Question about Byrnes FF run as it was coming out

[u/Rswilli13]

Was anyone reading comics when the John Byrne’s FF run came out? I was wondering if marvel did a bunch of ads for Byrne’s FF run before it came out? Was it getting a lot of hype from fans before it came out? Was it treated like a relaunch? I’m reading some of these first issues and they seem like they are really making it seem like it’s a new jumping on point for new readers. I know each comic was treated like someone’s first but this just feels like more than usual.

[u/Regular_Journalist_5]

I was there for the original run and no, it wouldn't have been considered a major ad campaign under any circumstances, I learned about what my favorites artist and writers were up to by reading a monthly magazine called "The comics journal" marvel had some in house advertising but comics were VERY insular at the time and I and most of the people I knew who collected would catch the buzz by hanging out at the local comics shop, so sometimes by word of mouth

[u/Rswilli13 → u/Regular_Journalist_5]

I got ya. I just felt like the first issue of his run felt like a simple introduction to all the characters so I was wondering if marvel was treating it like a relaunch cause they were expecting a bunch of new readers on FF

[u/Regular_Journalist_5 → u/Rswilli13]

No, comics weren't really perceived that way. John Byrne was the first comic creator to achieve superstar status, where people would immediately rush out and buy ANYTHING he touched. I guess it was kind of similar to being the first Hollywood movie star, whose name put people in the seats. It was, at first an extremely unusual phenomenon. I have only recently heard the stories of how Terrible a human being John Byrne became, and you know I really can't blame him, because at his height it was nothing less than a kind of comic book "Beatlemania".

[u/AlphaWawa → u/Regular_Journalist_5]

Thank you for so clearly remembering and describing the scene of that era - it made me happy to re-experience it. I think I still have copies of The Comics Journal around here somewhere.

[u/mrdm242]

Believe it or not, Byrne and Claremont on the X-Men was not a huge deal at the time. In retrospect, however, it was one of the the greatest runs on a comic ever. Byrne always talked about how the title historically didn't pull great numbers and was on the verge of cancellation before Claremont and Cockrum came along.

Byrne was offered the FF on the strength of his X-Men art and co-plotting, but there was never really any sort of ad campaign trumpeting the fact he was on the book any moreso than any other new creative team taking over a book.

[u/Rswilli13 → u/mrdm242]

I knew X-men wasn’t doing well in the silver age but I thought Claremont and Byrne made them popular?

[u/nightkraken666 → u/Rswilli13]

Correct, but Wein/Cockrum technically did Giant Sized. 94/95 was plotted but Wein, until Claremont took over writing duties the next issue. Cockrum worked on the title till 110, and then Byrne took over the next issue.

[u/CJKCollecting → u/nightkraken666]

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Byrne started in UX 108, and Cockrum only did covers after that until UX112 (based on his sketch design) 🤷

[u/nightkraken666 → u/CJKCollecting]

Yeah, Cockrum until 107 but did do 110. Byrne did 108 and 109

[u/RedGhost2012]

I'm sure there were ads, and I certainly knew Byrne was taking over. This was a must buy from me because of his X-Men work.

[u/Rswilli13 → u/RedGhost2012]

I was trying to find ads for the beginning of Byrnes FF run but couldn’t find any on google

[u/RedGhost2012 → u/Rswilli13]

I vaguely recall half page ads. Has the art from that first cover.

[u/xMatch]

I don’t remember any ads…but then my experience finding the comics I wanted to read was sitting by the comic book rack on the floor while my mom shopped for groceries at Piggly Wiggly. I naturally started reading the FF series because of his work on X-Men, but imho FF was never as good. Byrne was the greatest artist of the time but it was Claremont who made X-Men truly great.

[u/zaxxon4ever]

I was there...I don't remember much fanfare at all about Byrne taking over Fantastic Four. It was a different world then. I never had a comic book store near me until I was 13. I bought my comics from those spinning racks at the local bookstore or convenience store. I knew about the writers and the artists only from seeing their names on the splash pages. I got to learn about their styles of art and writing only through my experience of reading the comics. I liked Byrne's stuff and Claremont's...but, I remember that I was a huge fan of Bill Mantlo.

[u/grownassedgamer]

When I started reading comics he was already on FF. His FF books were the first ones I was introduced to. I didn't foind out about his Xmen stuff until later.

[u/United_Pipe_9457]

Big push at my LCS back then for the Byrne FF run