What Happened to New Comic Book Characters?

X-Men, from the
1960's.

What happened to new comic book characters? I'm talking about how the two major publishers of comic books (Marvel and DC) appear to rely only upon their tried and true characters. The 1960's and 70's had an explosion of characters for Marvel and DC, most notably with Stan Lee's creations of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and others. The characters that emerged out of these pivotal decades are the same that dominate today's comics, over 40 years later.

I recognize that it is expensive to introduce a new comic character. Launching a new book with an unfamiliar character is a risky and expensive move by any publisher. Centering an already popular book around a new character is also a risky and expensive move as it can alienate an already devoted audience. However, the risk of not introducing new characters is that the older ones will become spread too thin and be overused. It takes gumption to introduce a new character and I strongly feel the major publishers are playing it far too safe. They (publishers) should hire talented individuals and trust them in their creative abilities. If not, then comic fans will never know what characters could be introduced to their beady little eyes on a monthly basis, and of course, begin to cherish as much as the old characters.

Echo, by Terry Moore, is
one of the few recent
examples of a new character
but from an independent
publisher.

While there a few exceptions (referring primarily to the Vertigo line of comics), I can only hope that the major publishers will change their ways in the near future. Please, take a chance and allow fans like myself to experience new character creations. Even if it is a flop, it will still be a step forward. It will also provide diversity to the now static comic shelves. Through those mistakes perhaps we can also gain a better appreciation of where this wonderful medium is headed.

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode XI

Stan Lee at San Diego
Comic Con 2010

Saturday is the last day for most of the big panels, and the last full day of the convention. We again stood in line for Ballroom 20, and again we attended only the first half of the day’s panels so that we could explore other areas of the convention. For this morning we saw the panels, and full casts, for Chuck, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Futurama, and The Simpsons. Chuck was great, and the cartoon panels had script reads of upcoming episodes by the cast members. This was something wholly unexpected and a highlight of the day, especially with Seth McFarlane singing in the voice of Stewie from Family Guy. 

After leaving Ballroom 20 on Saturday, we explored the main hall, running into Danny Devito, Stan Lee, and having a photo taken with the incredibly friendly Jason Mewes –despite his abandonment by his handler and deep need to escape for a cigarette. After a failed attempt to meet Val Kilmer (who did not show up for his appointed meet and greet time), we decided to tempt fate and wait in line to enter Hall H to see Kevin Smith’s comedy panel and a few movie panels (including the Avengers). While waiting in line we discovered that someone was stabbed in the eye inside Hall H for yelling “Resident Evil sucks”; note, this is a rarity and Comic Con should not be thought of as ‘unsafe’. As it seemed that the Hall would be closed for the day we decided to walk over to the Indigo Room to see a screening of Cop Out, introduced by Kevin Smith (in person) following his comedy panel.As it later turned out, Hall H was not closed but even though we waited numerous hours to enter Cop Out, it gave us a well needed rest and guaranteed us front row seats. Additionally, when I had left the line-up I rode the escalator up with Joss Whedon who was returning from his announcement that he would direct The Avengers movie! It was a moment of awe, surpassed only by the priceless moments where we sat a few feet away from Kevin Smith, one of my favorite directors. The movie did not get out till very late and while walking back to the hotel we ran into Matthew Lillard (of the Scream movie fame) and Cassidy Freeman (from Smalliville fame). As every night on our trip to San Diego, we ended it with broad smiles!