What is the Point of Comic Character Deaths?

[KBA]

television seems to be more and more where good writing flourishes... why can't comic story lines take a cue? instead of flooding the market with multiple books of the same character, why not a cohesive format? let our lives move on with the characters lives... i can't relate to Aunt May returning from the dead yet the writers expect to keep me reading? it is almost insulting as to the lack of respect this industry shows its followers.

Superhero books revolve around characters that were born from and ride on the rails of particular timeless morals. If they followed a timeline and aged, all of the popular characters would be near death or dead by this time. I definitely agree with you —it'd make for great story telling, but you can't really sustain your brand that way. And it's all about money.

Sounds like you've yet to explore outside of the superhero genre in comic books if you don't think quality stuff is out there. Check out Vertigo's Sandman, Preacher, Fables, Y: The Last Man, or DMZ if you want to see comics at their best. These are series that have definite endings. The best writing in comics has evolved and lives beyond the Superhero cookie cutter. Marvel has Icon as their publishing subsidiary (Vertigo is DC's), and puts out a great book called Criminal.

Check those books out, and it should shut you up about bad writing in comics

 

[xYx]

Superhero books revolve around characters that were born from and ride on the rails of particular timeless morals. If they followed a timeline and aged, all of the popular characters would be near death or dead by this time. I definitely agree with you —it'd make for great story telling, but you can't really sustain your brand that way. And it's all about money.

Sounds like you've yet to explore outside of the superhero genre in comic books if you don't think quality stuff is out there. Check out Vertigo's Sandman, Preacher, Fables, Y: The Last Man, or DMZ if you want to see comics at their best. These are series that have definite endings. The best writing in comics has evolved and lives beyond the Superhero cookie cutter. Marvel has Icon as their publishing subsidiary (Vertigo is DC's), and puts out a great book called Criminal.

Check those books out, and it should shut you up about bad writing in comics

Add Mouse Guard & Walking Dead to that list.

 

[karamazov80]

This is one of the main reasons I don't read funny books anymore. Every storyline is a cheap sales gimmick, nothing more.

 

[xYx]

This is one of the main reasons I don't read funny books anymore. Every storyline is a cheap sales gimmick, nothing more.

You've missed/missing out on some great runs then Kara like everything else in life, comic books has its ups & downs. You just have to stick it out (That's what she said!) & follow through.

 

[Sebastian]

Never mentioned it was random.
I did mention though that ONE way publisher uses a character's "death" to boost sales, BUT not ALL character's "death" is to boost sale at least not to the writers who have passion towards the characters & stories they write. True that it isn't rocket science but to assume that every creative decision a writer makes is just make money is just downright moronic.

I didnt say ALL deaths in comics follow the same methodology... read very carefully. I said the decision to kill off Johnny was strategic because of POOR SALES. Same with Superman. I dont have the actual patience to find the article but it was on majorspoilers.com. Sales were very poor for the Fantastic Four series, and his death and subsititution was nothing more than a marketing gimmick that pissed off a lot of people that have been collecting the series since the golden/silver age of comics. If you dont believe me, fine. Its posted on several fan forums. Have you been following the fantastic four comic series? Its not the most popular if you havent noticed. They could've added anyone else into the roster.. not a surprise that it was a marketing tactic to include Spider-Man, with a new uniform. Or resurrect Superman with a new white uniform.

 

[automaton]

i barely touch the superhero side of things these days (unless lured in by Humberto Ramos or Chris Bachalo's artwork… or an arc such as Paul Jenkins Spider-Man: Return of the Goblin) due t the fact that the stories are filler. i agree, there are a lot of great titles beyond the spandex genre (i will add Ex Machina, Superior, and Scarlet to the list), it is just too bad as the potential for the super hero stuff is wasted.

 

[xYx]

I didnt say ALL deaths in comics follow the same methodology... read very carefully. I said the decision to kill off Johnny was strategic because of POOR SALES. Same with Superman. I dont have the actual patience to find the article but it was on majorspoilers.com. Sales were very poor for the Fantastic Four series, and his death and subsititution was nothing more than a marketing gimmick that pissed off a lot of people that have been collecting the series since the golden/silver age of comics. If you dont believe me, fine. Its posted on several fan forums. Have you been following the fantastic four comic series? Its not the most popular if you havent noticed. They could've added anyone else into the roster.. not a surprise that it was a marketing tactic to include Spider-Man, with a new uniform. Or resurrect Superman with a new white uniform.

I followed the Hitch run which was phenomenal in my opinion. Oh I do believe you regarding how Johnny & Supes' "deaths" were marketing ploys to boost sales. I was just pointing out that not every "death" should all be categorized as a marketing ploy (Not pointed at you but in general). I don't need to look it up on any forum because 1st & foremost, I'm a comic book fan before this hobby we have in common. I was almost suprised that they didn't get Wolverine or Deadpool to be part of FF.

 

[KBA]

Add Mouse Guard & Walking Dead to that list.

add Ex Machina, Superior, and Scarlet to the list.

I was almost suprised that they didn't get Wolverine or Deadpool to be part of FF.

 

[CTO15]

to make money money moooonnnneeyyyy!

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

I'm not against characters coming back at all, if their death means something, then their return should also mean something, return because they need to fill a role, for johnny storm and Nightcrawler it just seems too soon, so soon that nothing has really been done yet to justify the need for their return.

FF is getting its first TPB the second wont be out until after his return likely and it's days are likely numbered unless he goes in a freelance book.

X-Men: Second Coming has just come out in TPB so to me Nightcrawler has just died, and he'll be back too soon for it to mean anything.

It seems the only books that are safe from cancellation are X-Men, Iron Man, Spidey and Captain America, all ones based on Movie properties.

As i said my favourite series were canned, Nova, Iron Fist and others without movie adaptions, that is a sad commentary on what the "Comic" company is doing, catering more to the general public movie-goers than longtime comic customers.

Could this be a quiet Disney move?

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

Could this be a quiet Disney move?

nah

disney owns marvel, but they let marvel do whatever they want. joephisto even said that

 

[SAB]

Long time comic reader here.

I'd advise following the writers you like (or artists if the art is more important to you) than any particular character or company.

Superman, Batman, Spiderman, etc will always have to return to the status quo. Its the nature of the industry. They can't age and change dramatically long term.

To me they are much more entertaining to read in spurts. If Grant Morrison or another great writer starts writing a title, I will read it. When that writer winds up their story and leaves, so will I (unless of course I'm interested in the next writer).

I don't understand people who must buy [characterX] no matter what. I stopped that when I was 10.

And have others have said, if you want the real quality stuff where long term change and permanency is possible, then go to Vertigo or independent works.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

These characters have been around 40+ years. There is only so much that can be done with them. Killing a character and resurrecting them later tells a story. Does anyone really want to never see Steve Rogers as Cap in anything but flashbacks?

I think the true distinction should be between when its done to just do it and when its attached to a good story. I've really enjoyed Bucky being brought back, him taking over as Cap, and Steve moving up to head of SHIELD. I haven't gotten to the Batman death yet, but it sound like they took an interesting direction with ____ as Batman. Sounds like they should have kept that as the status quo for a bit longer, especially given this silly reboot DC is doing.

 

[xYx]

I'm not against characters coming back at all, if their death means something, then their return should also mean something, return because they need to fill a role, for johnny storm and Nightcrawler it just seems too soon, so soon that nothing has really been done yet to justify the need for their return.

FF is getting its first TPB the second wont be out until after his return likely and it's days are likely numbered unless he goes in a freelance book.

X-Men: Second Coming has just come out in TPB so to me Nightcrawler has just died, and he'll be back too soon for it to mean anything.

It seems the only books that are safe from cancellation are X-Men, Iron Man, Spidey and Captain America, all ones based on Movie properties.

As i said my favourite series were canned, Nova, Iron Fist and others without movie adaptions, that is a sad commentary on what the "Comic" company is doing, catering more to the general public movie-goers than longtime comic customers.

Could this be a quiet Disney move?

Nightcrawler is still dead. The AoA version which has joined X-Force already speaks volumes how different he is compared to the Kurt Wagner of 616 just by being part of that group.

X-Men, Spider-Man, Avengers, Hulk & so on & so forth won't be cancelled because they're cornerstones of Marvel & not just for their movie properties.

As for the cancellations of Iron Fist & Nova which I do agree were great books, that is sadly part of the comic book industry but also remember that these characters return to prominence & getting their own titles is only a matter of time as well.

Long time comic reader here.

I'd advise following the writers you like (or artists if the art is more important to you) than any particular character or company.

Superman, Batman, Spiderman, etc will always have to return to the status quo. Its the nature of the industry. They can't age and change dramatically long term.

To me they are much more entertaining to read in spurts. If Grant Morrison or another great writer starts writing a title, I will read it. When that writer winds up their story and leaves, so will I (unless of course I'm interested in the next writer).

I don't understand people who must buy [characterX] no matter what. I stopped that when I was 10.

And have others have said, if you want the real quality stuff where long term change and permanency is possible, then go to Vertigo or independent works.

Like I mentioned before, there aren't bad/good characters only bad/good writers.

As for the people who buy (Character X) no matter what, seeing as I am one of them. For me I'd say it's the collector's mentality in me & the amount of time/interest I've invested on the particular character.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

Add Mouse Guard & Walking Dead to that list.

Two excellent books on my pull list!

 

[Agent0028]

Nightcrawler is still dead. The AoA version which has joined X-Force already speaks volumes how different he is compared to the Kurt Wagner of 616 just by being part of that group.

X-Men, Spider-Man, Avengers, Hulk & so on & so forth won't be cancelled because they're cornerstones of Marvel & not just for their movie properties.
As for the cancellations of Iron Fist & Nova which I do agree were great books, that is sadly part of the comic book industry but also remember that these characters return to prominence & getting their own titles is only a matter of time as well.




Like I mentioned before, there aren't bad/good characters only bad/good writers.

As for the people who buy (Character X) no matter what, seeing as I am one of them. For me I'd say it's the collector's mentality in me & the amount of time/interest I've invested on the particular character.

Exactly and that is why they are movie properties.

I agree that the character needs to come back for a good reason. I loved that Cap came back to kick Osborne's ass and take over SHIELD. I'm less thrilled about Batman's death and return, but I haven't read it yet, so maybe that will change.

 

[imthebestatwhatido]

i felt the death of steve rogers and the use of bucky barnes as cap was a fantastic story line! characters die so that they will be brought into the limelight again. character isn't doing so well...LETS KILL'EM. then bring them back... AND KILL'EM AGAIN!

 

[xYx]

As long as it lead to good storytelling.

 

[BatFanatic]

It's done to generate sales or give a character a fresh start.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Okay i probably shoul've titled this a bit differently, but my issue is with the ALL NEW series after the character has died being cancelled before it really gets a chance to get good.

Back to my OP, i don't want to buy the first FF Paperback if Johnny Storm is gonna come back so soon cos the series will be canned and left without an end.

I want to cos it looks great, but why get invested in a story and it's characters, if it Marvel just stops it dead to start a different one with Johnny returning and coming back to the Fantastic Four?