UNINVITED GUESTS

April 12, 1991

To guest, or not to guest, that is the question,
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fandom
Who will take arms against a sea of guest shots
And by opposing, end them.

The original speech, of course, is about whether to die or not. And some months ago, I did a column about the tendency to revivify dead characters, centering mainly on both the fan demand and abhorrance for the practice.

So we turn to another fan-powered notion, that being the featuring of hot characters in various titles. Are they overexposed? Is it a bad thing when writers do that? And more to the point–can I guest star the Punisher or Ghost Rider in The Incredible Hulk without being shot?

The concept of cross-polinating characters is nothing new, of course. It goes back to the very essence of the team concept that prompted the creation of the Justice Society of America, namely: Spud-Man (TM) has “x” number of readers. Captain Coleslaw (TM) has “y” number of readers. Put them in the same book, and you have x + y = a lot of sales

Of course, I’m not privvy to the sales figures of five decades ago, but I can only assume it did well because the tradition has continued. The Barry Allen Flash teamed with the Golden Age Flash; Superman teamed with Batman in the long-running World’s Finest (which, when it was cancelled by DC in the 80s, a DC spokesman declared, “Batman and Superman never really worked well as a team,” which I thought was a panic considering that Batman and Superman were a team at a time when all the spokesman was old enough to do with a comic was wipe his/her nose with it); Iron Man teamed up with the Angel (through a special arrangement, we were told, with the publishers of X-Men magazine. Darn nice of those publishers, I think); and, one of my personal favorites, Daredevil teamed up with the Fantastic Four.

And who can forget the immortal first teaming of Spider-Man and Superman, a Pre-Crisis event that had fans debating whether it took place on Earth 1, Earth 2, Earth S…where, in what reality, did it occur. (The answer, of course, is that it occurred on Earth $, otherwise known as Earth Bucks, which is not to be confused with Earth Barks which is populated, of course, by talking ducks.)

Team ups, guest shots, special appearances, cameos, walk-ons abounded. And those were some of the most memorable issues. The payoff was twofold: 1) They were the types of books that gave us our first real feeling that the heroes lived in one big universe; 2) They were the types of books (again, we presume) that translated into $ucce$$ in the only way that publisher$ under$tand.

But because the guest shots happened every so often–and because it wasn’t the same characters–fans didn’t consider the team-ups from the profit-center point of view.

The change in viewpoint started slowly. For example, Spider-Man seemed to appear with startling regularity in the third issue (or so) of every new series. In a way, it seemed as if it was a way of making a new character or series “official”–Spidey’s showing up was one manner to make the newcomer “genuine.” He or she (yeah, right) was clearly a part of the Marvel Universe because here was the most recognizable character in the MU come out to greet them. Feel at home. Pull up some increased sales and kick back.

In point of fact, what this also did was serve as a buffer against dropping interest. The first issue of anything generally sells well (okay, aside from Night Nurse…). The second issue feeds off of the first…especially if you’ve got a continued story. Once you get to the third issue, however, you’re more or less flying solo…unless you bring in an established guest-star to bring in the Spider-Man fans.

And it was so easy, because Spidey was such a likeable, easy-going character who fit so easily into so many situations.

And then, somewhere along the way, Spidey’s status was not so much thrown off as…displaced a bit. Because a new guest star megastar came onto the scene.

Wolverine.

Considering the once-fierce “Dump Wolverine” campaign that raged through the pages of X-Men, it’s rather impressive to see how far the character had come. He went from outsider to the bread-and-butter character of the series.

And writers found him an intriguing character to work with. There was a lot there to explore, and he was also the first of a new breed–the strong, silent type who took no crap from nobody. The same thing that made him appealing to the fans also made him appealing to writers.

(A small digression here–I’m speaking in generalities. It’s not like I’ve done tons of research here. This is a theory, to be taken as such. Other writers might say differently.)

So Wolverine started popping up in other books as well. And lo and behold–sales started popping up as well.

I believe that Wolverine was the first character to really underscore just what sales impact a guest star can have, even more so than the customary Spidey guest shot. Even more than the multiple sales theory of team books.

Why? Because of the reader base the characters fed off of.

You’ve got Spider-Man appearing in Spud-Man. That means that you’re going to get the interest of the Spider-Man readers. But when you’ve got Wolverine guest shooting in Spud-Man, that’s going to attract the X-Men readers. And X-Men, as anyone who looks at the circulation statements can discern, sells somewhere in the neighborhood of three to four times as many copies as Spidey’s books do (putting aside the multi-million “McSpidey” book).

When we guest-starred Wolverine in The Incredible Hulk, I did so for both of the obvious reasons: I liked the character, and I liked the prospect of drawing some attention to the book since sales were pretty crummy. But when retailers ordered the book, they blew it bigtime, even though their orders were double what they usually ordered on Hulk.

Why did they blow it? Because doubling pretty crummy gives you moderately crummy. What they should have done is place an order that was equal to, say, 2/3 of their X-Men order. But they didn’t and now that book goes for, what, $20 a pop? $30?

Give them credit, however. The retailers learned. Fans snapped up anything in which Wolverine showed his adamantium-reinforced face. They increased their orders over time, and fans continued to vote with their wallets. And the vote was a resounding “Yes”.

Then the Punisher began to increase in popularity after the Grant/Zeck/Duffy et al miniseries breathed new life into him (mercifully, else he’d still be shooting jaywalkers). Also, the grittiness and the “Code against killing, yeah, sure” attitude mirrored the mutant flavor of the decade, Wolverine. And as his series took off, the Wolverine phenomenon worked its magic on Frank Castle, turning the Punisher into yet another guest-shooting star. When the inevitable Punisher/Wolverine meeting occurred, it was like printing money.

What happened next? Lobo, who was a cross between Punisher, Wolverine, (with some Charles Manson thrown in). Personally, I find Lobo about as appealing as nose hair, but I’m hardly an arbiter of taste in the comics universe. I mean, I gave New Warriors six issues, maximum. Credit Fabian Nicieza for pulling that one off.

Then, of course, came Ghost Rider. A character whose first series run could generally be found in the 4-for-a-dollar box (right next to Atlantis Chronicles and Justice), Ghost Rider makes his re-debut and he’s–guest what?–a hit. He punishes guys like Punisher, he is torn by inner demons like Wolverine, and he rides a sharp vehicle like Lobo. So who does a guest shot? Punisher.

Ideally, you would think that the fans would be pleased. Once again, they are being given what they ask for.

Instead, as is not surprising, the fans complain. Worse–they’re cynical. At least with bringing back dead characters, it can be chalked up to creative bankruptcy. But with Ghost Rider appearing all over the dámņëd (literally) place, it’s ascribed completely to profit motivation.

Now I think that’s a tad unfair. Sure, profit motive has some place in it. But to put a less monetary gloss on it, I think the motivation for success should also be factored in.

When I had Wolverine appear in Hulk #340, my hope was that it would cause the Hulk to be more of a success. Yes, that translates into more money for me down the line. But I was more interested in the idea of it translating into more readers. As a writer, I wanted to increase my audience base. My ego and desire to tell stories is only served if as many people as possible are listening to, or reading, my stories. A successful writer is one who manages to get peoples’ attention and hold it.

Furthermore, as I mentioned before, characters like Wolvie and Ghost Rider attract readership because they’re interesting guys. If the readers can find them intriguing, why can’t writers? And why shouldn’t writers avail themselves of the opportunity to make use of those characters? I mean, if you went up to the average fan and said, “Hey, want to write a Hulk/Punisher team up?”, he’d jump at the chance. And no one would think the less of him. So if I do it, why should it be written off as an act of greed?

When Chris Claremont guest-starred the Hulk in two issues of Wolverine, you think he did it because he thought it would boost sales of the latter? Wolverine outsold Hulk maybe three-to-one. If the Hulk’s appearance caused an increase of 1%, I’d be astonished.

Despite what some fans seem to believe, there is no editorial edict that says, “Punisher must guest star in ten books before the end of fiscal year,” “Ghost Rider’s quota for the first quarter has not been met.” It doesn’t work that way.

As long as the fans continue to buy them, the cross overs will continue to occur. It would be nice if the companies could, however, coordinate matters a tad so that the characters aren’t everywhere at once. If nothing else, it strains the suspension of disbelief…although this contention is pretty much shot considering that Spidey’s in four books every month and no one questions how he pulls that off, time-wise.

There is always concern about a character being overexposed. One problem–it has yet to happen. Spidey sells better than ever. Wolverine blows out of the stores, as does every guest appearance. More Punisher titles and one-shots are in the offing, and DC is heavily promoting a match up between Lobo and the Demon.

I personally am eagerly awaiting the Wolverine/Lobo crossover. I can’t stand Lobo, but if they offered it to me I’d do it just so I could have Wolverine kick his butt.

I bet it would sell, too.

Peter David, writer of stuff, just saw the Michael J. Fox/James Woods film “The Hard Way” and was thrilled to hear them say, several times, “That only happens in movies; this is real life,” indicating they must read his column. What was interesting what that he could swear he saw the storyline– actor teams up with hard-bitten cop to bring reality to a screen portrayal– in several episodes of “Hill Street Blues.” Then he saw that one of the writers for the film used to be with “Hill Street.” If you’re going to swipe, swipe from yourself. That way you steal from the best.