DavidSpofforth wrote:
Regarding the X-Men, though. I'd like to ask why X-Men Forever is acceptable and X-Men: Hidden Years was not? Didn't Joe Q cancel the latter because he didn't want an out of current continuity X-book?
I think Joe Q's public contention was that even though X-MEN: THE HIDDEN YEARS was set in the past, it was still considered in-continuity and only added to the overall complication of X-Men continuity at the time. I believe Byrne suspected other motives, though, hence the dissolution of the relationship. Meanwhile, X-MEN FOREVER is completely outside of continuity, more akin to Claremont's recent X-MEN: THE END and GENEXT series. Of course, at the end of the day, it's mostly about sales in my opinion -- I'm sure Marvel feels that by having some Claremont books around to appease the aging Bronze Age fan-base, it helps fuel sales of related product such as the MPC hardcovers, Classic TPB's and Bronze Age Masterworks.