Why does DC like killing off characters so much?

[mrbrklyn]

Cause of the 90's Dark-Age/Tinfoil-Age/Shock & Awe era, it's what sold the most creating the Speculator market boon: People not buying for characters, but for events, and particularly around "Death-Events".

Mid 80's Bronze Age ended with Crisis (death of Allen) 1985, and the Bronze-Age "Relevancy" taken to it's dramatic end - Watchmen, Dark Knight, where comics were now commentary on Superhero themselves, vs. Vigilantism.

What followed was the Dark Age or Shock & Awe age, the most shallow aping of those ^ books, with none of the "Relevance". Instead the pure, shallow, cynical glorification of violence, mindlessly aping those two books with eXtreme deaths! And events.
Death of Todd (complete with torture, a gruesome 1-(1900 #money generating number, so the "fans" could participate, and vote in the Death), Death of Superman (where it was solidified as a money generating Event), Breaking Batman, crippling Batgirl, Insane Jordan Killing the Corps etc... drove the industry and the creation of the speculator or tinfoil-age, as speculators started buying for supposed "key-issues" meaning anything with shocking crippling, character heal-turns, deaths, and events, they bought multiple of copies of.







Pitched marketed and sold as "Key-Issues" = "in this issue _____ is Crippled, goes Insane, Dies! ...etc! " The character or their history didn't mater, what mattered was now any mindless shocking violent, easy hook, which they bought in droves.
As long as the same people still buzz and buy into the same crap, they will continue try to market to that same mentality, whenever they can.

the only problem with this is that Superman was never supposed to stay dead, and really we all knew it. And it was a great story, and the return of Superman was really a great great story.

[Buried Alien]

The 1990s? WHo is paining for the return of the 1990's?

The same folks who claim that the return of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen to their traditional roles as Green Lantern and Flash during the past 10-13 years is "pandering to Silver Age nostalgia."

See? We Pre-COIE era fans can play that card too! Since it's such a non-argument, I move that we retire it.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[mrbrklyn]

The same folks who claim that the return of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen to their traditional roles as Green Lantern and Flash during the past 10-13 years is "pandering to Silver Age nostalgia."

See? We Pre-COIE era fans can play that card too! Since it's such a non-argument, I move that we retire it.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Yeah that is gibberish. The Silver Age was the icon making time in Comics when the Giants walked the Earth ... it was nearly over by 1975.

Kirby, Kane, Lee, Fox, Ditko, Adams, Manning, Wrightson, Wally Wood, Williamson, Kurtzman, Robert Crumb...

[king81992]

Character death in a shocking and brutal manner is how the hack writer/editorial decides to 'raise the stakes' and obtain the highest level of shock value.

The thing is, these hacks are so focused on shocking readers and being 'mature and dark' that they have forgotten how to write a good and coherent story.

[Güicho]

the only problem with this is that Superman was never supposed to stay dead, .

Maybe you missed the whole point? Which isn't about weather they stayed dead (which was the exception not the rule), but trading on the "Death-Event" itself.
They knew they could bring any of these characters back. Even Barry's death was written with a hint of an out.

[The Darknight Detective]

the only problem with this is that Superman was never supposed to stay dead, and really we all knew it.

Everyone should have known it, but a lot of speculators actually thought Supes was gone for good.

[DrNewGod]

I would say COIE. Even setting aside such high-profile deaths as Supergirl and Flash, the body count was ginormous in COIE.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Yah. The final issue was a veritable sausage grinder. Even as a late-teen, it struck me as excessive.

[The Darknight Detective]

Yeah that is gibberish. The Silver Age was the icon making time in Comics when the Giants walked the Earth ... it was nearly over by 1975.

The Silver Age was gone at least 5 years before that, FWIW.

[lemonpeace]

Because people die bruh.

[mrbrklyn]

Character death in a shocking and brutal manner is how the hack writer/editorial decides to 'raise the stakes' and obtain the highest level of shock value.

The thing is, these hacks are so focused on shocking readers and being 'mature and farm's that they have forgotten how to write a good and coherent story.

that is largely true and it is true in all media. Howard Chaykin was 100% spot on.

http://www.mrbrklyn.com/american_flagg.html

[IMG]https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*nBYXyx6B_wMdtp7jBLhP1A.jpeg[/IMG]

[LP22]

And how many of them are back to life?

All of them except wally and Connor isn't used

[Tazirai]

Character death in a shocking and brutal manner is how the hack writer/editorial decides to 'raise the stakes' and obtain the highest level of shock value.

The thing is, these hacks are so focused on shocking readers and being 'mature and farm's that they have forgotten how to write a good and coherent story.

I write and Publish a comic. I also write and Publish Horror Stories around a central character. Youtube Narrators read my stories and they have lots of fans on Reddit, and other sites.

The two common threads from many fans and narrators are, What is Abigail Mitchell, and I've noticed only exceedingly dumb, or plain unlucky people die in your stories, yet they retain the horror element, and stakes."

I pride myself on writing believable characters who try to do everything right and still lose, and some who do everything right and win. Not based on how much I love the character.

I tend to treat my audience as smart people. Even when my main character wins, it's not by Deus Ex Machina. It's the natural progression of the story.

[Godlike13]

It gets a reaction, which in turn creates interest.

[mrbrklyn]

Everyone should have known it, but a lot of speculators actually thought Supes was gone for good.

Not the ones I know. Regardless, I understand the point, but Superman didn't really die, and it was never the plan to have him actually die. Not like Barry died, or Jason Todd died, or even Gwen Stacy.
They were supposed to die and stay dead. The death of Coast City was more of a shocker.

But, with Jason Todd, the whole thing was about killing him, really for now reason. They took a poll and this is what readers came up with.

[mrbrklyn]

I write and Publish a comic. I also write and Publish Horror Stories around a central character. Youtube Narrators read my stories and they have lots of fans on Reddit, and other sites.

The two common threads from many fans and narrators are, What is Abigail Mitchell, and I've noticed only exceedingly dumb, or plain unlucky people die in your stories, yet they retain the horror element, and stakes."

I pride myself on writing believable characters who try to do everything right and still lose, and some who do everything right and win. Not based on how much I love the character.

I tend to treat my audience as smart people. Even when my main character wins, it's not by Deus Ex Machina. It's the natural progression of the story.

Like Job...