When did comic book deaths become meaningless

[Fromper]

With Barry and Jason, they remained dead well after death became all but meaningless in comic books.

I remember when I started reading comics, around 1993, the saying was "Nobody stays dead in comics, except Uncle Ben, Jason Todd, Barry Allen, and Bucky". And that actually stayed true until around the time I stopped reading comics regularly, almost a decade later. So... Uncle Ben's still dead, right?

But the revolving door was already a joke by then, with just a few specific characters staying dead, either because they were part of hero origin stories (for Spidey and Captain America), or because their replacements had become popular enough that there was no going back (Wally West and Tim Drake).

And no, I don't feel bad talking about Marvel characters in with DC here. The topic of this thread isn't company specific.

[Frontier]

I remember when I started reading comics, around 1993, the saying was "Nobody stays dead in comics, except Uncle Ben, Jason Todd, Barry Allen, and Bucky". And that actually stayed true until around the time I stopped reading comics regularly, almost a decade later. So... Uncle Ben's still dead, right?

But the revolving door was already a joke by then, with just a few specific characters staying dead, either because they were part of hero origin stories (for Spidey and Captain America), or because their replacements had become popular enough that there was no going back (Wally West and Tim Drake).

And no, I don't feel bad talking about Marvel characters in with DC here. The topic of this thread isn't company specific.

Y'know, it would be kind of interesting to debate who treats death as a joke more between the Big Two .

[Tzigone]

I remember when I started reading comics, around 1993, the saying was "Nobody stays dead in comics, except Uncle Ben, Jason Todd, Barry Allen, and Bucky". And that actually stayed true until around the time I stopped reading comics regularly, almost a decade later. So... Uncle Ben's still dead, right?

When I started in 1994 it was just "Uncle Ben and the Fantastic Four's second baby" - which amused me because they didn't even call the child Reed and Sue's - that's what made it memorable to me. But she came back.

edit: Actually, though I started reading comics in 1994, I think the discussion was later, when people were debating if baby May was really dead.

Oliver Queen in 2001. I really do need to find a fairly compete list of resurrections by year to see when they really kicked up.

[iron chimp]

When I started in 1994 it was just "Uncle Ben and the Fantastic Four's second baby" - which amused me because they didn't even call the child Reed and Sue's - that's what made it memorable to me. But she came back.

edit: Actually, though I started reading comics in 1994, I think the discussion was later, when people were debating if baby May was really dead.

Lyja (spelling?) from fantastic 4 around that time is a good one - a throw away character used to explain away the horrendous plot about Johnny marrying alicia- ie it wasnt the real alicia but a skrull named lyjra. She was promptly introduced and killed in a couple of issues to bury that whole mess once and for all - but brought back within 2 years (from memory) because readers wanted her back!

[Godlike13]

For DC started with the return of Jason, and finished with the return of Barry. While death was for the most part a minor thing, Jason and Barry’s death still left that seed of doubt. That when they killed someone, just maybe they stay dead like them.

[Tzigone]

Started with Jason, finished with Barry. While death was for the most part a minor thing Jason and Barry’s death still left that seed of doubt. That when they killed someone, they could stay dead.

I don't agree. I think that is way, way too late. Especially with regards to Barry.

[married guy]

See, I don't think Death of Superman is an example people should be using.
We always KNEW that Superman was going to return. It was the general public that lost their minds over it.

I think the return of Barry Allen signalled the end of death having any meaning.
His death, although entirely unintentional, propelled the character to prominence once again. (The book was cancelled after limping it's way to #350) Barry became the ultimate pinnacle of the heroic sacrifice and placed upon a pedestal within the DCU while also providing the only example of the sidekick taking the mantle from his/her mentor permanently.

I don't believe bringing him back was a mistake, but I DO think DC didn't give it anywhere near enough thought before doing so.

[pageturner]

For me when Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd came back.

[Gaastra]

You wold be surprised how many people actually thought Clark was gone for good.

[Gaastra]

[Gaastra]

[Gaastra]

It made world news!