the famous x-men run...Claremont or Byrne

[Random4]

do you consider the success of the run to go to Claremont more or Byrne?

[Panic]

You'll get a better response if you posted this question on the X-Boards.

Anyway, the question: if I had to pick one I'd choose Claremont, though it's not really fair to say one or the other when we (or at least I) don't know how much Byrne contributed to the plotting and the characters. I certainly think Byrne was the driving force behind Wolverine's development and subsequent popularity, as he adopted the character and pushed Chris into letting him do some cool things rather than just be the team hot-head; he also (according to him) created the character of Kitty Pryde, who was very popular. However, Claremont in his prime was not only a good writer, he had an eye for talent, and he was the guy who "discovered" Byrne, who was working in independent comics as I understand it, so I kind of think you've got to give Chris credit for managing to get such great talent to work with.

[DrNewGod]

I doubt that the rightful credit can be accurately allocated. The voice of the characters didn't shift all that much when Byrne came on board, although Wolverine did become more prominent, and the title's success continued after Byrne left. That said, aside from wrapping up the first Shiar, there was a definite shift in stories from the time Byrne joined the title, including the more sympathetic look at Magneto, Colossus' struggles with his own sense of confidence, the emergence of far more sinister threats to the team such as The Hellfire Club.

[stingray]

I think Claremont. The book was pretty much the same as when Cockrum was on it. I look back at that early Byrne artwork though, and it's just fantastic. I don't know if Terry Austin's inks just made the art that much better, but this was Byrne at his best, and wow, is it pretty to look at. Cockrum was no slouch either. That run is one of the best ever though. I think Claremont just stayed on it too long, and it got kind of stale after a while.

[JudicatorPrime]

Personally, it's as simple as this: When Byrne was the artist, I didn't miss a single X-men issue. Not one. I was sometimes at the store when the shipments came in and before the store owner had a chance to stock the shelves. When others took over drawing the X-Men -- and there were many greats in their own way to be sure -- I fell off. I'd skip an issue or two and then go back later and buy it in the used bin at one of the local stores. That was true of many of the other artists that I liked at the time. Bob Layton on Iron Man was incredible to me. But I didn't buy every book. Not at first. George Perez on Justice League and The New Teen Titans was also aces. Miller on Daredevil. Starlin on Captain Marvel, Warlock and other books. I could go on and on. But I never bought those books religiously hot off of the press. That was only true for Byrne's X-Men. He made that run for me, even though Claremont's script was nothing short of the work of gods in and of itself. We were incredibly fortunate to have both men on the book.

[C_Miller]

I think probably both, but most likely more Claremont. Claremont's run was solid before Byrne joined the book, but it did kick into high gear Byrne came onboard. And I don't necessarily think that it's Byrne's fault that he never reached those highs on the book again. There's a good chance that after almost 50 issues, Claremont just didn't have many stories left to tell.