Because, this was the only place I remembered where it was spoken on. I mean, I already knew it was coming, but I had to say it.

@theacidskull: I think if you didn't know the character at all -- if you didn't have canon/history reasons for having trouble with her death (and let's be honest, there are severe canon/history reasons for having trouble with her death, as I expressed in my blog about talking to Hopeless) -- if you didn't know anything but what you'd seen from Hopeless, it probably would have read as the best death in the series. Most of the people who have tried to defend it to me have said they got very emotional, that they found it devastating but powerful, and that they wanted to go back and read Runaways. So they don't know Nico, and because they don't have reasons to complain about how she didn't need to die, they can take the death at face value, and in that way I'd agree it's probably the most meaningful one in the series.

Granted, that's not how continuity works, so that meaning is quite relative, but I can understand why others (and probably even Hopeless) thought it was good.

@theacidskull: I'd agree that one would be better than the other but I don't want either to happen.

What annoys me is that there's no way to make her kill any of the others without TS. So the fact that they will use TS to make her do it is just kind of really lazy and uninteresting. There's no tension. She'll either kill someone she didn't want to, or she'll be killed because she can't stop herself and hold back. The fact that it's not even real TS just adds insult to injury.

But what really gets me is that Nico died pretty much to save all of Hopeless' characters (seriously, them and Cammi, right?). And how many friends does X-23 have left to die for here? Honestly it seems far more likely if she sacrifices herself it will be to protect more of the Braddock kids.

Ugh. Anyway, I can rant (and have) in other places.

This blog really was just to say I appreciate that the people on CV have predominately not been jerks. And that's really cool.

@theacidskull: I honestly don't think I can think of anything that would get money out of my wallet and into Marvel's hands faster than Yost writing X-23.

Legitimately, it would not matter if it was a $4.99 title. I would drop other books on my list to make room for reading that.

Which is why I'm pretty sure they'll kill her off at the end of this season of Arena, because I can't remember the last time Marvel did something that would make me happy.

@theacidskull: As do I. I really want to know the numbers for May. For the last five issues it has been losing around 2,000 readers per issue. It is already in the same range as Academy was when Marvel announced that that book was being cancelled. I find it very hard to believe that that book is going to survive into that "season two" Marvel boasted about at C2E2 with the numbers it's generating.

What remains to be seen is whether a death like Nico's will piss people off so they drop it, or convince non-readers this book is about to pick up action-wise and start reading it.

Ask different people, and depending on how cynical they are they'll give you different answers.

From a pure plot standpoint, the villain Arcade captures 16 teenagers and attempts to force them into a deathmatch, where it's kill or be killed. His motives and abilities remain mysterious, but to show he means business at the end of the first issue he blows apart a major (for the fanbases who know these characters) character.

If "teenage deathmatch" sounds familiar, it's because not only has it been done in acclaimed series like Battle Royale, but it's a core of the hugely popular Hunger Games series, and most people are pretty sure that the reason this concept was approved was that Marvel wanted to cash in on the hype of that series (also, the first handful of Arena covers were homages to Battle Royale, Lord of the Flies, Hunger Games, etc.).

The difference, which I and others will very vehemently point out, is that while all those franchises created the characters who were going to be put through hell and likely killed, Avengers Arena only offered about 1/3 new characters, and the other 2/3 were pre-existing characters from franchises with cult, but extremely passionate fanbases: X-23, Nico & Chase (from Runaways), Mettle, Hazmat, and Reptil (from Avengers Academy), Cammi (Annihilation), Chris Powell (Darkhawk), Juston (Sentinel), and the daughter of Red Raven.

Dennis hopeless describes this book as not a meat-grinder, but a character-driven story.

Marvel, on the other hand, advertised it as a book which people who thought Marvel had too many young heroes and hated the sight of them "wouldn't want to miss."

So what is Avengers Arena?

Some people call it a fun book, an interesting story, "the best book from Marvel right now."

I joined Comic Vine to agree with someone else, who said "it's everything wrong with comics today."

@hart7668: Have you seen or heard of the film Battle Royale? It's a rip off of that without the political and social messages

As much as I wish it were that simple, it's simply not true. There are people who like this book and do like the characters. Now I'll be the first to admit I don't understand that -- the way I come to love characters, I would never prefer their death to anything. I would never want them to die. If it happened, as it sometimes must, I'd deal with that, but I'd never actually say I was glad they had died.

Yet whether I understand it or not, there are a decent number of people who say they are fans of the characters and also fans of this book. These fans tend to point out the lack of appearances the characters have had as of late (though I'll point out that both Avengers Academy and Runaways were still showing up in stories last year, so that obscurity isn't half as great as they seem to think it was) and they say they'd rather a high-profile and memorable death than for the character to just exist in limbo forever and go unused.

Now again, I contest the notion that these characters were destined for limbo when 1. Marjorie Liu wants to be writing X-23 right now, and creator Christ Yost has previously expressed interest in having her meet Kaine; 2. you have artists actually saying they are sad they won't get to draw characters like Nico again, or at lest not for a while; 3. like I said, they cancelled Academy for this book. That's the definition of characters who weren't yet in limbo; in fact I think the attachment of Academy readers was part of what they depended on to get people to pick up the first issue.

But whether I can contest certain things or not, the fact remains that there are people who like Arena and don't hate the characters. So I try not to make extreme statements like you did, because it's simply not true, you know?

So....what is Avengers Arena? I know, I can read the bios and whatnot but if someone can simply tell me what it is and what is wrong with it, I can appreciate this article much more.

@theacidskull: Yes. Some people simply enjoy it nonchalantly. But some people absolutely love it, and I don't just mean "this is a great and well-made book" love it but "finally these terrible characters I hate are getting brutalized and I hope none of them survive" love it. They don't make up the majority but they are absolutely a portion of the fanbase of this series.

One of many, I'd imagine. But why say so here, specifically, out of curiosity?

I'm done.

@comicace3: It's funny because you did it twice.

And no, no parties. I find fun to be overrated, anyway >_>

(If you want to throw a party, it's @ravager4's birthday...)

Second that!

Second that!

We need to throw a party.

@comicace3: It only took me 2000 posts to truly appreciate it, haha.

Welcome to comicvine bro

Exactly

I hear you. It's doubly painful when people say that, because it underscores the fact that Hopeless' forte simply isn't handling other people's creations, and serves as a reminder of how much better this book would have been for everyone had it been an all new cast. Not only would it not have pissed so many people like me off, but it sounds like it would have just been a better book.

I both hate and love the series if that makes sense. I'll tell you strait up though. The Braddok Academy portion of the book is the best part in my opinion.

you got lucky bro. you had the majority on your side.

Comic vine is definitely the go to safe haven for all people who like comics.