Most of DC and Marvel's heroes are either sanctioned by some governmental agency, or are welcomed to help by police and other law enforcement. They turn the criminals over to the court systems when/if they catch them. This help would not be so welcomed if they left a trail of bodies behind them. Characters like the Punisher or Jason Todd aren't really heroes, but criminal anti-heroes.
In the real world, vigilante justice that involves killing is criminal behavior and would get the Frank Castles of the world put in prison, and deservedly so.
The notorious 1980s TRIAL OF THE FLASH storyline explored this idea in excruciating depth, as the Flash (Barry Allen) endured a manslaughter (later upgraded to murder) trial that lasted a full two years.
Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)
Buried Alien - THE FASTEST POST ALIVE!
First CBR Appearance (Historical): November, 1996
First CBR Appearance (Modern): April, 2014
Once comic book stuff gets into the narrative, it gets weird fast. Killing is no more effective than catch-and-release-Blackgate or revolving-door-Arkham, since the hot second a new writer wants a particular villain for a story he's got planned, he'll resurrect him, or come up with some other way of bringing him back (the one that died was a copycat! He has a twin! Whatever.). In the end, the decision to kill the villain ends up having zero effect on the villain himself (since he's back after a 'time out' just as if he'd been thrown in jail) and only serves to dirty up the hero that killed him.
In real life? Too big (and contentious) a topic for me. Prisons (or permanent mental health confinement) are way more effective in the real world than in comics. (Various real world serial killers like Charles Manson remain in prison, for instance, and will presumably die there, unlike the Joker, who seems to have a day pass to Arkham.) At it's most simplistic level, is killing wrong? Is killing killers then right, or just 'less wrong?' Is killing criminals sending a message that 'life is precious, to a point, at which it your life no longer has a value, and you'll never be the person in a position of power to make that judgment call of whether your life is legally sacred or worthless...' Just a big mess.
Any writer who can write a hero who kills is just as capable of writing a judicial system that works. TBH, I've never really understood these arguments because writing a superhero world where the system works is just as easy as anything else.
I mean, it's fiction, after all.
Keep in mind that you have about as much chance of changing my mind as I do of changing yours.
"Dangerous Zombie! Transform!! Click And Load! Buggle UP! Danger! Danger! Death The Crisis! Dangerous Zombie!" Kamen Rider Gemn
(In first he's mysterious and evil and now he's psycho and crazy and insane and evil AND "The Meme Lord"LOL.)
Well, at this point, it's kind of a tired one. This isn't a slight towards you in the least, but we've all read this story before. And if they're characters owned by either of the Big 2, they only ever really play out in a couple ways. No real surprises in this area at all, anymore, really.
Keep in mind that you have about as much chance of changing my mind as I do of changing yours.
I prefer a little of both. If I can't have a good story then I'd prefer to have a story where my favourite character slaughters their perceived enemies, dining upon the flesh of their fallen opponents.
#InGunnITrust, #ZackSnyderistheBlueprint, #ReleasetheAyerCut
The current Teen Titans run by Adam Glass is currently dealing with how to stop crime permanently without killing. It deals with a lot of mortal issues and it may not be everyone's cup of tea for a Teen Titans run but I really like the idea. It deals with the idea of imprisonment and other issues with the criminal justice system. I recommend it.
And I'm saying... no one wants vigilante justice in real life.
Killing or no killing.
Killing however is the talking point here at the extreme end where people start to say "oh that's wrong".
So no, to killing.... AND... you really dont want vigilantes handing out justice in real life.
But if were being completely forthwith... most of us dont want humans stronger than tanks or police forces, or small armies, or black holes IRL either.
My priority is enjoying and supporting stories of timeless heroism and conflict.
Everything else is irrelevant.
Killing is still seen as worse than those. You are ending someone's life and there is obviously no coming back from that for them.
So in the real world, none of the vigilantes would function the way they do in the comics. But Castle and Jason would still come out looking worse because they do all of those things you mention, and also kill.
#InGunnITrust, #ZackSnyderistheBlueprint, #ReleasetheAyerCut