To mark the incoming ish, the dynamite duo of Simonson and Brigman took a look back at the origins of these classic characters and what they have to share with a modern audience.

What was the climate like at Marvel in the '80s around the time of Power Pack's conception?

Simonson: At the time Power Pack was green-lit, Marvel was lively and fun, and [Editor in chief] Jim Shooter was at the top of his game. He’d hired good, irrepressible editors who’d mostly found ways to work within his edicts. It was kind of a second golden age with Frank Miller, John Byrne, Chris Claremont, and Walt Simonson, among others doing great work. Shooter was also open to new ideas. Power Pack was one of them. It was especially fun because most freelancers lived in the city or surrounding boroughs. Everybody knew everybody personally. It was a great time to be doing comics.

Brigman: It was a great time to work in comics. I often say that it was like the last golden age. Publishing was really gearing up. The companies needed bodies to create books, so it was easy to break in. And there was a ton of talent that was encouraged by lots of creative freedom.

What were some of the books coming out of Marvel at the time that you really admired? Stuff you weren't directly working on.

Simonson: John Byrne’s terrific FANTASTIC FOUR and ALPHA FLIGHT. The Spider-Man books. Walter’s THOR—does that count? [Legendary THOR writer/artist Walt Simonson is also affectionately known as “Weezie’s husband.”]

Brigman: There were so many great books. Walt Simonson was reinventing THOR, Frank Miller brought DAREDEVIL back to life, Byrne and Claremont were doing their groundbreaking work on the X-Men. Every week there was something wonderful coming out.

Louise, what lessons did you learn editing books like UNCANNY X-MEN that helped you when you transitioned over to writing?

Simonson: Characters are most important. Everything else is just their stories and, if you don’t care about the characters, you don’t care what happens to them.

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