Michael Deeley has been reading comics since he was 12 years old. His first book was an issue of Silver Surfer by Jim Starlin, leading him to see all comics as ideological conflicts with big-ass fight scenes. At the very least, he expects a comic to be entertaining in some fashion, which is why he thinks Secret Wars II is better than Dark Knight Strikes Back. He has never work in the comics field, but he does have a belligerent attitude and a lot of free time.
During his brief intervals in the real world, Michael looks for a paying job that should, (theoretically) lead to a better life involving more comics, privacy, and women.
He currently lives between Pittsburgh, PA, and the Pittsburgh International Airport, in a suburb so new, it only has one McDonalds.
“For life itself is naught but the first step to eternity, and sets it tone. Your time is spent. Your fate is cast. So it begins. So it ends. “
-Thanos, from ‘The Death of Captain Marvel’, by Jim Starlin.
Death.
That says it all and nothing at all. Everyone that lives will die. Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Death is an inescapable fact of life; a universal constant of consciousness. And as much as we are certain death will claim us, we are always confused by it. What does dying feel like? What, if anything, lies beyond death? Are there ways to forestall it, to strengthen our bodies to live a little longer? Could death be a force, like life, to be controlled and manipulated? Does death really play a vital role in the grand scheme of things? Or is it just a physical flaw built into our imperfect bodies? Such questions and more have plagued scholars, philosophers, and ordinary people since the idea of death was first conceived. Death is both our greatest mystery and our greatest certainty. Death will come, whatever it is.
There is no denying the power of death upon the living. The impact and consequences of a person’s passing can reach far beyond their immediate circle of friends and family. Even the fear of death can dominate a person’s actions. That is why death has played such an important role in fiction. To list the many kinds of death in the history of literature and entertainment, the many forms it takes, its use by the stories’ architects would fill thousands of pages. Instead, I’ll limit myself to death in comic books.
Looking at comics from death’s perspective reveals a very morbid undercurrent to even the brightest of superheroes. Many origins involve the death of a loved one. Bruce Wayne saw his parents gunned down when he was a boy. Peter Parker is driven by the guilt over the death of his Uncle Ben, a death he might have prevented. And Superman is the last survivor of an entire plant that exploded. Countless billions of people, exotic animals, a culture and history unique to that world, all died that day.
On the other hand, none of those people died, because they never lived. They were fictional characters who existed only within the minds of their writers and artists. They continue to live as long as they appear in other stories by other writers. Many comics have told stories about the history of Krypton, (‘World of Krypton’ being the best known), and the youth of the Waynes and the Parkers. However, because these characters exist within a comic book universe, the laws of continuity must be followed. Whatever new story is told about the past of a deceased character, their death is certain. Nothing can change that.
Or can it?
Death in comic books is unique from death in other fiction because of the medium’s open ended nature. A monthly series is, theoretically, intended to be published for perpetuity. No editor ever approved a series they expected to cancel. So if the comic book does not end, why should the comic book character? As long as the title is still selling the star will live. Even when a series has been cancelled, the characters that it featured lived on. They were not killed off. Sometimes they appear in other books, or join the faceless thousands of unused background characters. This lack of a definite death has the side-effect of the character never aging. Superheroes remain perpetually young, aging just enough to justify their long histories. To put it another way, superheroes do not age because they do not die. And they do not die because they can always be used in another story. As long as someone is publishing comic books, a character can live again.
The fear of death can be a great motivator. When comic books were first created in the 1930s, most of the men who published, wrote, and drew them did not see the medium as having a strong future. Many contributing artists saw comics as a way to break into the lucrative industry of syndicated comic strips. Consequently, the stories of the time reflect little effort to maintain continuity or a progressive development of the characters. At the same time, those stories reflect an energy and excitement rare in today’s books. Such energy is equaled only in the Marvel Comics of the 1960s. Remember, Marvel was a new publisher making comic books at a time when National/DC Comics was reinventing their most popular characters. Martin Goodman, original editor and publisher of the line, was notorious for putting out quick, cheap knock-offs of popular books, flooding the market, then canceling them all to make way for the next fad.
In short, Marvel was not expected to survive. Comics were not expected to survive. As a result, the artists did everything they could in the little time they had. The fear of cancellation compelled them to be bold, original, and experimental. The fear of death produced wonderful work.
Now, comic books are an American institution, but one that’s taken for granted. Sales of comics have been in decline for years. In response, editors have launched new books in new genres. Younger, more original writers are making permanent changes to long-lived heroes. Artists are developing new and more unique visual styles. The medium of comics is producing more diverse works, and getting more mainstream attention. And the rising popularity of graphic novels is changing the way many of us read comics as well as encouraging longer, more complex stories in the monthly series. The comic book industry is beginning to evolve to escape death. Or a perception of death.
Death has been used to great dramatic effect in many stories. However, due to the sci-fi/fantasy nature of comics, death is rarely permanent. If someone dies in a world populated by beings who traffic in the spirit worlds and brilliant scientists who have unlocked the genetic secrets of cloning, not of mention time-travelers and gods, death can become less of a tragedy and more an inconvenience. Many characters that died have “miraculously” been brought back to life. Others returned through the old movie serial cliché of escaping, unseen, mere moments before their deaths. Most of us are now jaded to a character’s demise. We expect them to return in some future issue. Which begs the question: Is a comic book death still tragic?
Answer: Depends on the story.
Throughout the history of comics, there are five stories about death that stand out from all others. Many years have passed since they were first told, and they can now be seen with more objective eyes.
1. Robert “Bucky” Barnes, died in ‘Avengers’, V1, #4.
One of the few permanent deaths in comics, Bucky was Captain America’s teen-aged sidekick during WWII. He died trying to defuse a bomb lunched by Baron Zemo. Bucky’s death haunted Captain America for many years. It came between him and Rick Jones when Jones was training to be his new sidekick. Occasionally, a new story about Bucky’s past is told. (‘Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty’ #12 by Mark Waid was particularly heart-breaking.) Bucky’s death is a fixed fact of the Marvel universe, as unchanging as a radioactive spider and cosmic radiation.
And yet, as terrible as it is for a boy to die, it could have been worse. Bucky could have been forgotten. Most people forget, but Captain America and Bucky continued to appear in comics after WWII. Their last appearance before the formation of Marvel was in ‘Young Men’ in 1954. Stan Lee rewrote Cap’s history, and had him frozen in ice in 1945. Stan Lee killed Bucky. Why? To give Cap a tragedy to make him more human? To convey the randomness and evil of war? Or did Lee just not like kid sidekicks? For whatever reason, the death of Bucky Barnes turned him from an obscure 3rd-string character into a legend. Bucky will never be forgotten. And for a fictional character, being forgotten is worse than being dead.
2. Jean Grey, a.k.a. The Dark Phoenix, died in ‘Uncanny X-Men #137.
Fans voted this issue as #5 of the 100 “greatest” Marvels of all time. Many heroes are willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, and some of them had. But the Phoenix was unique in several ways. First, her sacrifice was to commit suicide. She knew her power was corrupting her, turning her evil. The Phoenix decided to destroy herself rather than threaten her friends, family, and even the Earth itself.
Second, her death was an editorial decision. Originally, story writers Chris Claremont and John Byrne had planned for the Phoenix to lose her telepathic powers and become a human. She’d then undergo a long period of recovery, with the threat of the Dark Phoenix’s return always looming in the background. But Jim Shooter, Marvel’s EIC at the time, thought the Phoenix should pay for the crime of killing billions of innocent aliens. So the ending was changed to show the Phoenix dying. If you really think about Cyclops’ speech after her death, explaining how it happened, you find a couple of logical flaws that reveal the ending last-minute nature. Try to find a copy of ‘Dark Phoenix: The Untold Story’, presenting the original ending with a roundtable interview of Claremont, Byrne, and Shooter about the story.
Finally, the death was undone. In 1986, Jean Grey was found on the bottom of Jamaica Bay, wrapped in a healing cocoon. It was revealed that she’d been there since the X-Men crashed to Earth in ‘Uncanny’ #100 and #101. The cosmic entity called The Phoenix met Jean between those two issues and assumed her form and memories. What was thought to be a woman transformed into a goddess was a goddess impersonating a woman. People debate this plot twist to this day. Some say the Dark Phoenix’s sacrifice is no less tragic and noble, and still reveals the power of the human heart. Others say they’ve been cheated, that Jean was brought back because the Dark Phoenix Saga made her popular again. I say I prefer the original ending and leave it at that.
Still, as far as stories go, ‘Uncanny’ #137 is a great book. And human or not, the Phoenix’s death is still breaks my heart.
3. ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #121 and #122, with the deaths of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin.
Innocent people don’t die in comics. It was an unwritten rule. Sure, the hero’s girlfriend or family might get held hostage, but nothing really bad ever happened.
Not until Gwen Stacy.
I think the death of Gwen Stacy has become comicdom’s version of the Kennedy Assassination, in that it symbolized the death of innocence and the passing of an age. Some go so far as to call the story the end of the Silver Age of comics, and/or the beginning of the Modern Age. Truly, it was a shocking story that dealt with the ambiguous nature of death we face in the real world. Had the Goblin already killed Stacy when Spider-Man found them? Would a fall from the Brooklyn Bridge have killed her, no matter what Spider-Man did? Or did peter Parker kill his fiancée when he accidentally broke her neck trying to rescue her? Everyone has their own opinions, including the characters themselves. Like Bucky Barnes, Gwen Stacy has become defined by her death. She was a good, pure, innocent person. She didn’t even know Parker was Spider-Man! But because she loved the wrong man, she died, a victim in someone else’s war. I’m starting to get upset just writing about it.
The second half of the story is as important as the first. Driven by anger, Parker hunts down the Goblin and beats him to within an inch of his life. At the last second, Parker pulls away. He just can’t kill a man. Not even to avenge his loved one. The Goblin tries to impale Peter with his flying wing, but kills himself instead. Still, Parker can take no satisfaction in his enemy’s death. Instead he muses, “It makes me feel empty. And maybe, a little bit more alone.”
Death is never a simple matter in the real world. And now it wasn’t one in comics. Say what you will about this story being the end of an Age. I think it’s when comics began to grow up.
4. ‘The Death of Captain Marvel’ graphic novel.
Captain Marvel died of cancer. He’d traveled across the universe, and fought the purest of evils. He’s killed by a tumor. As Captain Mar-Vell, he was a warrior, and a soldier who’d fought on battlefields across all of reality and beyond. He died in his bed. Mar-Vell used his powers and training to seek enlightenment, trying to avoid violence whenever he could. In his last moments, the spirit of Thanos taught him to surrender to death.
This story is still one of the finest ever written. Starlin’s fleshy art reveals its 70’s fantasy art influences, but also emphasizes the story’s human issues. Death comes for us all. We cannot choose when or how, but it will come. Starlin might have planned for this ending all along. Mar-Vell contracted his cancer during a fight with Nitro in ‘Captain Marvel’, V2, #34. Published 5 years previous to Mar-Vell’s death, the comic has the hidden message, “This issue is the end”. It appears on a signpost, an object for giving direction, here offering no directions at all. The message refers to Starlin’s departure from the book. But I can’t help wondering if he hadn’t intended Mar-Vell to die; if not then, at some point in the future.
In any case, ‘The Death of Captain Marvel’ remains an important piece of comic book history, for being Marvel’s first official graphic novel, for being and excellent story, and for reminding us that death will come. We can’t choose how or when.
5. The Death of Superman in ‘Superman’, V2, #75, and ‘Superman’, V1, #149.
Finally, we come to the most famous death in comics. The Death of Superman was one of the biggest stories of 1992. Millions of copies of the comic were sold, many to people who hadn’t picked up a comic in years. Those people thought they had a collector’s item, guaranteed to be priceless.
Six months later, Big Blue came back to life. The comic is all but worthless. And that’s as it should be.
Superman’s death came at the hands of a big, mindless monster created for the express purpose of an attention-grabbing, sales-boosting story. Superman dies in a big fight. Reading it now, it feels empty. The great dramatic climax of the 7-part tale never materialized. The tragedy isn’t there, mostly because as a comic book reader one knows this death can’t last. DC would not kill off their second-most popular hero for good. (Even back then, Batman was out-selling the Kryptonian.) The “Death of Superman” was a stunt. It was the first of many stunts DC’s pulled with the character ever since. It seems like they’ve forgotten to tell honest stories with genuine feeling about this great, iconic hero. Some pundits called the Death of Superman the death of an age. For me, it was the death of character-driven Superman stories. It was also the birth of the speculator boom of the 1990s. And we all remember how THAT turned out!
If Superman were to ever die permanently, only one man could kill him: Lex Luthor. Luthor is more than Supeman’s arch-enemy; he’s his ideological opposite. Where Superman’s faith in the basic goodness of humanity is unshakable, Luthor believes people are selfish animals to be exploited for his gain. But Luthor is very, very smart, and very, very cruel. He can’t just kill Superman. He has to torture him first.
Such a death was written by Jerry Siegel, and drawn by Curt Swan and George Klein in ‘Superman’, V1, #149. (Reprinted in ‘The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told’. I highly recommend this book, for this comic and others.) Lex Luthor finds a cure for cancer and renounces his criminal career. Superman believes Lex, and becomes his new friend. But other criminals, feeling betrayed by Luthor, try to kill him. Superman saves Luthor’s life until he builds a space station where Luthor can live.
One day, Luthor calls Superman to his station, and BLASTS HIM WITH KRYPTONITE RAYS! Luthor gloats and grins over Superman as his body turns green. As Luthor turns up the rays’ intensity, he reveals a window into the next room where Lois Lane, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen are watching their best friend die! After Superman finally dies, Luthor cries out, “I’ve destroyed the mightiest man in the universe! What a glorious achievement!”
Now this is where Curt Swan earns his reputation as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Superman artist of all time. Luthor has a look of complete joy, with a tinge of madness in his eyes. The warm orange/red background in the panel adds a glow to Luthor, as he revels in his triumph. He’s killed a great man and he couldn’t be happier. I’ve never seen anyone so sick and evil as this Lex Luthor.
And it doesn’t end there! Supergirl grabs Luthor, (during a celebration banquet surrounded by artwork depicting his triumph), and takes him to the shrunken city of Kandor. There, he is tried for murder by Superman’s fellow Kryptonians. All through the proceedings, Luthor remains calm. When the sentence is about to be carried out, Luthor offers the court a deal: Let him go, and he’ll find a way to restore the city to full size.
“We Kandorians don’t make deals with murderers”, the judge replies. Luthor is shocked! How could anyone put the law ahead of their greatest desire? Why would they throw away their one chance to get their dream? Because it’s the right thing to do. Because sometimes people put others ahead of themselves. Because justice must be done. Because Superman was right. Superman was a hero and an inspiration to the world. Everyone tried to live up to his example. So naturally, they’re going to punish his murderer. Luthor is condemned to an eternity in the Phantom Zone. He’ll spend the centuries as a ghost never touching the world again.
That story could have been inspired by a child. Bad guy pretends to be nice, becomes friends with the good guy, then kills him. But because the story deals with the deeper themes and motivations of Superman and Luthor, because it’s written so well, the story remains one of the best and most shocking I’ve ever read. Add to that the credits of Jerry Siegel, Superman’s co-creator, and Curt Swan, who defined the character’s iconic look for the Silver Age, and you have the closest thing to an official death as we’ll ever have.
Siegel brings me to one last unusual relationship between fiction and death. Since a story can be written by anyone, a character can outlive his creation. Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and Phillip Marlowe are known around the world, while there creators enjoy lesser fame. The three oldest superheroes in comics, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, have all outlived their creators. And as cold as this sounds, we will see the passing of everyone who ever worked in the Golden Age of comics. Our last living links with that period of history, whose numbers include Stan Lee, Will Eisner, and Joe Simon, will pass away soon. But their work will continue to inspire artists and writers for generations. And the characters they created will continue to appear in new stories by other artists and writers.
I always wondered how superheroes would react to learn they are works of fiction; that their creators, their “gods”, were mortal men who’ve long since passed on. Are these heroes the closest we’ll come to immortality? Does a story, told and expanded by others take on a life of its own? We see fictional universes existing without the guidance of their creators. Do they still need an audience too? Does a character really die when it’s forgotten, or is it just waiting for a new audience? Maybe we’ll find out when it’s our turn.
See you on the other side.
Very few new books this week. Most of the series I follow came out the following Wednesday. Thought I did pick up some leftover books from Free Comic Book Day.
Raijin Comics #21, #22 - This series is still ranked below 270 on the Diamond sales charts. Hell, if you haven’t started reading it by now, you might as well get the TPBs collecting the stories in June. Me, I can’t wait the many months until the trade books catch up to the current stories. I can’t wait to see what happens next in “First President of Japan”.
Superman #192 - The new Supergirl introduces herself as Superman’s daughter, much to Lois’ surprise. Even more shocking, she calls Lois “mom”. There’s also a new hero in Metropolis who seems to have a commercial agenda. I’m still not a fan of Scott McDaniel’s art, but this was an entertaining little comic.
Adventures of Superman #616 - The author who created the Hollow Men rewrites the ending to his book. Superman faces them again to test the power of his hope in the face of despair. I thought that last part was a little reckless for Superman, but overall, a good issue. Still the best drawn Superman book, and some of the best Super-stories I’ve seen in years.
FCBD Courtney Crumin and the Night Things - Off-beat fairy tale about an unusual girl and the old legend of babies being switched with changelings. Darling and twisted.
FCBD Best of Dork Storm - Strips and short stories about fantasy and role-playing games from Dork Storm Press. Includes ‘Dork Tower’ strips, ‘PS 238’, and a hilarious ‘Nodwick’ story about children and cursed armor.
FCBD Alternative Comics - Collection of strips and short stories published by Alternative Comics. Nice Stuff here. I’ll have to pick up some of their graphic novels.
FCBD Peanut Butter and Jeremy #4 - Peanut Butter is a cat who considers himself a white-collar employee of his owner. Jeremy is a crow who tricks the well-meaning cat into embarrassing situations. It’s the kind of story you’d make up after watching your cat and a bird at the window all day. Cute, funny, and tender. Very nice.
I wan to pay special thanks to Copacetic Comics for making those books available. Copacetic is the smallest shop I’ve ever seen. Imagine turning your living room into a comics/used book/rare CD store. This place is literally wedge behind a dry cleaners on a block surrounded by very nice, old homes in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. I wouldn’t have even heard of them if I didn’t’ keep seeing their price tags on the back of graphic novels at the library, (another reason shops should support libraries). Check them out at www.copaceticomics.com. They have a decent collection of Silver Age comics, really cheap 80s superhero comics, discounted graphic novels, and lots of stuff I’ve never even heard off. They do special orders, import CDs, and DVDs too.
And finally:
Judge Dredd featuring Judge Death; Superman, V1, #272, (100 page Super-Spectacular); L33T #7, (another gamer comic); Nick Fury, Agent of Shield TPB; Essential Fantastic four, FF #49, 50, 61-63; Millennium Edition World’s Finest Comics #71; Amelia Rules #8, ( a darling little book. Buy it for your girlfriend, daughter, or even yourself); Generation X #63-66; the Generation X Underground Special, (funny stuff by Jim Mahfood); Hammer of the Gods #4,5; Hitman: 10,000 Bullets; Millennium Edition Superman #75; Captain Marvel, V2, #34; and the Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel.
Damn, my wrists hurt! Next time, I won’t put this off until the last day. Well, since the weather around here is improving, I’m going to experiment with reading comic books in public. How does it compare with reading books at home? Is it better indoors our outdoors? And are there places where comics cannot, or should not, be read?
Until next week, if you keep dancin’, you stay alive.
