In the wake of the latest issue of Batman Incorporated, Anghus Houvouras discusses the death of comic book characters (spoilers ahead)…
If you haven’t already heard, writer Grant Morrison made waves this week after every major news outlet reported the newest Robin, Bruce Wayne’s son, would be dispatched with great prejudice in the latest issue of Batman Incorporated. I’m not sure what surprised me more: the fact that they were killing off another Robin or the fact that mainstream news outlets still report on the death of comic book characters.
At this point, haven’t they all caught on to this never ending cycle of killing off characters only to bring them back in some half assed effort to boost sales?
It was something of a novelty when DC decided to kill off Superman in a well plotted move to make the character relevant. As one of the most iconic characters in the medium, his “death” was something of an event. They had killed characters before. Hell, they had even killed Robin before in a highly publicized call in promotion that decided the fate of Jason Todd.
Marvel had also killed off characters before, but they were less prone to take down the major icons. It was always secondary characters like Thunderbird or Captain Stacy. Maybe that’s why the Death of Phoenix storyline and the sacrifice of Jean Grey felt so significant.
DC spent the 80s and 90s offing many of their most recognizable heroes. Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, Robin… No one was safe. And since every one of these heroes eventually returned from the dead, their deaths were ultimately nothing more than another obstacle to overcome. At one point I may have called their deaths meaningless, but in a fictional comic world where heroes seem to have infinite lives, death doesn’t hold any dominion.
Some fans may find that troubling. The moment a comic publisher announces that a character is slated for the chopping block, a rousing chorus of cynics declare “they’ll be back”. History has proven the cynics quite right in this area. The truth is superheroes don’t die. They merely go away waiting to be respawned and reintroduced.
This use to gnaw at me as well. Not so much the fact that the character would die and then inexplicably return, but that people made such a big deal about it. Especially considering the frequency of characters biting the big one and being resurrected at a moments notice, the attention almost seemed laughable.
I kind of understood the drama when Marvel killed off Captain America. It was the first real icon that they were putting in the ground. Its not like Hawkeye or The New Warriors were grabbing headlines when Marvel blew them up like Wile E Coyote.
Traditionally, Marvel avoided such grandstanding with their big guns. That went out the window after Steve Rogers took a bullet. Soon enough Spider-Man was given the execution order. In comic books, there are only two certainties: death and wearing underwear on the outside.
Tragically, the gimmick still works. Comic shops sold out of Batman Incorporated #8 in record time. I had a funny encounter when I went into my local comic shop and asked for a copy:
“We sold out.” said the owner. “You actually read that book, don’t you?”
I do. Which seems funny because according to the owner people were buying this issue who don’t normally read Batman Incorporated, just to see Robin die. A death that will probably not last. A death that will have little lasting impact, in spite of what publishers tell you.
I mean, how many Robins have there been now? Eight? And at least two of them have been killed. Is this really news anymore?
I’ve managed to accept the fact that superheroes are going to die. And I’ve also learned that they will eventually return via Lazarus pits, dimensional portals, or from punching the walls of reality. Its all part of the infinite madness of comic book storytelling. All you can do is try and enjoy the ride and place a bet on the over/under of their inevitable return.
I’m going with Robin returning within five years, and I’m guessing it will have something to do with clones. No ones done anything with clones in a while, right?
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the graphic novel EXE: Executable File, is available from Lulu.com.
Originally published February 28, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
