I was thinking about comic book superheroes and it seems like it was so much easier then, in the Golden and Silver Ages, then it is now.

Think about it and especially in reference to recent superhero movies.

Batman = A guy who dresses like a bat and uses bat motifs in his weapons and gear.

Spider-Man = A guy with spider powers, crawling on walls and shooting webs.

Iron Man = A guy in an iron suit. And quite a cool name when you think about it, sounds powerful.

Wolverine = A small feral guy who is ferocious, like the animal he’s named after.

And just in comics:

The Watcher = A being who just watches and observes.

Iceman = A guy who is made of and manipulates ice.

I think those examples are good references of what I’m getting at. It seems tougher to get descriptive words, not already taken. Or to make a character with powers and the concept is not already taken. Because chances are that an existing hero or villain already was made that is similar. Don’t forget there are thousands of comic character made, because don’t forget to count the characters from companies who are now defunct. Those count as well.

Even the TV show HEROES on NBC, most of their characters powers are just concepts taken from popular Marvel comics characters. The recent episode even had a villain who had magnetic powers. Now who did that sound like?

Oh don’t get me wrong, it’s still possible to come up with a cool character and name. It’s just tougher now.

But imagine if you could time travel, you’d be rich is you took what you know and then made these same characters first.