When is the defeat of a character good writing?

[JudicatorPrime]

The latest death of The Sentry in King in Black made absolutely no sense to me. That still smarts.

The concept of Knull was total bullsh-, er, I mean balderdash to begin with, so any downstream occurrences, implications and consequences are suspect in my opinion.

[Spiderfan001]

I tend to agree with this.

In a situation where they are clearly outmatched in a one on one confrontation, I would prefer it if a hero either takes the loss, flees, or seeks help. There's no shame in showing that your favorite character has reasonable limitations. If Peter loses that battle and limps away with 3rd degree burns, broken bones, partial blindness and radiation poisoning, no one would fault him for being defeated. Peter has more powerful friends in the superhero community that would have definitely tracked down Firelord and made him regret his very existence.

But no, the writer's mind was made up that Peter was going to win that battle in a ridiculously far-fetched manner no matter what. When that happens, no one wins. Not the protagonist, not the antagonist, and definitely not the reader. It just turns into PIS and bad precedent.

But this sort of thing happens all of the time in comics.

Peter is smart, like he has held his own with Reed, Tony and Beast smart.Have him use science, figure out a plan to by some time, get in a lab.Science and done.

Yeah, it happens way too much

[Spiderfan001]

OMG! No matter what, this will always be my favorite period in Spidey history!

DD himself says he can't beat Spidey and it's not even close.This is the same level as Firelord vs Spidey but Peter is Firelord here.

[Spiderfan001]

NOT me! All for it!


Powerful!
Impactful!
Sensational!

Ngl stupid as it was seeing the scan puts a wide smile on my face every single time.

[JudicatorPrime]

Peter is smart, like he has held his own with Reed, Tony and Beast smart.Have him use science, figure out a plan to by some time, get in a lab.Science and done.

Yeah, it happens way too much

But that's just using science as a deus ex. I hate it when Reed does it, and I wouldn't be much in favor of Peter doing it. Sometimes when a superior hostile enemy is in your face, you stay and take the butt-kicking, or run and hope that he isn't the type that can fly at hyperlight speeds or destroy you with a wide area effect nuclear explosion.

[Mike_Murdock]

I think a physical defeat is better when complimented by a mental/psychological defeat. Born Again is a good example for Daredevil. Kingpin destroys Matt's life before actually beating him in a physical fight.

I think Nocenti's end to the Typhoid Mary arc where Daredevil battles a gauntlet of villains works really well as well.