Thus, the IRON FIST issue came out before the X-MEN issue.

(A special frustration for me was that Dave being unable to keep up with a monthly schedule meant Marvel commissioned a fill-in that had to be used after Dave departed from the title -- which is why what should have been my third issue was penciled by Tony DeZuniga, and I was forever denied any chance of an unbroken run on the book!)

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I have often wondered if the seeds of the myth of my out of control ego were born from fielding those many questions about X-MEN. As time went by on the book, and I assumed more and more of the plotting duties, fans who did not understand the "Marvel Method" (plot/pencils/script) would often tell me at cons and other public appearances how much they loved something Chris had done, and I would point out that it was actually mine.

Easy enough to imagine people wandering off to report how I was trying to take credit for everything!