Comic Genius

I thought it would be interesting today to talk about killing comic book characters, especially in light of a certain Scarlet Speedster returning from the grave recently.

So when exactly is it right to kill a character, especially a character who is regarded as a hero?

The death of characters seem to come about more often when the comic universe is in the midst of a crisis. They usually go down in a heroic way. And once again, as my comic knowledge is somewhat limited, I’m going to speak only of the deaths that I’m familiar with at this time.

I do, however, wonder about the return of Barry Allen after a twenty year absence in the comics. He died, heroically, during Crisis on Infinite Earths. And now, at the beginning of Final Crisis he has made his return and made many a comic book fan boiling with excitement.

But what about the other deaths that have happened recently within the DCU? Vic Sage, the original Question, died during 52 from lung cancer. His death gave Renee Montoya, a relatively new character, the chance to break out and step forward as one of the new up and comers in the superhero community, even if she doesn’t exactly possess a superhuman quality. His death, however, feels like it was unnecessary. Before his death, he and Renee had built a great friendship and working relationship, and it almost seemed like it would have been better for them to become more like partners than having him die so that she could take over the mantle.

And then, of course, there are the deaths of Bart Allen (the Flash) and Conner Kent (Superboy). These deaths were apparently for different reasons. The death of Bart Allen was to correct (I assume) an editorial gaffe. Making Bart take up the Flash mantle didn’t set well with many comic book aficionados. Therefore–and again I’m assuming–his death was a way for them to bring back Wally West as the Flash. But now the question remains: what do they do now that Barry Allen is back? Does Wally get pushed back to being Kid Flash again, even though he’s married with children?

The death of Conner Kent (Superboy) is one that appears to be less permanent than any of the others I’ve discussed so far. DC Comics is currently in the middle of a lawsuit with the families of the creators of Superman and Superboy that has given them reason to stop using the name Superboy until the issue has been resolved. Even after his death during Infinite Crisis, Superboy has only been referred to as either Conner or Kon-El, the Kryptonian name given to him by Superman. With all the people trying to bring his back to life though, one can’t help but believe that he will return to the pages of DC Comics once the lawsuit has been settled. This comic book fan sure hopes so, anyway.

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