[TheBlueMarvel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panther

Even if we go back to the 80's and 90's and look up comic book sales. X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, Daredevil, Watchmen, Teen Titans, and New Mutants owned the 80's and early 90's, so let us use that as a template.

As someone who was introduced to comics in the late 70's (circa 78-79), I can say, in my experience, truer words have not been written on this thread.

Independent of the characters Marvel tried to actively promote as 'flagship,’ the explosive resonance of the aforementioned titles was undeniable. Especially so with X-men and Teen Titans. Outside of Spider-Man, that list includes none of my favorites, which should dispel any notion that I speak from the prospective of a 'homer' as I add my voice in agreement.

Marvel’s marketing (ie t-shirts, underoos, and ancillary product tie-ins) from the 70’s into the 80’s would have you believe Cap, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and Spidey were their mainstays (FF got a nod also, but like Namor, they were on the fringe among ‘casuals’). While book sales confirmed Spidey as a heavy-weight, the others languished considerably. Even though I loved Spidey as my formal introduction to the Marvel universe (his fight with Lightmaster being one of my first books ever – still waiting for a fig) I often wondered why the character had three titles (at the time, that was unusual): Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker: Spectacular, and Marvel Team-up. I asked the owner of my LCS (a term not even thought of then; my home town had three comic shops within 5 square miles of each other) what the deal was and he shared that he always sold through on Spidey books and that fans couldn’t seem to get enough creating the need for more Parker titles…little did I know, there would be two and three times the number of Spidey titles in the subsequent years to follow.

As it relates to the original convo…and now, I am going to sound like a homer when I say that Spidey is the only consistent “A-lister” in all of the MCU…and he only recently returned to the fold. The subjective nature of my opinion is not lost on me, but my larger point is that regardless of where or how you came on board…irrespective of who you think should be showcased from Marvel’s pantheon, or who represents the lion’s share of fan interest…there is more than enough landscape to indulge everyone. We all win with each and every character that gets highlighted, whether they are represented in their iconic-canon form, or they are re-imagined or revised for modern audiences. Creating artificial divisions between fanbases serves little purpose in the grand scheme of things...

Make mine Marvel! …but you could throw some DC and Crossgen in there too!