In Wizard Magazine #23, published in July 1993, they ran this 5-page ad for an upcoming comic-book to be published by Jim Lee’s Wildstorm Studios at Image Comics. GEN X. Created by Jim Lee (and Brandon Choi, not mentioned in the ads) and set to be drawn by a then-20-year-old newcomer named Jeffrey Scott.
However, Marvel Comics saw this and quickly hit Wildstorm with a Cease and Desist notice, as they had already trademarked the title Generation X for an upcoming X-Men spinoff series, which would debut the following year.
So Wildstorm renamed their series GEN 13, and that would debut as a 4-issue miniseries in Feb. 1994, with Jeffrey Scott instead using the name J. Scott Campbell, which he has been known professionally as ever since.
The miniseries (which would also introduce a 5th member, a Native American girl Rainmaker) would then lead to an ongoing series, which quickly become Wildstorm’s most-popular title, even more successful than Wildstorm’s flagship series, Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S.
The series would last 80 issues, followed by a 2nd ongoing that lasted 17 issues, and then a 3rd ongoing that lasted 39 issues. There was also an animated film that never got a proper U.S. release. This is in addition to a spin-off series called Gen 13: Bootleg that featured different creative teams telling their own stories about the team and lasted 20 issues, as well as several crossover special issues, including two team ups with Generation X.
For the record, Generation X lasted 75 issues before being canceled. Years later, it was revived in a second series that lasted 12 issues. It also spawned one very bad made-for-TV live-action film.
So, of the two, I’d say that, objectively speaking, Gen 13 was more successful. In many ways, it was a product of its time (most obviously symbolized by having a character named Grunge, not to mention Burnout), which is why I think the revival attempts didn’t catch on. But it was fun while it lasted.
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