So I’ve started to wonder. Why is it certain characters have the followings they do? Is it just that certain people like Batman, Iron Man and the others remind of of what life was like when we were kids? Why do they endure and why do we follow them?
Some characters are more than their individual creative teams, but others? When a certain artist or writer leaves the book, so do we. So why are they still around?
Like Crystal Skull just blew, right? But why do we keep Indy alive? Help me to understand.
So, here’s what I think. I think we get addicted to characters. Yes, nostalgia plays into it – I have to tell you that tonight, I drew a Spider-Man vignette in honor of your posting – but nostalgia isn’t the primary draw, I think. I think it’s character.
If you think about the terrible comics you’ve read, but couldn’t help yourself – Spider-Man, Bat-Man, SuperMan. Think about how TV shows continue way past their expiration date. I think it’s because even if the story sucks, even if everything’s jumped the shark, we want to know what happens to the characters. There’s something in these iconic characters we identify with.
It’s why you get so much NerdFury when Hollywood messes up a beloved franchise – they’re messing with something we love. We love Indiana Jones! Why would they mess up that franchise? Doesn’t matter. We love the character despite the terrible movie. Lost was a mess, but we wanted to know what happened to the Survivors we’d come to know and love. Heroes started out strong and became a shameless soap opera, but we wanted to know how it all turned out because we saw something of ourselves in those characters, and we loved them.
I really think it’s not nostalgia that draws us back to these old, worn out stories; it’s love.