS. Fun conversation, you guys. Thanks. :)