The Bruins Biggest Bear

I have to disagree. The New 52, while it has had it’s share of bad or alright stories it has also had some damn good ones too. Throne of Atlantis, Death of the Family, Forever Evil, Endgame, Zero Year, Secrets and Lies, The new Catwoman story ark, etc. And killing off a comic book character and bringing them back is nothing new in comics I.E Jason Todd, Ra’s Al Ghul (many times), the Joker, Peter Parker, Captain America, Superman, Batman, how long do you think Marvel is going to keep Wolverine dead? Supergirl… Alright you get the point. The thing about Damian’s death is that it served as a great story telling tool for Batman. You see that he is a broken man he already failed once (Jason Todd) and now he felt like he failed again. But I can see why some people don’t like it. Just remember though this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. 

I don’t think anyone is arguing that character deaths are a new thing. Pretty much any of us who reads comics is well aware of how common place they are. What’s different this time around is that it has now become common place for (especially the Big Two) publishers to exploit character deaths as major selling points of a comic instead of selling the story as a whole. What has made this especially tiresome is that the character deaths are often less about the characters themselves and more about selling shock value. It’s a gimmick that both cheapens the characters and takes away any meaning their deaths may have otherwise had.

It is also worth noting that in the past when characters died in comics, they actually stayed dead. This was at least true for DC Comics. When deceased characters did come back, it was usually after they’ve already been dead for at least one or two decades. This was the case with Barry Allen, Jason Todd, Kara Zor-El, and Terry Sloan. The only characters that didn’t stay dead for that long were their flagship characters like Superman and Batman. But other characters that died? They stayed dead a good long time before the publisher or a writer decided to revive them for a story.

Now, however? They get killed long enough to sell the comic, and then the publisher brings them back a year or so later to continue making bank with them. That is actually what is meant about DC having their cake and eating it too. All of their major events (Death of the Family, Trinity War, Forever Evil, Futures End, World’s End to name a few) have teased the deaths of characters as a way of getting people to buy these comics even when those characters didn’t actually end up dying.

Don’t get me wrong, I think you are right in that it’s now more for shock value than anything else. But there have been stories that were a character dies that have been really good (Death in the Family) or really bad (Death of Superman). In regards to Death of the Family, Trinity War, Forever Evil (I haven’t read World’s End nor have I read Futures End) I never got the feeling that anyone was going to die in Death of the Family, when the Joker fell off that cliff I knew he wasn’t dead, I mean you would never kill of the best villain in all of comics/of all time. Plus the Joker has “died” many times. But I definitely never got the feeling that anyone was going to die in Forever Evil, or Trinity War, but that’s just me. 

Going back to Death of Superman, that was the comic that showed that the “death” of a character could make bank. It made so much money that DC had other character’s die off as well. Marvel also fallowed suit with Peter Parker and Captain America. So if you really wont to blame a story arc blame Death of Superman.   

I don’t think you’re really getting the point that’s being made. The topic being discussed here isn’t which story kickstarted the problem of making character deaths common place. The topic being discussed is that it’s become a defining characteristic of the New 52 era for the publisher to exploit character deaths as major selling points of their comics. The point is character deaths have become a common marketing tactic to entice readers into buying these comics. DC Comics is selling their comics on shock value rather than as narratives. 

Excellent cases in point, Death of the Family kept teasing Alfred as a casualty of the Joker’s latest scheme. He didn’t actually die, but the constant marketing that someone was going to die at the end of this event got people to buy these comics in high numbers. Forever Evil kept marketing Nightwing as a casualty of war, even going as far as to draw covers with him looking pretty bloodied to sell the idea. He didn’t actually die, but his teased death sold the event in high numbers. To sell the Futures End weekly, DC released as their FCBD Zero issue for that event a dystopian future where all of your favourite superheroes were turned into murderous cyborg zombies by Brother Eye. This sold the first few issues of the weekly in high numbers and it especially increased sales for DC this past September. To sell World’s End, DC teased the deaths of the Huntress, Green Lantern, and Doctor Fate. Huntress and Doctor Fate are shown to have survived World’s End in Futures End, but Green Lantern and Flash were confirmed to have died. This didn’t actually sell the weekly in high numbers because none of these characters were fully developed to start with. Plus no one cares about Thomas Wayne as ‘Batman,’ which was the character that was heavily promoted for this event.

The point is the current leadership recognises that character deaths sell. It has become a staple of their marketing tactics for enticing readers to buy their books. Sometimes the characters do die. Other times they don’t. What matters to them is that the comics themselves actually sell. Getting back to the main topic of conversation, that is the main issue that many people are having with Damian’s death and subsequent resurrection a little over a year later. It’s continuing that pattern of DC exploiting a character death to sell their comics in high numbers (and it did for both Batman Incorporated and Requiem) but now that sales are slowing down again, they are bringing back Damian (whom they recognize is highly saleable) to boost their sales again. Hence the ‘having the cake and eating it too’ idiom.

I guess the problem with me is that I never thought any characters were going to die in both Death of the Family or Forever Evil, I mean they would never kill Nightwing he is WAY to popular to kill off (it did lead to Grayson which is pretty damn good), and I never thought Alfred would die. Though maybe I’m just an optimist.

Though will say this in both DC and Marvel’s defense; it is a business and it’s their job to sell their comics and until people stop buying the comics where a hero or villain dies they’ll keep doing it.

All that being said I don’t like it when a hero dies but comes back a year or so later (Wolverine I bet will come back within a year or two). I like it when a death in comics last for quite some time I.E Jason Todd he was dead or what two decades? It serves as a tool to give a character motivation And for that reason I wish they kept Damian dead for another two or so years (I never thought much of Damian). Or it leading into a new good/great comic series Batman and Robin with Dick and Damian, or Grayson.

I have to disagree. The New 52, while it has had it’s share of bad or alright stories it has also had some damn good ones too. Throne of Atlantis, Death of the Family, Forever Evil, Endgame, Zero Year, Secrets and Lies, The new Catwoman story ark, etc. And killing off a comic book character and bringing them back is nothing new in comics I.E Jason Todd, Ra’s Al Ghul (many times), the Joker, Peter Parker, Captain America, Superman, Batman, how long do you think Marvel is going to keep Wolverine dead? Supergirl… Alright you get the point. The thing about Damian’s death is that it served as a great story telling tool for Batman. You see that he is a broken man he already failed once (Jason Todd) and now he felt like he failed again. But I can see why some people don’t like it. Just remember though this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. 

I don’t think anyone is arguing that character deaths are a new thing. Pretty much any of us who reads comics is well aware of how common place they are. What’s different this time around is that it has now become common place for (especially the Big Two) publishers to exploit character deaths as major selling points of a comic instead of selling the story as a whole. What has made this especially tiresome is that the character deaths are often less about the characters themselves and more about selling shock value. It’s a gimmick that both cheapens the characters and takes away any meaning their deaths may have otherwise had.

It is also worth noting that in the past when characters died in comics, they actually stayed dead. This was at least true for DC Comics. When deceased characters did come back, it was usually after they’ve already been dead for at least one or two decades. This was the case with Barry Allen, Jason Todd, Kara Zor-El, and Terry Sloan. The only characters that didn’t stay dead for that long were their flagship characters like Superman and Batman. But other characters that died? They stayed dead a good long time before the publisher or a writer decided to revive them for a story.

Now, however? They get killed long enough to sell the comic, and then the publisher brings them back a year or so later to continue making bank with them. That is actually what is meant about DC having their cake and eating it too. All of their major events (Death of the Family, Trinity War, Forever Evil, Futures End, World’s End to name a few) have teased the deaths of characters as a way of getting people to buy these comics even when those characters didn’t actually end up dying.

Don't get me wrong, I think you are right in that it's now more for shock value than anything else. But there have been stories that were a character dies that have been really good (Death in the Family) or really bad (Death of Superman). In regards to Death of the Family, Trinity War, Forever Evil (I haven't read World's End nor have I read Futures End) I never got the feeling that anyone was going to die in Death of the Family, when the Joker fell off that cliff I knew he wasn't dead, I mean you would never kill of the best villain in all of comics/of all time. Plus the Joker has "died" many times. But I definitely never got the feeling that anyone was going to die in Forever Evil, or Trinity War, but that's just me. 

Going back to Death of Superman, that was the comic that showed that the "death" of a character could make bank. It made so much money that DC had other character's die off as well. Marvel also fallowed suit with Peter Parker and Captain America. So if you really wont to blame a story arc blame Death of Superman.   

I have to disagree. The New 52, while it has had it’s share of bad or alright stories it has also had some damn good ones too. Throne of Atlantis, Death of the Family, Forever Evil, Endgame, Zero Year, Secrets and Lies, The new Catwoman story ark, etc. And killing off a comic book character and bringing them back is nothing new in comics I.E Jason Todd, Ra’s Al Ghul (many times), the Joker, Peter Parker, Captain America, Superman, Batman, how long do you think Marvel is going to keep Wolverine dead? Supergirl… Alright you get the point. The thing about Damian’s death is that it served as a great story telling tool for Batman. You see that he is a broken man he already failed once (Jason Todd) and now he felt like he failed again. But I can see why some people don’t like it. Just remember though this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.