Where are the new characters and franchises?

[Royce12]

I've never been much of a comic book reader. My uncle had a box full of them that I would read and try to draw but I've only bought a handful of comics myself in my 35 years. Even with my limited exposure, I was able to connect with some of the classic characters like Superman, Spiderman, Thor, Hulk, Silver Surfer, Wolverine, Batman and Iron Man. As a kid I was introduced to characters from movies like Predator, Aliens and The Terminator. It dawned on me that all these years later, the studio's are just reusing the same characters from my childhood over and over again. And most of these characters are actually from my fathers generation and not mine.

So I asked some of my comic book reading friends.. "Where are the new characters? Who are the new Superman's and Spiderman's? Is the age of creation over?" No one could give me an answer so I thought it would be a good topic for this forum.

I know creative minds like Stan Lee and Stan Winston dont come around often. Is anyone creating new and exciting characters for this generation that will be the legends that our grandkids talk about?

 

[darthviper107]

Oh, there's tons of new stuff, it's just very difficult to be successful with a new comic.

 

[Royce12]

Do you think that's because the characters are not good enough? Is the writing bad? Stories uninteresting? Or do people just not invest the time required into the new comics? With so many entertainment options available is it just a difficult to develop a following for new characters?

Have videogames replaced comics as the preferred method of introducing new characters to the general public?

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

It's all been done before

 

[Royce12]

I think there is always room for creativity ink but I do think it gets harder to be original as time goes on. In my response above about videogames, I may have answered my own question. Seems like a lot of the character creation and originality shows up in video games. Kranos and Master Chief immediately come to mind as videogame characters that have gained popularity and may be on the verge of crossing over. But I wonder if any of them will ever reach the heights of the legendary comic and film characters. Right now if you are not a gamer you probably don't know who they are.

 

[darthviper107]

I don't think it's a lack of creativity, it's that it's easier to make money off Superman than it is on something new

 

[Royce12]

Lol yep. That's probably it in a nut shell. I just think it would be nice to have someone new and interesting to cheer for. A character we can watch develop and mature. I don't know if Hancock was ever a comic book character but I found that movie refreshing. I was able to discover his powers and backstory along with him in the movie without already knowing it beforehand.