1) aight, I& #39;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& #39;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& #39;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& #39;t some underappreciated/unknown gem in its day. It was popular.

4) Now, to X-Men. By Stan Lee& #39;s own accounts, his and Jack Kirby& #39;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& #39;t have kept trying for five more years post-Lee/Kirby. They would have canned it as soon as they left. But they didn& #39;t. Anyways, this is my stupid TED Talk you didn& #39;t ask for.