I don't think comics are ever going to see sales like that again. In addition to what you guys said said about pricing and audience, I'd argue that in particular, X-Men also had a huge amount of pre-teen and kid buyers because of the popularity of the cartoon. X-Men benefited from being on the tail-end of Saturdays morning having a captive audience before cable really sunk in and split the numbers. And in addition to pricing, comics were easier to find. You didn't need to find your local comic shop; I remember stacks of X-Men, as well as other titles, could be gotten at Toys'r'Us, local video stores, drug stores, and bulk stores like Price Club. It's hard to be a casual buyer of any age because most places don't carry comics anymore. You have to know where to hunt, which means kids aren't getting the exposure they used to and can't take a chance at buying a new book. (Also, cost, as we've discussed.)