Where once the Fantastic Four had been used to shore up interest in the inaugural issue of Amazing Spider-Man, now the X-Men were being drafted into the FF title itself to help push them on Marvel fans who might not have seen their mag. This early X-Men appearance also allowed for Jack Kirby to show off his dizzying ability to maneuver massive casts of characters through bizarre settings and situations without ever once losing the plot or the audience's patience. The gambit must have worked, as the X-Men slowly built up a loyal cult following that continued through to their eventual break-through success in the Bronze era.