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1) aight, I'm a salty nerd today. I keep seeing 2 pop culture fallacies pop up in different places all the time, and they are this: That #TheWizardofOz was a big bomb when it came out in 1939, and #XMen was originally a massive flop for Marvel. Neither is really true. Let's begin
2) Oz was really expensive for its day; like Avengers: Endgame levels. So even though it was really popular with audiences, it didn't make its money back till it was re-released in 1949. That release was so successful they did it again in 1955.
3) It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, and Judy Garland won a special Oscar for it. So, it wasn't some underappreciated/unknown gem in its day. It was popular.
4) Now, to X-Men. By Stan Lee's own accounts, his and Jack Kirby's issues (which made up the first two years of the run) sold as well as most of the Marvel line. Only Fantastic Four and Spider-Man were runaway hits. The rest just performed decently. X-Men was no different.
5) If X-Men had been a total flop initially, they wouldn't have kept trying for five more years post-Lee/Kirby. They would have canned it as soon as they left. But they didn't. Anyways, this is my stupid TED Talk you didn't ask for.
