I think that any one of these possible titles would most likely be a slow-selling title at best (compared to the "hot title of the month" or the current "big-3" sales leader-type comic), and that means that approaching any of them from an "ongoing monthly" perspective from the get-go would probably be a huge mistake.

*******

John, maybe I see this as a "glass half full" approach, but I actually see that as a positive.

If JB took on a "second-tier" title, the sales expectations wouldn't be the same as they would be if he was working on, say, an X-Men or Superman book. If he was working on The Defenders, Ka-Zar, Invaders, etc., then Marvel probably would have far more reasonable goals. And I think there are enough core "John Byrne fans/readers who like traditionally-told stories" to generate healthy, profitable sales on a "second-tier" title.

Plus, I suspect JB would have considerable more creative freedom on these types of titles. He could do what he wanted, without worrying about fitting in to the latest big event or coordinating with an upcoming movie release.

Just one more instance of me having two things to choose between, and picking the wrong one.

Okay, the DEFENDERS works if you don't put the Hulk in, or you put an alternative Hulk in. I mean, I think the titles JB referred to are the least likely to require extensive working to rid of continuity traps.

What about an "alternate" Hulk? I mean, I am frankly thinking the Hulk as he is now is not bad, persona-wise, but I hate the overtly muscle-mass Hulk with the little tiny head on his shoulders look.

I mean, if there's room for two Flash over at DC, isn't there room for a gray Hulk AND a big green Hulk? I mean they've got the HULK CORPS or GAMMA CORPS or whatever it is now...like six Hulks in commando gear, hurm...

I gotta ask, Which kind of Hulk would JB use for a DEFENDERS title? Gray? Childlike? Sinister? Square-headed? Kirby hairy chest?

<<I was offered SHIELD almost 20 years ago. However, it was at the same time Stan asked me to create the "futureverse", and since that originally included a futuristic version of SHIELD, I passed on the original. Didn't want my career to become All-SHIELD, All-the-Time.>>

Somewhere there is an alternate universe where we have all of the JB comics that might've been, including Captain Marvel/Shazam and SHIELD, and the completed runs of Hulk, FF, and X-Men: HY.  Now if I could just figure out how to get there...

SHIELD and Invaders (WW II):

I can just imagine both series by JB running concurrent stories about The Invaders encountering a Sleeper in WW II and SHIELD dealing with some sort of consiquences of same. (I'm not a comics writer, and won't be offended if this is quoted and replied to with "obviously".) But that's my fanboy wish.

Oh, and JB doing Shomburg like covers on The Invaders (or even both).

C'mon, everybody wipe the slate clean and start over on a brand new day. Joe, this is John F'n Byrne we're talking about - Money in the bank!