What if,,X-Men was never revived in the 70s
Mar 16, 2024 16:47:58 GMT -5
Roquefort Raider and aaronstack like this
Post by Crimebuster on Mar 16, 2024 16:47:58 GMT -5
This may sound weird, but bear with me.
I think the series still comes out, but instead of the New X-Men, it's The Champions.
Let's say that the X-Men reprints aren't selling quite well enough to justify using the brand to launch a new book -- it will be a negative, rather than a positive, to call the book The X-Men.
There are several things going on at Marvel that are still happening even if we take the X-Men brand off the board:
1st, the concept of a multi-national superhero team has been floated, so Marvel wants to do that.
2nd, assuming the 1st is correct, Wolverine is created for this purpose.
3rd, Dave Cockrum has quit DC, reportedly over a conflict regarding original art, and come to Marvel looking for work. He's popular and has a following from DC, so Marvel wants to find him a book.
4th, Cockrum already has the character designs for Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler among others, that were supposed to eventually be new Legionnaires.
5th, Chris Claremont is looking for an ongoing title - he's been getting work here and there and is ready to make the jump to a bigger book, even if Marvel isn't ready to put him on one of their current bestselling titles.
6th, Marvel wants to get more team books out in general.
So let's put these together:
In the real world, Tony Isabella pitched a buddy road trip book with former X-Men Angel and Iceman, but EiC Len Wein apparently wanted a team book, so he forced Isabella to add some arbitrary team members - supposedly a woman, a strong man, and someone with their own title. David Anthony Kraft comes up with the title "The Champions" but it became a book with no actual concept, just a collection of random characters.
In our hypothetical world, though, where the New X-Men didn't happen we have all the ingredients: a concept (international team of heroes), a group of characters (Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine), and a new hungry creative team (Dave Cockrum and Chris Claremont) all ready to be matched with a team book title (The Champions) in need of all those things.
There is still one thing missing, though. Wein wants a member who has their own title. Black Panther makes sense for the book's concept, and potentially to act as team leader. And it also makes sense for Claremont to bring in Captain Britain: he's international, and Claremont is writing Captain Britain at the time. As we know, he eventually did just this with Excalibur.
So there it is: The Champions by Claremont and Cockrum, with a lineup of Black Panther, Captain Britain, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus.
We know that Claremont likes to write strong women. Frankly, there aren't a lot of good options yet in 1975; by 1977 Claremont is writing Ms. Marvel, so that makes sense, but for the book's launch it's slim pickings. It's possible he's able to bring in Jean Grey since the X-Men would be dormant at this point, and the team lacks an American member. Or it's possible that he and Cockrum use one of Cockrum's other unused Legionnaire designs to make another new female superhero for the book.
Either way, I think the book is a hit, but I doubt it reaches the same heights as The X-Men eventually did.
I think the series still comes out, but instead of the New X-Men, it's The Champions.
Let's say that the X-Men reprints aren't selling quite well enough to justify using the brand to launch a new book -- it will be a negative, rather than a positive, to call the book The X-Men.
There are several things going on at Marvel that are still happening even if we take the X-Men brand off the board:
1st, the concept of a multi-national superhero team has been floated, so Marvel wants to do that.
2nd, assuming the 1st is correct, Wolverine is created for this purpose.
3rd, Dave Cockrum has quit DC, reportedly over a conflict regarding original art, and come to Marvel looking for work. He's popular and has a following from DC, so Marvel wants to find him a book.
4th, Cockrum already has the character designs for Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler among others, that were supposed to eventually be new Legionnaires.
5th, Chris Claremont is looking for an ongoing title - he's been getting work here and there and is ready to make the jump to a bigger book, even if Marvel isn't ready to put him on one of their current bestselling titles.
6th, Marvel wants to get more team books out in general.
So let's put these together:
In the real world, Tony Isabella pitched a buddy road trip book with former X-Men Angel and Iceman, but EiC Len Wein apparently wanted a team book, so he forced Isabella to add some arbitrary team members - supposedly a woman, a strong man, and someone with their own title. David Anthony Kraft comes up with the title "The Champions" but it became a book with no actual concept, just a collection of random characters.
In our hypothetical world, though, where the New X-Men didn't happen we have all the ingredients: a concept (international team of heroes), a group of characters (Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine), and a new hungry creative team (Dave Cockrum and Chris Claremont) all ready to be matched with a team book title (The Champions) in need of all those things.
There is still one thing missing, though. Wein wants a member who has their own title. Black Panther makes sense for the book's concept, and potentially to act as team leader. And it also makes sense for Claremont to bring in Captain Britain: he's international, and Claremont is writing Captain Britain at the time. As we know, he eventually did just this with Excalibur.
So there it is: The Champions by Claremont and Cockrum, with a lineup of Black Panther, Captain Britain, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus.
We know that Claremont likes to write strong women. Frankly, there aren't a lot of good options yet in 1975; by 1977 Claremont is writing Ms. Marvel, so that makes sense, but for the book's launch it's slim pickings. It's possible he's able to bring in Jean Grey since the X-Men would be dormant at this point, and the team lacks an American member. Or it's possible that he and Cockrum use one of Cockrum's other unused Legionnaire designs to make another new female superhero for the book.
Either way, I think the book is a hit, but I doubt it reaches the same heights as The X-Men eventually did.