Wolverine has his own book, why not the other x-men?

[Vishop]

This is probably an unpopular opinion but most of them don't need solo books. I don't need to read about what Nightcrawler is doing on an average day if it doesn't related to whatever is happening to the X-Men at large. I've seen a few comments asking for a Cyclops solo but he's typically the star of whatever X-Men team book he's in, so what's the point? It's not like he has a bustling life outside of the X-Men. Wolverine does.

Wolverine has dozens of rogues/affiliations over the course of 3 to 4 decades. Most of the X-Men have very few on there own especially during this current era. Star power is not only the single factor.

[Devaishwarya]

Yall it is not just about sales.

Marvel will keep trying certain characters even if they have several Ls (sometimes commercial, sometimes critical, sometimes both) under their belt.

Do not tell me that a well crafted Storm or Magik solo couldn’t outpace Cable.

That's the operative phrase..."well crafted"
Many of those "attempts" at solo books for most characters (other than Wolverine) start off white hot with blazing promise then...creatively sputter and fizzle out in a cold, ineffectual puff of stale smoke. Because somewhere along the way they just fall flat, creatively.

Personally, I love Storm but I'm not going to support her solo if the writing is awful and the art is shyt. Unlike a lot of readers here, the moment the product drops in creative quality, I'm out...I'm not reading my favourite character written incompetently and drawn like a meth-head (looking at you Storm-solo the Baldeon issue)

They keep trying certain characters not in the hope they will suddenly become a hot-ticket money maker, at least, that's not the main reason...but more often just to keep the IP going with a continuous if mediocre revenue stream.

[Rang10]

It was a reply to a post about stealth solos. Wells had one story he wanted to tell and that was about Magik and how she got her soul back and destroyed her greatest enemies. While Sam, Dani and Roberto had what to do, they were very much side characters in Magik's story.

As to whether Magik needs the New Mutants as a supporting cast, no. She's got her brother, Kitty, and Dr. Strange to start out with, and creating characters like an older apprentice of Belasco's or a figure for Illyana to mentor like Sapna isn't difficult. If anything it's the New Mutants who need Magik as the series collapsed after she and Wells left and she did fine in the X-Men Extinction and revolution teams without any of them. Dead Souls, which was even more of a stealth solo for Magik than the Wells run, though it was just a mini, only had one other classic New Mutant on the team with her.

Of course Magik did well on a uncanny x-men team with Scott, Storm, magento. That doesn't mean her solo gonna sell

[sunofdarkchild]

Of course Magik did well on a uncanny x-men team with Scott, Storm, magento. That doesn't mean her solo gonna sell

We're talking about many other points than just sales. The point I was addressing was whether Magik as a character needs the other New Mutants, and that period proved pretty definitively that she doesn't. While the New Mutants series was directionless after Wells, Magik broke out and gained a whole new fanbase during Avengers vs X-Men. Sales-wise that would have been the perfect time to launch a solo series for her, but creatively it showed that if she did have a solo it wouldn't need the other New Mutants as constant supporting characters.

[Rnap22]

Most of the X-men don’t have a huge rogues gallery. With Wolverine being as old as he is and his ties to the greater outside Marvel Universe, he has the potential to add more enemies from his past. Storm and Psylocke (Betsy) both have the Shadow King. But really besides that, nothing? Most of these characters have the enemies they have as a team. IMO you’re not going to have Betsy Braddock have some enemy from the past emerge, that’s new and it’s going to be that believable.

I think with some that have a past before the X-men (Gambit) you can add to their gallery but they have to be likable and not a one off type of character.

[Triniking1234]

Betsy is a Marvel UK character and you can pull a lot of stuff from that.

[davetvs]

In general, I agree with this, but at the moment, with the new status quo on Krakoa, I absolutely do because I am so curious to know what he makes of it all and I hope Way of X fulfils this.

Oh I totally agree, I'm in for Way of X for sure but that's technically an X-Men team book too.

[Rnap22]

Betsy is a Marvel UK character and you can pull a lot of stuff from that.

Besides Slaymaster and Vixen, who else? I said believable. You’re not going to just pull out some random character because they’re UK and make me believe they have this longstanding feud. Could she potentially in the future have a decent solo? Possibly with now Saturnyne hating her, but I am bored of her just fighting the Shadow King over and over

[Rang10]

Most of the X-men don’t have a huge rogues gallery. With Wolverine being as old as he is and his ties to the greater outside Marvel Universe, he has the potential to add more enemies from his past. Storm and Psylocke (Betsy) both have the Shadow King. But really besides that, nothing? Most of these characters have the enemies they have as a team. IMO you’re not going to have Betsy Braddock have some enemy from the past emerge, that’s new and it’s going to be that believable.

I think with some that have a past before the X-men (Gambit) you can add to their gallery but they have to be likable and not a one off type of character.

Wolverine got luck that he solos lasted a long so many things got build.

[Vishop]

Betsy is a Marvel UK character and you can pull a lot of stuff from that.

Betsy as Captain Britain is meh in Excalibur.

[Grunty]

That's the operative phrase..."well crafted"
Many of those "attempts" at solo books for most characters (other than Wolverine) start off white hot with blazing promise then...creatively sputter and fizzle out in a cold, ineffectual puff of stale smoke. Because somewhere along the way they just fall flat, creatively.

Considering how all the constant relaunches over the past years have made it impossible for any series to feel like they are potentialy endless anymore anyway, it would perhaps be much better to give various X-men characters a chance at solo comics by just giving them mini-series, with the option of making more afterwards.

I think there are multiple advantages to giving mini-series for long established character over trying to establish an ongoing series with them.

By limiting the number of issues right away, the writers are forced to plan the story out right away and keep it focused, while the artist can plan their schedule better. Overall reducing the chance of schedule slips and quality hiccups (of course that can still happen see Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk).

Mini series are also somewhat less affected by the monthly sales than ongoings, since their fate and ends are allready set and their value ultimately lies more in the trade sales than the single issues.

There is also the factor of being easier to access for new readers or casualy interested fans, since mini-series tend to be self contained, have specific titles to find them under and as mentioned above are easier to sell in trade format.

Overall i see it this way. I think someone like Storm would be better of getting 4 mini series in 2 years of which maybe only half are great, instead of getting an ongoing which might get canceled after just 12 issues and leaves behind a sour taste with a quality drop, unresolved plot threads and a rushed ending.

Likewise with multiple different mini-series they could also experiment with what kind of setup works well for the various X-men characters.

[Rang10]

Miniseries sell a lot less than ongoings, it isn't the best idea

[Grunty]

Miniseries sell a lot less than ongoings, it isn't the best idea

It's not i admit, but i feel it's still better than the characters getting no chance at solo outings at all because of the various prejudices discussed in this thread or analysis telling the people in charge that the characters will never be able to sell 48+ issue with an ongoings (which again nobody these days is getting anyway).

Besides from what i recall the sales of ongoings are highly dependant on the characters too.

It would still be a better showing for a character to get mini which sells between 15k at issue 1 and 10k at issue 6, than getting an ongoing which starts at overshipped 60k at issue 1 and dipping down to 13k at issue 6 at which point they get canceled anyway.

[Devaishwarya]

I would actually love a series of "solo" 4-6/issues limited series stories by top-tier creatives...as they recently did with Juggernaut.

[Rang10]

There is a say that all comics are minis if the sales are really bad. I think that publishers already expect it to do badly.
A mini or a ongoing ending/canceled on issue 6 doesn't make difference. I understand it is more about the psychological effect, like "well it was always mean to end on issue 6 so selling only 15k is expected."