leveret1 wrote:
Fin Fang Foom wrote:
I wonder if a key part of this problem isn't that, for the most part, the only people left who have an interest these characters to begin with are the same people who had an interest in one of the previous incarnations.

It often seems like the biggest selling point in this sort of situation is, inevitably, that it's the relaunch of a licensed property -- and sure, I understand, that's an attempt to build on whatever equity there might be. But the problem is, by this point, that might not be much. 
That's why I think it's odd to see so many licensed comics again:  Green Hornet, John Carter, Six Million Dollar Man, THUNDER Agents, etc.  Nostalgia works for movies and TV because the audience is that much larger, both in terms in of lapsed fans and potential audience because of the widespread availability of format.  New comics based on old licenses already have to deal with a shrinking comic audience.  Many former fans have left the hobby.  Comics are already limited by their distribution to the Direct Market.  Add to this the fact that most publishers throw these comics out with little outside advertising/promotion means that most of these licenses won't last long. 

What would be considered the most successful and enduring comic license?  My guess would be Star Wars (especially under Dark Horse). 

Yeah, the nostalgia-recognition factor can definitely work against any reboot/relaunch (see: DC Flashboot conversations all over the internet)!

It seems like there's some concepts that can be timeless (like Matt Wagner's take on ZORRO), others that can be effectively modernized and updated (like GREEN HORNET STRIKES!), and others that probably should've come out under a new name (THUNDER AGENTS). Although, given the low sales on GHS, maybe it should've come out under a new name, too...

(I don't get the appeal of THUNDER AGENTS: it was interesting for its time, but it's an artifact of its time IMO...)

I'd agree that STAR WARS is the most successful comics license of all time. It saved the comics market in the late '70s, and launched Dark Horse into the stratosphere after its great early ALIENS/PREDATOR/TERMINATOR material in the '90s.
(And drove me insane, having to secretly make color photocopies of all of the EPISODE I reference material for the prequel creators without any non-SW staff seeing it...!)

- Mike Hansen