How many innocent people mass murdered in the Marvel Universe in last 20 years?

[brettc1]

Destruction of Genosha - an island with a population of 16 million.

Basically the world wide body count under the watch of the Avengers, X-Men and other heroes now numbers over 30 million.

[brettc1]

Having just read Avengers #1, I guess we can now add at least a thousand people in London - after a 2000 foot long space god crashed into part of the city and flattened it.

[brettc1]

Having just read Avengers #1, I guess we can now add at least a thousand people in London - after a 2000 foot long space god crashed into part of the city and flattened it.

Oh my.

So the whole planet is being invaded by Malekith.

We know an airliner was destroyed over Africa, there’s sbout another 150 innocent people snuffed out.

Hardly a drop in the ocean compared to the 30 million burdened already, but I think that number will climb significantly in the next few weeks as we enjoy the latest Merry Marvel bloodbath.

[PCN24454]

Jackal and Spidercide released a virus in Springville, Pennsylvania that killed about 2,600 people.

[brettc1]

Jackal and Spidercide released a virus in Springville, Pennsylvania that killed about 2,600 people.

Okay - so since the last post in November 2018, at least another 2,750 have been murdered by supervillains. That's not counting ALL of the people that got stabbed, stomped, burned or eaten in WOTR so far.

And remember, that's on top of all the deaths that already happen from things like drugs, gun related violence, starvation in 3rd countries, etc.

[Agent Z]

So why do people think superhero comics were ever escapist fun?

[myownlittleusername]

So why do people think superhero comics were ever escapist fun?

Still is, depending on the comics you read and your own attitude, i.e. not taking things too seriously.

Does anyone really care about the death toll of unnamed and mostly off-panel civilians in a fictional universe? Even in the real world it's mostly just a statistic unless you're personally affected.

[Immortal Weapon]

Does anyone really care about the death toll of unnamed and mostly off-panel civilians in a fictional universe? Even in the real world it's mostly just a statistic unless you're personally affected.

I think that any story that has huge civilian casualties and it doesn't affect anything beyond that is a serious flaw.

[PCN24454]

I think that any story that has huge civilian casualties and it doesn't affect anything beyond that is a serious flaw.

Well, casualties like that are mostly used as excuses for the plot.

Despite the Stamford tragedy starting Civil War, nobody honestly talks about them themselves.

It’s all about Civil War.

[The Cool Thatguy]

So why do people think superhero comics were ever escapist fun?

In some ways, comics need to escape from themselves and their own attempts at being clever.

Am I the only one sick and tired of hearing about cardboard prisons? Every writer hangs a lampshade on it, usually with the worst criminals imaginable , like Bullseye and Carnage.

I can fully accept that as a nature of the genre, no villain will stay in prison long, or suffer a lasting punishment. But I don't need it thrown in my face, to throw shade against the hero I'm reading about all the damn time.

It's all but a neon sign saying 'You're reading a comic book!', pulling me out of the story

[brettc1]

Agreed. And this is - what? The second time NYC has had to be completely evacuated because of an invasion in the last 12 years? Not to mention how many people must have died while it was stuck in the Darkforce Dimension during Secret Empire.

Bloody hell, how is it even a place anymore? Who would actually be dumb enough to live in a city that's been devastated by supervillains three times in twelve years. Shouldn't the USA be bankrupt just by the cost of constantly rebuilding it?

So why do people think superhero comics were ever escapist fun?

Mostly because decades ago the superheroes actually STOPPED mass deaths, often be thwarting the evil scheme before it could kill thousands or tens of thousands.

[Holt]

So why do people think superhero comics were ever escapist fun?

Because a million is a statistic.

We went over this when some troll was making anti-Namor threads last year saying it was some sort of moral travesty that Marvel publishes a character responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent New Yorkers. Someone asked why do characters (and by extension, the majority of fans) never acknowledge this, and that was the simple answer: your average person doesn't care all that much about faceless background extras that may or may not have died in a superhero fight. Look how long it took for a writer to acknowledge that the Hulk's rampages in urban areas likely resulted in innocent people being killed, and then look at how swiftly that was retconned.

[brettc1]

Because a million is a statistic.

We went over this when some troll was making anti-Namor threads last year saying it was some sort of moral travesty that Marvel publishes a character responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent New Yorkers. Someone asked why do characters (and by extension, the majority of fans) never acknowledge this, and that was the simple answer: your average person doesn't care all that much about faceless background extras that may or may not have died in a superhero fight. Look how long it took for a writer to acknowledge that the Hulk's rampages in urban areas likely resulted in innocent people being killed, and then look at how swiftly that was retconned.

The very fact it was retconned seems to indicate that people do care.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Such instances of heavy violence is so on is really the job of editors to hold this in check and keep a lid on stuff.

Marvel editorials over the last two decades have generally focused more on allowing individual runs to have the maximum impact appreciating that not all their comics are going to be read by the same readers. If you do read more than one title, it tends to stick out a bit. But if you read just a few then it's not so much.

Ultimate Marvel for instance is even more over-the-top than 616. Like Hickman's Ultimates run has the Maker genocide half of Europe. Then you have Ultimatum, that one-shot X-Men story of that mutant whose X-Gene randomly murders everyone in his town.

[Holt]

The very fact it was retconned seems to indicate that people do care.

Whoever was writing the Hulk at the time (Pak?) and would rather not deal with the baggage of his hero having killed innocent children and their puppy, yes. The issue there was not nameless, worthless background fodder dying, but that it was actively the result of a hero doing it (see also: all the controversy over Superman annihilating Metropolis in Man of Steel). But other than that, it's not a big deal. Your average person just doesn't care about nameless extras because centuries of narrative language have trained us not to.

Fun experiment: if you surveyed 100 people who had seen the original Star Wars and asked them what drew a bigger emotional response, Obi-Wan getting killed by Darth Vader, or an entire planet full of innocent people being blown up by the Death Star, the vast majority would say Obi-Wan. Not because a single old man dying is sadder than billions of people, but because one was a character the audience actually knew and had investment in, while the others were nameless, faceless cannon fodder that the director didn't even care enough about to show a reaction shot of as they died screaming.

That's just the way stories work.