Weekly Nerd Chat: Death in Comics

Us nerds like nothing more than to banter back and forth on nerdy topics in Slack. Here is one of those chats, very lightly edited.

Death in Comics. Discuss.

Ross (Has catalogued every comic death for research purposes) Today, me, Nash, and Adkins are going to talk about death in comics–who died, who came back, and who stayed dead.

I’ll open up with a general question: What’s everybody’s favorite (or most personally important) comic book death?

And, it goes without saying, MASSIVE SPOILERS.

Adkins (Co-founder of Nerds on Earth who is still mourning a turtle) For me, it was poor Donatello. I’m already on record discussing his demise. It stung, man. He was never my favorite turtle, but he was still a big part of my childhood. And to read the interviews with the writers in which they say his death will have some staying power is hard.

Nash (May die by the end of this chat) OK, so I am way less in on most of the comic book deaths. But I’d have to say I was fascinated most when Superman was killed off. However my favorite (for lack of a better term) death of all fiction is Dobby.

Adkins I’ve sadly not kept up with the IDW run, so I have no idea if and/or how the writers have stuck to that route, though.

Nash So I hadn’t even heard a Turtle was killed off until I read Adkins post. I hated hearing about donnie…but he was right. It had to be him.

Ross “Staying power” is a real problem for comic book deaths. You’ve got so many high-profile characters who’ve been resurrected, it’s a running joke–Superman, Jean Grey, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne…pretty much every superhero gets killed and then brought back. So for a character to be Killed Permanently is a Big Deal.

Do we think Donatello will stay dead?

Nash Well, from what the writers have said…yes.

But I think Ross makes a great point. Killing people off and bringing them back is becoming a joke

Adkins I’m going to (perhaps riskily) say I hope so. The negation of death makes the threat of it minimal. What role does danger really play in the stories at that point? It becomes trivialized a bit.

Ross A huge part of that has to be money. With comics, you need that monthly income stream from the high-profile characters, and keeping them out of the books might drop the price. So you get the head-honchos at corporate going up against the creative teams.

​That’s something that books have to worry about less (see Dobby, and Game of Thrones character).

Nash Great point, Adkins. If they always come back from death is there any real sting to death and or any really danger to be faced? If there is no danger of “actual death” there is no tension. Therefore, we stop caring as readers or viewers.

Adkins And comics have tackled that particular problem in part with the multiverse. Who cares if Spider-man dies in one of the comic runs? He’s in seven other ongoing titles based in another of the universes, and there is an infinite supply of others.

Nash So for you guys who are more in the comic book stream: When have characters been killed off and stayed dead?

Ross The joke used to be “The only characters who stay dead are Jason Todd, Gwen Stacy, and Uncle Ben.” And the first two have their own books now, so…

It happens way, way more frequently in creator-owned books, or books with a definite beginning, middle, and end. Walking Dead is notorious for killing characters. One of my favorites deaths was in Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man.

Nash Has that actually diminished any of the tension for you who read comics regularly?

Ross What I see a lot more of is fear for other characters. We know Batman’s gonna win, for example, but other people around him might get hurt.

Nash I watch Walking Dead every week and I like that when a character was killed off they stayed dead. Unlike, say, Agent Coulson

But with the recent Glenn situation I am seeing a little of that “Marvel death.”

Ross Hopefully, the Netflix shows will avoid that. I’ll be very disappointed if I see, say, Ben Ulrich running around in the second season of Daredevil.

Adkins It’ll be interesting to see how often the shows ditch this particular trope.

Nash Agreed. Loved season 1 of DD and excited to see where it goes.

Adkins The one thing TV shows have working for them is restricted continuity. It is usually the one story, not one among several. That limits the ability to kill a character for effect only to have him or her live on in another run somewhere.

Ross So let’s expand beyond comics. Mediums where death is more permanent–books, movies, etc. We’ve already heard about Dobby. Any other favorite deaths out there?

Adkins Wash.

Ross Yeah, he’d have to be up there.

Adkins Wash dies in Serenity and he stays dead in the comics that take place after the movie.

Ross Rachel’s death in Dark Knight was a jolt to me. I really did think Batman was going to swoop in and save the day.

Nash I LOVED Rachel dying

Adkins Nash also loves stepping on puppies. He revels in the dark stuff.

Nash Only when I am extra sad.

Ross Query: Does a Doctor’s regeneration count as a death?

Adkins As in Who?

Ross Yeah.

Adkins Barking up the wrong tree with me. Like Jason, Doctor Who is a nerd blindspot for me.

Ross Ah, for shame. But I’ll nominate David Tennant’s last scene.

Nash I got through season one of the new run (I think) and hated David Tennant, so I gave up on the show. What season does Tennant die…maybe I can start back up then? lol

Adkins I suppose it depends on the mechanic. If he regens like Wolverine, nah. If he resurfaces like Superman…yes.

Ross We need to wrap this up, because if this keeps going, the next death is gonna be Nash.

HE IS THE BEST DOCTOR.

Nash Ross just made it premeditated murder…I have a paper trail!

Adkins My final thought: Whedon gets the death of a character. His understanding extends beyond keeping them dead; it has heavy implications on every battle. Someone could​ die. That makes a big difference when it comes to narrative tension.

Nash IMO, there are times where resurection works and times where it undercuts the tension for future storylines.

Ross I couldn’t agree more, with both of you.

Adkins Nash – when did resurrection work for you?

Nash Sunday School answer: Jesus

JK

Ross HA!

Nash OK, so for me I loved actually hearing JK Rowling’s thought process over every death in HP. She thought about everything like Adkins did with his Donnie piece. However I didn’t hate that Harry returns. It tied the story together well, he being the 7th horcrux and all.

Ross So a well-thought-out resurrection is as good as a well-thought-out death?

Nash I think it takes a better writer to do a well thought out death.

But I think resurections are trickier to write well…

If that makes sense.

Ross Makes sense to me.

Nash But deaths don’t have to be well thought out…it just makes it silly to undo a not well though out death with a poorly written resurrection. lol

Adkins Good chat, you two. Enjoyed it.

Ross Except for you, Nash. You’re on My List.

Nash [Throws on invisibility cloak] Good luck finding me, death.