ender2003's Comic Book Blogs

Why can't they leave comic book characters dead?

Recently, the Human Torch bit the dust and ended the series of the Fantastic 4. However, death in comics has been a big part of sales generation. Years ago, Captain America "died" while stopping a missile in the arctic. about 30-40 years later it was discovered that he was just in suspended animation and was revived. More recently, Cap was assassinated and actually died, but was brought back in a pretty crappy storyline.

I guess the major introduction of comic deaths not being permanent was the Phoenix. She has died several times and keeps coming back. Other big names who have taken very short dirt naps: Superman, Batman (this was recent), Hawkeye, Flash, Jason Todd, Punisher, and Bucky. The big joke for a long time was that only 3 people had ever died permanently in comics - Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben. Of those 3, Uncle Ben is now the only one who has not been brought back.

Superman died while fighting Doomsday but survived because he basically went into Kryptonian hibernation and was not really dead. Batman "died" when Darkseid used his Omega Beam on him, but he was really just sent back in time. Hawkeye was killed by someone (can't remember who) and was brought back when the Scarlet Witch rewrote reality. I can't remember what happened to the Flash, or which one. Jason Todd became the Red Hood and they tried to say he came back when Superboy Prime "punched" reality so hard he broke stuff. Punisher got dismembered by Daken (Wolverine's son) and brought back as a type of Frankenstein's monster. Bucky became Winter Soldier and was a covert operative for decades after his "death".

Professor X once joked that for mutants, Heaven had a revolving door instead of a pearly gate. It seemed like death did not have as tight a hold on mutants or other superheroes as it did on the rest of the world. I agree with that statement, but I think it is really because the comic writers don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. If the series is still going strong, why would they want to kill off something that is making them money? The death makes for a good way to increase sales for a little while, as does the resurrection. 

One problem that I have with that now is that the deaths and rebirths are so common that people are jaded to them. I posted that they had killed off the Human Torch and the first response was that he would be back within a year. And now the deaths are so publicized and demand for that issue is so great that they will actually issue reprints (they did this with Cap's latest death) which pretty much kills the collectible value of the issue. I know the first run of the issue will still be worth more, but to other collectors who just want to see the death they would be happy with the 2nd run for a lower price.

I think that if they feel the need to kill off a character, they ought to leave them dead. For example, back when Jason Todd died, they actually let the readers call in and vote on whether he should live or die. The die vote won, so Jason die. That was a big deal and has scarred Batman ever since. Now that Jason came back, they basically let readers know they care more about making a buck than pleasing the readers and don't care what we think. I mean, why ask what the readers want if you are just going to retcon it a few years down the road?

That being said, I agree with x8xid and feel that the Torch will be back before too long. It seems like the only people to die in comics and stay dead are the very minor characters and that once they hit the big time they come back. I am still waiting for Nightcrawler to be resurrected.