Originally Posted by
CentralPower
Ambush Bug does not quite work because the character is a joke, not unlike modern Deadpool. Ambush Bug is a parody aimed at long term fans. (I would not have gotten Ambush Bug before I was in high school, simply because I had not read comics long enough to get the joke. By the time I was in high-school (early to mid 90s), Ambush Bug was accessible. It was not the plot (non-existent) or character (a perpetual straight-man), it was the joke that sold Ambush Bug.
Byrne set up the idea of Scarlett Witch being a monster in the late 80s. "House of M" broke no new ground on that front.
Readable is what it is. I do not subscribe to Bendis series because I want more than readable. But, every so often, I will buy some Bendis to fill out a haul, or he has done something cool. (Example: I am planning to read "Jessica Jones" #5.) Readable sells though. And, Bendis' writing style undermines stereotypes about comics that Marvel probably wants to see go away.
Does Diamond track sales at normal book stores, or on Amazon?
I doubt that casual readers are going to care about every single tie-in. They might have picked up "Armor Wars" because it was an Iron Man comic, or "Civil War" because it shared a name with that movie that they saw. But, they would not have tracked down "X-Men '92" unless they cared about X-Men. And, there was no need to. Each series was self-contained. (If somebody had serious OCD, once could make a case for "the Seige" or "Ultimate End" being unavoidably tied to the main "Secret Wars" event. But, that would still be a stretch.)
Up until the last 5 years, I have prioritized for DC over Marvel, as they had more idea-based comics. Traditionally (especially for those of us old enough to remember the 90s and earlier), DC was the smarter company. That has turned around of late though. (Ideally, DC and Marvel would both be competitive, and constantly knocking each other out of "highest and best" spot, with credible threats from Image or Dark Horse.)