(Art by Kevin Maguire)

I’m gonna skip over how influential these characters were to the comic book medium and just go over the current states of the characters above. Out of all of them, the only ones that currently have comics are Tarzan and Zorro at Alien Books, and Flash Gordon at Mad Cave Studios. Mandrake and Phantom are licensed by Mad Cave but Mandrake’s never had a comic from them and Phantom’s comic was shortened to a series of one-shots. Green Hornet hasn’t appeared in a comic since his 2025 miniseries, and it seems like Dynamite only puts out comics with him once every five years to keep their license. As for where things are dire:

\-  Green Hornet hasn’t had a solo comic since 2020

\- Lone Ranger, the Shadow, and the Spirit each haven’t had their own comic since 2018.

\- The Avenger hasn’t had a comic since 2017.

\- Doc Savage hasn’t had his own comic since 2016

\- Captain Midnight hasn’t had his own comic since 2015.

\- The Spider and Black Bat haven’t had a comic since 2014.

And so on, the more obscure we get. My question is obviously not “Is there a market for these characters” since it seems clear currently the past decade there hasn’t been, but of course there‘s still the mentality that any character can work with the right creative team. So my actual question is, what can be done to revitalize these characters so they can actually maintain ongoings that feel fresh and attract new readers, rather than appealing to their dwindling fanbases that are all mostly middle-aged if not older by now? From the way I see it, there are only a few options:

\- These characters lapse into the public domain, which is set to happen in the next few years anyways and will cause a creative renaissance for them. This is the wishful thinking answer but I’m not sure how likely it would be.

\- Since licensing clearly isn’t profitable enough to justify, maybe these characters should just be bought outright by a comic company. The issue is I can’t picture any of the independent publishers being able to afford them, meaning as much as people dislike the idea of DC and Marvel gaining more characters they can’t manage, they’re the most likely. But while giving these characters places in the bigger comic universes might help revitalize a few of them, it could just as easily go sour and I can’t picture DC or Marvel actually being interested even if they could afford it. 

\- The characters keep getting licensed on and off until eventually one of the attempts succeeds, which I suppose is most likely.

I’m curious what you all think? Is the time of these characters just done? Has the existence of superheroes made them irrelevant, more of a nostalgia novelty than franchises that can truly handle their own books for multiple years? Or is there an obvious way to save them all that hasn’t been done which I’m missing? As it stands most of these characters are currently lacking a comic publisher to call their home, and the owners of the Spirit announced earlier this year they were selling the rights because presumably of the lessening profitability. Personally I think it would be a real shame if we let these characters just die out, especially given how integral they are to both the comic book medium and the superhero genre.  


What do you think the future of pulp heroes in comics is? Is it possible to still make them successful/relevant or has their time as stars passed?