kirbyfanatic wrote:
So I don't know what to say when old standbys don't succeed except that new characters are needed.
I look at myself as a target demographic:  I was raised on super-hero comics and still enjoy reading them today and have two kids who also both enjoy comics.  However, I rarely touch a modern Marvel book with a ten-foot pole -- and it has nothing to do with the characters.  I just don't want to read "adult" super-hero comics -- if I want to read more adult comics, I'd much rather (and do) read books from Fantagraphics, D&Q and Top Shelf (not to mention European comics and manga).  I took my kids to the LCS for FCBD over the weekend, and all of the kids were fighting over a small spinner rack of Archie and DC's kids book and didn't bat a single eye at any of the "mainstream" product coming out of Marvel/DC.  Of course, these kids only come to the LCS once a year, so it's not a recurring sale, but it did clearly illustrate to me that if you can find a way to get the books made for kids in-front of kids, they will buy them.  Which is probably why Archie comics today sell just as much as Bendis Avengers, just outside the direct market.