With a promo for the DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN on the cover of PREVIEWS and the Source hinting at a revisit of the DEATH OF SUPERMAN, it’s clear that death is in the air.
Think about it, all the major heroes - - Batman, Thor, Green Lantern, Iron Man, Flash, Aquaman - - have gone through major “death and rebirth” story-lines recently. G-Man has noted that death has been striking the X-books, in particular (who misses Nightcrawler and Cable already?) and he's curious if it's just about stunts to grab attention. It might be. This is a genre about sensationalism and you can't get more sensationalist than threatening (and making good on threats of) a hero's life.
I was still “lil’ Tommy P” when the DEATH OF SUPERMAN first rolled out in the 90s and, at the time, it felt like no other comics-borne event could ever make as big a wave on pop culture. It was like dropping a mountain in the ocean. A telling anecdote from my own experience is that I remember seeing comics related to the event getting auctioned on some channel (the name escapes me) and the auctioneers were talking about how some people had even cried when they found out Supes died. Wooo... I don't think even Chewbacca's death in that STAR WARS novel got as dramatic a reaction. Then again, I’ve talked to guys who were comic store managers at the time and they've said that all the fans knew Supes' death was going to get reversed - - the return was even solicited in PREVIEWS at the same time the death itself hit the stands! It was the mainstream who was duped; which is basically what happened again with Cap's death. == TEASER ==
Furthering the comparison, there's a division between "shoot" and "kayfabe." Shoot is reality. That’s when the wrestlers are actually hitting eachother or speaking out of character. Kayfabe is the storyline as presented. But the lines often blur. Say Hulk Hogan gets a black eye during a jet ski accident. He’s got to explain the shiner on TV. Hence, he cooks up a fake story about how he got jumped by the Million Dollar Man’s goons prior to the show. Similarly, if a wrestler needs some time off, the storyline will have him get injured or “retired” when he’s really just on vacation. With a little imagination, I can’t help thinking of these deaths as being equivalent to that. Spidey’s been fighting bad guys for years and years. When he needs to go take a break in the Bahamas, he “dies” and returns only after he's properly rested.
With all that in mind, I don't think these deaths are much of an anomaly. If there's a threat of audiences growing tired of them, then there has to be a risk of them getting tried of summer crossovers and sidekicks eventually getting promoted. That's part of the experience and part of the fun - - even if you can see the outcome before has even appeared.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow Tom on Twitter: @tompinchuk
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