Should Your Favorite Heroes Die?

Should Your Favorite Heroes Die?

User Greenhatter02 ponders...

Editorial Opinion
By Greenhatter02 - Jun 05, 2009 01:06 PM EST
Filed Under: Other

I know I said that my next post would be on Deadpool: Suicide Kings 1 and 2. Well, while I was picking up some new comics today. I came across a graphic novel titled the "Death of Wolverine." Now, I have not read it, it has gotten me intrigued. It got me thinking about the all of the deaths of super heroes and what I thought about them.

I was too young to remember the "Death of Superman", I owned the issue where he comes back to life, but still. I do not remember much, and never thought much at the time. Superman is the most powerful superhero around, how could he possibly die?



I have heard that Batman dies in "Final Crisis", but have not read it yet. I know about the near deaths of Batman in Frank Miller's comics. I never thought that Batman would die, so its pretty shocking. Batman is one of those iconic character that almost seem like they can not die. To be honest, I am glad that DC decided it was time to kill Batman off and show the after effects with "Battle for the Cowl". Batman is such a great character and so relatable because he is human with no real powers, he had to die eventually. I had always thought when/if it happened, it would be the Joker. It would only be fitting to die at the hands of his mortal enemy. Not someone who had a grudge against Batman, or someone like Bane, who comes after Batman just to prove his ability. I am excited to try to find all of the issues of "Final Crisis", so I can find out what happens. No one ruin it for me!

I do not know anything about the death of Wolverine, yet. So I apologize it for bringing it up. I love Wolverine, I think he is the perfect character. With tons of depth, incredibly dark at times. Wolverine is the epitome of the anti-hero. Not to mention that despite all that we do know about Wolverine, there is so much more that we do not know about him. I do not think Wolverine could even seriously be killed? I did not read the graphic novel yet, but is he not supposed to be indestructible? I assume the only way to kill him would be to drown him, because his body can not create its own oxygen. I would be pissed, if they kill off Wolverine. I do not think that any of the characters in the Wolverine universe could take over. Daken, while I may be the only person who likes him, could not do it. Daken is a bit of a drama queen. Deadpool could, but he is not really in the same vein as Wolverine. Deadpool is liked for different reasons. Sabertooth is the ultimate villain.



The "Death of Captain America" also was a bit of a surprise, but again. It needed to happen. Captain America was beginning to become a little dated. He is a great character, but is a little one dimensional. I mean "he is a throw-back, a relic, from the dark ages (to quote Layer Cake)." He is another one of the Golden Age/ Silver Age heroes that always does what is right. I still really enjoy Captain America, but I started to really like Bucky Barnes and Winter Solider more. He was a much more interesting character, well to me. I also really like that Barnes took up the shield.



I apologize, I am still pretty new to comics, but I know that Spider-Man has not been killed off. I mean the closet we have come is in "Kraven's Last Hunt". Should Spider-Man be killed off. Who would replace him? Can he even be replaced? I think that if Marvel decides to kill Spider-Man, they could be in for a world of problems. Spider-Man dying would not be like say, Tony Stark dying. Within the Iron Man world, there is War Machine and a slew of other Iron Man suits. While no one could replace Tony, I do feel that the comics would continue because of the other characters he is surrounded with.



Who do you think could be killed off/ should be killed off? Do you even like when heroes die? What about villains, do you enjoy when they are killed off? Let me know what you think.



- Aaron

I will be posting this weekend about Deadpool: Suicide Kings 1-3, Dark Avengers #5 near the end of this bad foundational arch and the first two Dark Reign: Hawkeyes.
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Shaman
Shaman - 6/5/2009, 1:31 PM
I honestly don't mind the "passing" of the torch actually but if they die just to be reborn, that simply sucks!!!
Spock
Spock - 6/5/2009, 1:44 PM
1st you don't need to apologive. Even thou his exoskeleton is indestructable, It's been rumored if you severed his head from his body that would do it. Now I know he isnt' immortal, he just ages extremely slowly. So death would ultimately when in the long run. Even he can't put off the evitable.

Death is evitable.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 6/5/2009, 1:48 PM
Yeah, its rare a major character stays dead. There is a new Batman now(bought the first issue today and its pretty good) but im sure ol Brucey will be back someday too..as will Steve Rogers. I mean even Illyanna Rasputin didnt stay dead for that long! It does happen though. Ted Cord never returned..although he is rumored to as a black Lantern. Cypher from new Mutants stayed dead(thank God!). Im also pretty sure Wasp will not come back. I mean did anyone like her anyway? The biggest comics character i can think of that stayed brown bread is Sandman(Dc)
Betty
Betty - 6/5/2009, 4:07 PM
Yeah, dead should be dead. It's the writer's responsibilty to make us love the character filling his shoes.

I like some of the lame reasons they come back too. Colossus comeback was pretty lame. He was just locked up in a basement. Boring. It is unfortunate that only the lame characters stay dead.
TheMyth
TheMyth - 6/5/2009, 7:09 PM
@Greenhatter: Drowning won't kill Wolverine either. In one book he describes how he stayed alive trapped beneath an Iceberg for something like 2 months by chewing of strips of flesh from his own arms. The most traditional way to kill him and his kind(those with such powerful healing factors) is to cut off the head and seperate it from the body with a great distance. Another way would be to shut off his Mutant power, which would kill him pretty fast due to the radioactivity of the adamantium bonded to his skeleton. This was actually done in New X-Men #154 during the 'Here Comes Tomorrow' story arc that takes place in the future. Also, a mutant named Scrambler, one of Sinisters Marauders, has the power to disrupt systems operation by touch, in the case of mutants, he burns out there power for a certain length of time directly related to how long he touches them. Last time he did this to Wolverine was in the 'Messiah CompleX' story. He very nearly killed Wolverine.
TheMyth
TheMyth - 6/5/2009, 7:15 PM
I bet Bruce Wayne comes back as a Black Lantern
Tylert80
Tylert80 - 6/6/2009, 5:42 AM
I agree with Betty that if they are dead they stay dead. Even if they aren't dead they should make it obviuos for the readers by showing something like a bloody silhouette of the character tied up in a lab or something.
Tylert80
Tylert80 - 6/6/2009, 5:48 AM
Or if they had to be brought back from the dead someone should just go back in time and save them, not have them resurrected.
OptionFour
OptionFour - 6/6/2009, 5:40 PM
I guess I don't mind when characters die, but . . . they should really be careful to make it happen for a reason. To have someone live a heroic life and die a pointless death is bad writing. When they do it just for publicity, or to sell more issues, etc., its a bad decision. Every time.

They should be considering what these actions add to the characters, and to the universe around them. Most of the time it just waters the character down, and ultimately brings about a feeling of "Everything is fine, everyone is safe, everytime someone dies they come back". And taking the threat, the danger, out of death and out of comics, is genuinely awful for writing purposes.

More than anything the rule shoudl be that once someone is dead? They don't, you know . . . get better.
Osiris
Osiris - 6/7/2009, 8:37 AM
I agree OptionFour when a writer kills off someone they shouldn't be able to take it back, and other writers shouldn't be allowed to bring them back either just because they liked em and want them in their stories that's just lame.

If a character is dead they should stay dead sometimes it's ok if it makes sense like the phoenix she is a phoenix what do they do, oh yeah they resurrect so she makes sense, but for ppl like Bruce Wayne he should stay dead unless someone with an enormous amount of power rez's him then that is fine but if he comes back for any other reason I'll be mad.

they need legit reason's for rez's not crap like what they did with colossus where he dies from a disease that has killed millions of mutants and is then found in a basement later on unharmed, wtf is that crap!!!!
Greenhatter02
Greenhatter02 - 6/7/2009, 9:04 AM
I was wrong, apparently In the June 10th issue of Ultimatum #4, titled, "R.I.P. Peter Parker". Spider-Man dies on June 17th Ultimatum, "Spider-man requiem #1 is released. So much for my thoughts that they could not kill off spider-man.
Osiris
Osiris - 6/7/2009, 9:20 AM
@Greenhatter02@ if they killed spidey off then that ruins the Spider-girl continuum since it's May who takes over for him after he looses his leg, even though it is quite a few years later.
loganoneil
loganoneil - 6/8/2009, 8:38 PM
No publisher has the BALLS to kill off a money-maker - 'DEAD' in comic-book terms means 'on hiatus until further notice'. Case in point - 'Elektra'. She was Frank Miller's baby. He created he and he killed her off. You'd think that people would respect that, wouldn't you? Kevin Smith once said in an interview about ressurcting her that it's one thing to put on your father's clothes and play pretend, but it's a whole different story to go into his bedroom and [frick] his wife! But did Marvel feel that way? HELL NO! If there's a buck to be made in bringing a character back, you bet your ass they'll do it (in a heartbeat - story be damned!)
SlurpeeGuy
SlurpeeGuy - 6/8/2009, 10:44 PM
I don't mind some types coming back from death. Gods like Thor with an established underworld returning are fine. Others like Thunderstrike should stay dead (and Yes I did like Thunderstrike).
Marvel & DC should have setup a swap and have Steve Rogers be the new Batman & Bruce be the new Cap! That would sell books.
loganoneil
loganoneil - 6/9/2009, 10:38 AM
Slurpee - now THAT would be an interesting twist (if done right)! I'd DEFINATELY buy that for a dollar! Too bad DC and Marvel aren't cool enough to see the potential awesomeness there...
OptionFour
OptionFour - 6/9/2009, 2:16 PM
SlurpeeGuy,
A fine point about Thor! Where there is a very detailed, elaborate 'underworld' already set up, its easier to digest if well-written.

Loganoneil,
I love that Kevin Smith quote! Very true.


I guess, in general, I'm just old-fashioned. I like it when dead things stay dead, and I believe in good writing, not bad excuses. I just hate the fact that companies will exploit characters, squeezing every last cent from them, and continually watering them down, and watering them down, over and over, until they're no longer potent. I'd say ninety-nine percent of 'resurrection' stories are written by hack writers, or people who can only aspire to be a hack writer. Just because one bad writer did a ressurection story shouldn't make it okay for (almost literally, these days) every other character to have one. In short? Perhaps, if you want a character to be alive? Just don't bloody kill him in the first place.
loganoneil
loganoneil - 6/9/2009, 4:13 PM
I'm reminded of that bit from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'...

The Dead Collector: "Bring out yer dead."
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man: "Here's one."
The Dead Collector: "That'll be ninepence."
Old Man: "I'm not dead."
The Dead Collector: "What?"
Large Man: "Nothing. There's your ninepence."
Old Man: "I'm not dead."
The Dead Collector: "'Ere, he says he's not dead."
Large Man: "Yes he is."
Old Man: "I'm not."
The Dead Collector: "He isn't."
Large Man: "Well, he will be soon, he's very ill."
Old Man: "I'm getting better."
Large Man: "No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment."
The Dead Collector: "Well, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations."
Old Man: "I don't want to go on the cart."
Large Man: "Oh, don't be such a baby."
The Dead Collector: "I can't take him."
Old Man: "I feel fine."
Large Man: "Oh, do me a favor."
The Dead Collector: "I can't."
Large Man: "Well, can you hang around for a couple of minutes? He won't be long."
The Dead Collector: "I promised I'd be at the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today."
Large Man: "Well, when's your next round?"
The Dead Collector: "Thursday."
Old Man: "I think I'll go for a walk."
Large Man: "You're not fooling anyone, you know. Isn't there anything you could do?"
Old Man: "I feel happy. I feel happy."
[the Dead Collector glances up and down the street furtively, then silences the old man with his a whack of his club]
Large Man: "Ah, thank you very much."
The Dead Collector: "Not at all. See you on Thursday."
Large Man: "Right."
10THTIGER
10THTIGER - 6/10/2009, 10:58 AM
killin off bats was sacrilage
loganoneil
loganoneil - 6/10/2009, 11:19 AM
Tiger - AMEN to that!
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 6/10/2009, 5:55 PM
Dead superheroes rarely stay dead-Cap will soon be back (or at least in time for when his movie is released) but minor characters who dont have their own titles normally stay dead-Ant Man (Scott Lang) has been dead for a while and The Wasp will probably be gone a while (again until The Avengers movie). I think the shortest ever comic book death was probably Spider-Man in The Other-that lasted only one issue!
Oxynox
Oxynox - 6/16/2009, 12:09 PM
I liked Death of Superman because it added to the DCU in a big way, and we got Doomsday out of it! Plus, it was at least somewhat believable how they brought him back.

But for mortals like Cap, Batman, Elektra, etc. i think it's horse shite to kill them off and resurect them in order to get a boost in sales. Very poor writing/planning and a slap in the face to the fans.

nickh0801
nickh0801 - 1/21/2010, 2:35 AM
but there's not so much they can write about without eventually having to kill em off...and to bring em back just adds to the story....for awhile longer
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