Sounds like Marvel is setting themselves up for strategic bankruptcy. They'll kill off every major character in their company, thus boosting comic sales, thus making their wallets fatter... Then they'll pull the plug on the entire company.
Sneaky bastids.
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"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
It really pisses me off. That's what the Ultimate Universe is for: to kill off anyone you damn well please. Johnny's death didn't hit me too hard, and I am really psyched about the Future Foundation storyline, but this "method" of storytelling is going to get stale. If you need cheap gimmicks to keep readers interested...
If someone's death adds to the story as a whole, by all rights, do it. But to plot a big event and go "Uh....shit, we're missing something. Um, who can we get away with killing?" I entirely expect someone to bite it in Fear Itself; considering the trend, probably an Avenger.
Very few of the recent deaths did I like. Well, there was Sentry's, but I was just glad he got offed in Siege. The whole Fallen Sun one shot, which was rank with writer wanking, not so much.
Nova and Starlord's in Thanos Imperative was pretty cool; it irked me because I like the characters, but I liked how they went out and it's just vague-ish enough to do the "Guess who's back?" gimmick.
Events in general are just getting really ridiculous. Ongoings are much better as of now, imo.
Remember that the majority of writing is catered to the fans who won't be on board for longer than 3-5 years between the ages of about 15-24. That's they're majority, even though it's ever-shifting. The lifers are a vocal minority, but a minority nonetheless. Saying that historic comic deaths boost sales only to eventually kill them may actually be something else: boosting sales before they return to their normal state, at which point the company needs another temporary boost. In the company's eyes, they basically have a fresh slate about once every 5 years.
Long story short, if you don't like trends like these, you're reading the wrong comics. Stay mainstream all the time and this is what you'll be treated to for the next 50 years. Knowing that it comes with the territory and just going with it helps, as does reading other authors/titles/series/etc. Or a mix of both.
This is stupid, but as Digi said, gimmicks have been part of the industry since forever; I mean, if this somewhat fails Marvel will try to pull off a "New Coke" kind of thing so everyone buys their comics again now that they are "back to normal".
And to be honest, it has already been happening now that I think about it. If you go back even to Avengers Disassembled, I'm pretty sure a main character has died in virtually every single major event since then.
KMC Community Forums
Feb 21st, 2011 07:50 AM
