[Manga] Another Superhero gets "killed"

Originally Posted by Gecko3

SPOILER WARNING: Don't click on the link unless you want to know:

Spoiler:

http://tinyurl.com/2cu83y

To generate some general discussion, this isn't the first time a superhero has been "killed". Note that I put that word in quotes, because in comics, the death of a character never seems to be permanent, and if the character was popular enough, the publishers will figure out some way to bring them back to life (Superman probably being the best example of this).

Spoiler:

Heck, although this isn't entirely related, I remember how pissed off fans were when Optimus Prime died in the 1985 Transformers movie, so much so that they had to bring him back to life later on. And as a result of the outrage, they didn't kill off Duke in the GI Joe movie, and rather he just goes into a coma.

Do you think by "killing" off a character, the character's image is being hurt or helped? What about if they later get brought back to life? And don't say it won't happen, comic book characters never really disappear (the sole exceptions being because they're not a popular character, and/or their comic isn't selling well).

Of course, I'm not a hardcore comics reader. I know enough about most superheroes and their backstory, but if I'm wrong here, do you know of any major characters that were really killed off and never brought back?

Use spoiler tags if you do have an answer, so that you don't ruin it for other people. type spoiler in between brackets [ and ] (they're above the Enter key and slightly to the left), and when you're done, type /spoiler in brackets behind the last word.

Only in rare cases do characters remain dead. I think of a fair number of supporting characters, a few villains, and even a few heroes (though probably none of them well-known) that have been dead for a few years. But even if the characters die, different versions of them persist (clones, alternate reality dopplegangers, etc.). A few, such as Barry Allen, are taken out of time before their deaths for at least one story and then returned afterward.

Originally Posted by Minoko

I dunno if it applies to the entire Batman Comicss but....

Spoiler:

According to the Batgirl: Cassandra Cain series the secon Robin was killed by the Joker.

I am also not a hardcore comic reader. I just read whatever I can afford. Or whats on sale. You can get lucky sometimes.

One thing I can say for sure with all these killed-then-suddenly-revived heroes. It confuses the hell out of me. Also not to mention the what ifs..

[spoiler]He has recently returned to the land of the living under the title "Red Hood" and briefly worked alongside Dick Grayson as another Nightwing. Somewhere over the next year, he will become Red Robin. The fourth Robin, Stephanie Brown a.k.a. Spoiler, died a few years ago and remains dead.[/spoil]

I don't mind killed-then-suddenly-revived characters as much. To me, that means the death served a purpose within the overall story and that the return was equally as important. The writer's intent was to bring them back all along. Such stories have been told outside the comic book medium.

Originally Posted by DarkMageOzzie

Spoiler:

Last I heard, they killed off Jean Grey quite awhile ago and Cyclops is sleeping with Emma Frost now.

Spoiler:

Jean Grey is not currently dead. She is currently outside of space-time, in a reality nexus. But, yes, Cyclops and Emma Frost are a couple, despite the stuff she's done to him.

Originally Posted by kuttlas

Doesn't mean shit. There's been 20 Robins and 40 The Flashes, it's just a ploy to get people to buy more comics.

This death is like the Death of Superman in this regard. Now that people know a major character has died, they will rush out to various stores to get the issue, if only for it's potential future value.

Originally Posted by DarkMageOzzie

Those are both DC characters. We're talking about a marvel character.

The name of the company doesn't change anything but the names.

Originally Posted by Hantei

Oh wow, I just heard about this on the radio a couple hours and went to pick up the issue (just released this week, heh, I can't wait to reap the benefits of this investment).

I was spoiled by various media. I imagine I would've felt different reading the story if I hadn't known the ending ahead of time. I know it's a fairly big event and all, but they should've shown some courtesy.

My thoughts on the death itself? Utterly meaningless. The character will return. It might take a few months, maybe even a year, but the return will come. I think this, and the Civil War leading to it, ruined the writer's intent for the title in which this death takes place. I am reminded of Nightwing and how Devin Grayson had a different story set, but was forced to change things due to Infinite Crisis. When Infinite Crisis failed to kill Nightwing as originally intended, Bruce Jones had to modify his story, which ended up beigng crappy.

This issue is nothing more than Marvel's version of the "Death of Superman". A major character dies, only to come back months afterward, mostly for the sake of money. Even occasional readers will come out of the woodwork to find this story.

But why didn't this occur in the Civil War event itself (as many seemed to want it end)? Was it because people complained about Spider-Man's unveiling not being done in his own mag first? Was it done in order to boost the sales of a different comic? (Civil War has been quite successful at selling copies of itself.)

I don't know the answers. But I despise Marvel for pulling what is akin to a cheap parlor trick.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Interrobang

Then what the fuck is Tony bawling to in The Confession?

I didn't read it, but I'll assume it's simply that his actions, and the actions of government, led to his death. Thus, in a way, making him responsible.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Interrobang

I'm referring to Tony crying out his heart to Steve's corpse, not what he's whining about. The guy's dead, a fact contested by Muck.

There's a dead body in a Captain America suit that we know acted like Cap for a brief amount of time. Whether it was truly Cap, we don't know, but the remains are convincing enough to fool Sharon and Tony, assuming they are fake. If not, he really did die and will come back.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

It's not a fact. It was stated in Civil War: The Initiative that Cap is alive.

I'll provide the quote if you want, but Quesada admitted that Ms. Marvel told that lie with the hopes that it would lead to the New Avengers attempting a break-out and, thus, get caught. This did not happen.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Interrobang

You guys realize that the issue with Iron Man trying to get the New Avengers was last week?

I don't, because I don't follow New Avengers, but it's conceivable that those two could be trying different ways to accomplish the same goal. Or that Iron Man acted after Ms. Marvel's strategy didn't work.

I was speaking idiomatically.