http://www.comicvine.com/videos/off-their-minds-how-long-should-you-wait-to-accept/2300-2718/
As long as they want. It took Barry Allen decades to come back (which is about 5-10 years in comic book time, actually). Bucky, too (technically). Some obscure ones never seem to, so you could think that they deserve to be missed the most.
But the characters don`t know who`s an unpopular character. They don`t know that it matters. So, in a world filled with these cheaters of death, they`re still going to be unsure. Except if they think:
"Well, he was no Batman. Batman can survive a battle to the death with god like beings. But my friend...I`m sad to say, but he just...I don`t think he could."
But...when you take in to consideration that most heroes are equally capable of that kind of deeds*...
There`s no reason to think so. I`m sure that friends of El Gaucho or Ragman have noticed, that their compatriots were/are as badass as Aquaman or Cyborg. But if Ragman would die, would they really be sure that he`d come back? It depends. Even a character who doesn`t have the fanbase of Cyclops has friends who have different opinions of the subject. Because most of them don`t know of the fanbases in our world. So they can`t make their minds about the thing based on that data. They`ll be thinking as the individuals they are. Because the yarnspinners/storytellers think that way.
Deaths in comic books haven`t changed in their core, but in scope. If Green Arrow would be caught in to an exploding warehouse in the forties, he`d come back after a few pages. "I thought you were dead!" "Think again, buster!" That occurs all the time these days, too. But it may also turn in to a year or two long absence (few months in comic book time). There`s also more emphasis on the death.
Decades ago, reader would think: This guy will come back in the next issue, tops.
Knew that it was simply a twist in the story. It still happens.
Except, now some of the periods of being dead are longer. They`re dismissed mockingly, and they`re thought of as harmful (and sad and angering). Which they are, for those unused characters with more unused potential than Hal Jordan, Punisher or Kyle Rayner (to a lesser extent). Who`s ginna bring `em back? Some storyteller who`s their fan. Most likely decades later. Which isn`t fair for those were their fans decades before. Some of whom are dead. And wont be coming back. Then again...how can we know?
*In alot of the cases, they`re helped out by their friends, of course. Even Bruce Wayne woulda died years ago if there`d be no Metamorphos, Cassandra Canes and Superman analogies.
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