As I observed in this week’s Everything But Imaginary column, there haven’t been enough really original comic book characters in the last couple of decades. As I observed elsewhere at CX Pulp, one of the best outlets for new characters isn’t really viable anymore. But sadly, I often feel like there just aren’t enough new ideas anywhere, not just in the comic book pages.
Take a look, if you will, at the list of movies I saw that were released in 2010. There were 39 films on the list. Those that were totally original ideas? (By which I mean they weren’t remakes, sequels, “reimaginings” or based on a story from another medium like comics, books, video games, or TV shows…) No more than seven. (Inception, Hot Tub Time Machine, Easy A, Buried, Despicable Me, Due Date, Repo Men, and Splice. And it’s easy to argue that Easy A is loosely based on The Scarlet Letter and that Repo Men was a blatant ripoff of Repo: The Genetic Opera.)
This is not to say that there’s anything wrong with a great movie based on a novel, or a sequel to a film that was a lot of fun the first time around. But it seems like Hollywood is relying far too heavily on those tropes. And what about TV? The #1 new show of the season? Hawaii 5-O. NBC has just bought a pilot for a new Wonder Woman series for the 2011-2012 season. And TNT has announced they’re going to remake Dallas for a new generation.
Come on, guys.
Come up with some new ideas. Or at the very least, turn to some books or other properties that maybe haven’t been adapted before, instead of doing the 10,831st version of A Christmas Carol, or allowing Will Smith to remake Annie as a vehicle for his daughter (because The Karate Kid wasn’t enough of an assault of the memories of children of the 80s). Find something new.
Evertime Realms 
People are saying…