Life and Death In The Marvel Universe

[Fantasyartist]

News that Kitty Pryde(Shadowcat of the X-Men) is due to make a return to the land of the living( that is of the Marvel Universe) after being killed off, surprises me not in the slightest. The dividing line between life and death in the MU is notoriously permeable with a sizable number of heroes as well as villains returning from the grave(Wonder Man, Bucky Barnes, Jean Grey. Dracula et al). Some such as "Battlin' Jack Murdock"(father of Matt), Ben Parker( uncle of Peter) and Danny Grimm(elder brother of Ben) stay dead-just to prove the exception that makes the rule.
Anybody else think as I do?

Terry

 

[random_havoc]

I've been saying for years that characters dying in either DC or Marvel is just a joke. They do it so often that I'm more often just disgusted these days when a character dies instead of emotionally affected as I think they hope for.

The constant resurrections is one of a handful of reasons as to why comics will never be thought of as a real art form at large.

 

[kguillou]

Well in terms of Kitty Pride, she wasn't killed off, she was just trapped in that bullet flying across space. I fully expected her to be back just not this soon. They can easily explain her return.

But i do agree that deaths have become ridiculous these days in Marvel and DC. Every other month some "MAJOR CHARACTER WILL DIE IN THIS ISSUE!!!". Its a cheap gimmick and its a sign that writers are starting to run out of ideas.

Deaths mean absolutely nothing anymore and they carry no more emotional weight. They've already killed off EVERYBODY at least once, even Spider-man died during the The Other and that turned out to be disastrous. But i guess we only have ourselves to blame because Marvel and DC know that "death" is the magic word that makes readers flock to certain issues.

 

[Gilpesh]

I've been saying for years that characters dying in either DC or Marvel is just a joke. They do it so often that I'm more often just disgusted these days when a character dies instead of emotionally affected as I think they hope for.

The constant resurrections is one of a handful of reasons as to why comics will never be thought of as a real art form at large.

I agree. That's why Marvel should make death count again... starting with the Sentry. By killing him off for good, they can start a new age of death sticking.

 

[runawayboulder]

Death is a sales ploy. Look at the SIEGE #2 previews and the April X-Books solits that came out today. Both are promising the death of a character. I remember the preview for Dark Avengers #12 promised the death of a member of the team. As it turned out it was The Sentry and he didn't die. He came back 3 pages later claiming he was a god. False advertising at its best and they get away with it every time.

Killing someone off works better when it comes as a total surprise.

 

[kguillou]

Agreed. I dont know if any of you remember but when Captain America died, the solicitation for the issue made very little indication of anything like that happening. The solicit said something like "you dont wanna miss this issue" and when Steve died everyone was caught off guard. thats how you do a death.

 

[runawayboulder]

double post

 

[bryanss3]

Agreed. I dont know if any of you remember but when Captain America died, the solicitation for the issue made very little indication of anything like that happening. The solicit said something like "you dont wanna miss this issue" and when Steve died everyone was caught off guard. thats how you do a death.

Agreed and that story was great. here's the thing though do we as a whole feel that that particular story has been cheapened because Steve is alive again? The real reason why they are able to get away with killing characters and bringing them back is cause enough people over all will let it slide in the long run, BUT usually when there is a really good story like "the Death Of Captain America" The same writer isn't usually the one writing the story that takes away the impact from their previous story. The truth is Comics are able to do this for a very specific reason. Over all people don't want new characters. How many new Heroes have been introduced in the Marvel U that will get a mini and get shelved, or get a mini then get crammed into a team book that eventually gets canceled , the only successful new characters we've really had lately are runaways and young avengers and how many relaunched has runaways had? how long are we gonna wait till the next Young Avengers series starts?(supposedly it'll start this year hopefully sooner than later), but over all comic universes have become more about making sure the books sell that's why certain characters won't die, and certain ones if they do will be brought back. Over all fan's won't embrace a new series or new directions on books unless its something they're familiar with immediately (Captain Britain, Agents of Atlas, SWORD, Dr. Voodoo, or The New Exiles relaunch) Still I do commend Marvek for continuously trying in this case. The sad fact is no matter what random character they give a mini or one shot whether its Beta Ray Bill, Nomad, Shang Chi, or a random new character any random Captain America, Wolverine, Punisher, or Deadpool one-shot will most likely sell just as much. This is still art, but it's also a business and in this business very few characters stories have real endings. As long as they're making money and fans(in DC's case Didio/Johns) want certain things like their favorite character to return from the grave then it will keep happening.

 

[KevanG]

If you'd like to see death stick, read Invincible Image book though, not Marvel.

 

[bryanss3]

If you'd like to see death stick, read Invincible Image book though, not Marvel.

And I know what you people who aren't familiar with Invincible are thinking..."an image book" but it's actually a great comic

 

[kguillou]

In all fairness though, invincible's only been around 60 issues or so, so its very possible we could see ressurections. To me, if a character is dead for more than 100 issues then that qualifies as a credible and worthy "death".

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Agreed. I dont know if any of you remember but when Captain America died, the solicitation for the issue made very little indication of anything like that happening. The solicit said something like "you dont wanna miss this issue" and when Steve died everyone was caught off guard. thats how you do a death.

Well, the story was good, but if you had any illusions that Steve was staying dead at that point, I imagine you hadn't been reading comics very long. Death has always been a joke in comics. Or at least since the 70s. And it's for exactly the same reason as soap operas: 10 years seems to be about all a creator can manage in any ongoing, neverending story before they start treading on old ground again.

 

[kguillou]

Well in all fairness, i think it has more to do with the length of time a character stays dead more than anything. These days it seems like marvel cant hang on to one idea for more than a year so they're constantly killing and bringing back characters. If Steve had stayed dead for like 7 years, to me that would qualify as a legit death. But a year and a half is nothing. That kills the whole emotional impact of the actual issue where he died. I recently reread that whole "Death of captain america arc" and the entire time my eyes were rolling because it meant nothing anymore.

I'm just saying, if you are going to kill a character there needs to be a mandate that ensures that the character stays dead for at least 5-7 years. If they decide to bring a character back after that amount of time then i wont complain. But these days characters are dying and then coming back 10 issues later which is ridiculous and its a cheap tactic that'll bite them in the ass if they continue.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I've reread Brubaker's Cap and I still find it enthralling. What would Steve's staying dead for 6 more years really have accomplished? Steve's death and Bucky's redemption were a story that needed a beginning, middle, and end, and once Brubaker said what he needed to say with it, he moved onto the end. The story still stands as one of the best Cap stories ever.

 

[kguillou]

I fully agree with you Corp, but im just saying, from now on whenever you read Cap 25 and the fallout, it still feels a bit cheapened knowing that he never really died and it was some weird time bullet-thingy. Its like if you go back and read Amazing Spiderman 400, the issue where Aunt may died. The issue was considered a classic and it was very well written but now there's no way you can read it the same way again. I kinda feel that way bout Cap and other "death" stories that are quickly reversed.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I read pretty much any comic book death as a temporary thing anyway, so I don't really notice that.