The publishers should simply stop pretending that killing off Batman or Spider-man for a few issues is such a big deal and we should stagger back in awe at the news. Mainstream comics are perpetually ongoing stories, therefore permanent death is more of a continuity problem than a true plot device. Even Miles Morales Spider-man is a cop out since it occurs outside the mainstream Marvel universe so Peter Parker is "safe" and his current death is just a temporary condition.
You have the same problem with characters like Barbara Gordon, she was stuck in a wheelchair for years, while Batman got over his broken back with ease. That's another strange conceit that most characters can be upgraded or enhanced, but others remain stuck and you need a lot of handwaving to explain away a cure. Another example being the film version of Iron Man, he can pretty much create any tech he needs, but an artificial heart seems beyond his grasp. One of the ultimate conceits was Spawn, who started off with a limited amount of power and was doomed to hell should the counter reach zero. It didn't take long for Spawn to find out a few tricks to effectively cancel out the drain on his power. The mega event that lead to the counter being wiped from the story looked very dramatic, but it had zero value in terms of storytelling, cheapening the character.
Some characters have gone through several iterations without being unduly affected, cf Green Lantern, Flash etc. Other characters like Batman and Spider-man seem tied to a single person and passing on the mantle to somebody else doesn't quite work.
Another major problem is that Superhero timelines are now more flexible than ever and retcons are all too common, which means that even iconic deaths are reversed and we see long-dead characters still come back, Bucky and Norman Osborn being good examples. And while these resurrected characters may benefit of some of the finest storytelling, they only reinforce the arbitrary nature of comic book storytelling which depends a lot on our ability to suspend disbelief.
Stories like Invincible and others have dealt successfully with permanent death and some comics did end permanently with the main protagonist dying or moving on, but these are just a handful.
I think that the main publishers will not be able to fix the current problem because of the inherent nature of the books, they can however reduce the deaths and make them longer and as meaningful as possible. I'd love to see more permanent and meaningful death or at least it all being taken more seriously. Drama is a powerful tool and it can be used in very different ways.
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