"Hey Jack, do remember a character we published a couple of decades ago, an underwater type named Sub-Mariner?  Why don't we use him for this issue of Fantastic Four?"

"C'mon Stan, no one is going to remember this guy.  Why do you want to drag him out of mothballs?"

"Listen Jack, I edit every comic we publish and write three quarters of them!  I don't have time for original ideas!  Now face forward true believer!  Excelsior!"