CC did have a habit of slipping in dialogue that seemed to be at odds with the scene the artist presented, regardless. Here's an example I can think of:

Seems like an odd panel to choose for Wolverine to be musing about Archangel's scent (this was actually a reference to an abandoned storyline linking Wolverine to Apocolypse - abandoned plots were another CC trademark).

I would argue that the Dark Phoenix story contributed to the speculator boom.  As someone who bought 136 and 137 off the stands, I was DESPERATE to read the issues that came before.  I only attended one comic convemtion as a kid and got one visit to a comic book store in Houston, and each time I went looking for these comics.  I forget the price for each, but it was beyond my limited financial reach.  My theory - the value for these back issues made the perception of X-Men as a “collectible” financial investment in the post JB years.

The Dark Phoenix run also cemented JB’s contribution to the X-Men’s popularity.  When the Dark Phoenix trade came out, it made the story accessible.  It stayed on my bookshelf even after I gave up comic books and was a book I often revisited.  It was constantly in print well after JB’s run and was therefore a huge part of how people perceived the X-Men then and now.  To this day I love that collection because it’s not just Dark Phoenix - it’s the series of issues leading up to that moment.

I think the constant trade paperback presence of Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past have had more to do with the success of the X-Men than is reflected in the sales numbers cited above.  I don’t think it’s accurate to say that was more popular after JB because JB’s run never went away.  It became essential reading very quickly.

ITEM: Chris Claremont took so damned many liberties... that X-Men/X-Factor crossover in Inferno (itself riddled with self-contradictions) was great in that the original X-Men were back in "X-Men" and terrible in how it was actually produced. Wolverine's kissing Jean to beat the band, and the subsequent panel shows Cyclops just watching placidly - what the everloving HELL? I would figure that Colossus would have trouble holding Scott back from blowing Wolverine into orbit.

And that panel in Vinny's post - because Warren smells like PAIN??? After a couple of years? And Wolverine apparently just ignores it?

Oh, and... "My senses tell me you LOVED that kiss!" Where did THAT come from? Jean never expressed that type of affection for Wolverine... but nothing was to stop him from lying about it. Crap, I wanted to kill Wolverine. Right there, right then. F*cking rapist.

ITEM: I wonder about the X-Men's sales success too. Messrs. Claremont, Byrne, and Austin were indeed producing a classic book, but it seemed to be an underground hit until, as noted, Mr. Byrne left the book. I wonder how closely Mr. Cockrum's return and the DSM coincided with each other... that might explain it, I reckon.