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[QUOTE=BeastieRunner;5471107]Wouldn't most team books like F4, X-Men, etc. fall into this category because most of their supporting cast is on the team?
For solos, I would say Atomic Robo, Silver Surfer, Man-Thing, Devil-Slayer, maybe Moon Knight (all I can remember is Frenchie and Konchu), Blade, Punisher.
The last 3 have a memorable supporting character but I haven't read a story staring the 3 of them in a long time that really used a supporting character well, or at all that I can remember.
Save Robo, I noticed I had a hard time coming up with a DC character as the Wonder Womans, Supermans, Flashes, Batmans have sprawling casts for arcs many times over.[/QUOTE]
IMO, X-Men took off when Claremont began building a supporting cast. That wasn't all that made up their success, but it helped. Moira, Stevie, Calysto, Lee, Madelyne. It strikes me the X-books have always weakened when they focused inward and ignored supporting players.
But then, I think that's the case for most titles. Otherwise, it just descends into watching a first-person shooter game where somebody else has the controller.
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I tend to find that the main hero has to be the strong, firm basis for the story, but the supporting cast reinforces, supplements, and enhances the main character and story... and given sufficient time and focus, can eventually [I]become[/I] the strong, firm basis for their own stories.
Successful comics and franchise usually end up always having a few “ascended” supporting characters.
