X-Cresence: I'm the best course, eat me last

[sunofdarkchild]

The way comics have been for the last 30-40 years, why wouldn't Marvel and DC kill off characters left and right? After multiple early death stories became classics, Gwen Stacy, Mar-Vell, Dark Phoenix, other writers began chasing the trend to try to create their own classics. But when people start trend-chasing, they often miss what made the originals work in the first place. Beyond that, since so few new characters actually catch on compared to established characters, killing off a character is the easier way for a writer or editor to leave their 'mark.' So there's very strong incentive to kill characters off.

The other side of the coin is that there's no disincentive because the constant resurrections remove any risk that killing a character might entail. Death has been a joke ever since Jean was first brought back in 1985. Since it's all but guaranteed that whoever is killed off will be brought back sooner or later, no matter how stupid the method of resurrection, why not kill them off left and right and let the next writer worry about bringing them back?

[marhawkman]

The way comics have been for the last 30-40 years, why wouldn't Marvel and DC kill off characters left and right? After multiple early death stories became classics, Gwen Stacy, Mar-Vell, Dark Phoenix, other writers began chasing the trend to try to create their own classics. But when people start trend-chasing, they often miss what made the originals work in the first place. Beyond that, since so few new characters actually catch on compared to established characters, killing off a character is the easier way for a writer or editor to leave their 'mark.' So there's very strong incentive to kill characters off.

The other side of the coin is that there's no disincentive because the constant resurrections remove any risk that killing a character might entail. Death has been a joke ever since Jean was first brought back in 1985. Since it's all but guaranteed that whoever is killed off will be brought back sooner or later, no matter how stupid the method of resurrection, why not kill them off left and right and let the next writer worry about bringing them back?

but if people expect the dead guy to be back... how much do they care about the death?

[jwatson]

most didn't/don't care about the death in the first place, especially the death of a favorite, no body wants a favorite character to die, it just doesn't happen unless they are done with a show or story and want escape from that show or book. the idea that someone wants a fave to die is imo a false narrative used to create "drama" and "stakes" when in actuality the loss of a fave is what usually kills a project or starts it's destruction. so in that sense it never mattered. sometimes people create theories in spaces where nothing exists, like the death of a character to make it seem like the time mattered. it didn't, usually the length of absence does. but then it kind of becomes a manufactured longing, not that the death had ACTUAL literal meaning but the loss of the character itself is what lingers not the story behind their demise.