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When and why did Marvel Comics start using many more crossovers?


It was mentioned elsewhere on SFF that for Marvel Comics (related to X-Men and Avengers crossovers):



... cross-overs between comics were much more rare, and tended to be the focus of the book...
This is somewhat in contrast to today, where different books often reference or cross each other.



Is there a defined point when this change in storytelling occured which made cross-references frequent or was it merely a result of a gradual rise in frequency?


Was there a proposed in-Universe reason for the change? (or a non-obvious "increase sales" out of Universe reason)?




Answer



The seminal cross-over event that started Marvel on its path to mega-crossovers was: The Secret Wars published in 1984.


Though the Avengers were known to create megastories with a diverse collection of heroes, it was the Secret Wars and Secret Wars II that proved the viability of cross-overs both storywise and financially.


Wikipedia sums it up nicely:



The series was conceived by Marvel Comics' Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter:


"Kenner had licensed the DC Heroes. Mattel had He-Man, but wanted to hedge in case superheroes became the next big fad. They were interested in Marvel's characters, but only if we staged a publishing event that would get a lot of attention, and they could build a theme around. Fans, especially young fans often suggested to me 'one big story with all the heroes and all the villains in it', so I proposed that. It flew. Mattel thought that kids responded well to the word "secret", so after a couple of working names bit the dust, we called the story 'Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'.'"


Shooter also explained:


"We went through a number of ideas for names for the toy line and series. Mattel’s focus group tests indicated that kids reacted positively to the words “wars” and “secret.” Okay. / Mattel had a number of other requirements. Doctor Doom, they said, looked too medieval. His armor would have to be made more high-tech. So would Iron Man’s, because their focus groups indicated that kids reacted positively...etc. Okay. / They also said there had to be new fortresses, vehicles and weapons because they wanted playsets, higher price point merchandise and additional play value. Okay. / When time came to actually do it, I realized that only I could write it."


Crossover titles included: The Amazing Spider-Man; Avengers; Captain America; Hulk; Iron Man; The Thing; Fantastic Four; Marvel Team-Up; Thor and Uncanny X-Men.



A sequel titled Secret Wars II was published from July 1985 to March 1986.



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