I'm Done With Superhero Comics

Yea, I read comics...

I think the biggest mistake the comic book industry has ever made was to bring Superman back. Sure the guy was a legend. But when they killed him it was huge news. It was on covers of magazines people were talking about it, it was the death of an icon. More than that people identified with a piece of fiction and comics were viewed as something to be paid attention to, a piece of art.

Then, a year or so later they brought him back and that move cheapened everything.

From then on, death was viewed as just something that happened, something that could be reversed and comics were again divorced from reality. I believe that by doing so comics once again are the stuff for children. No real substance, just fantasy. There's a bunch of people here and a bunch of people there and they fight because one is labeled good and the other evil.

I feel that by DC Comics reviving Superman they set back the movement of comics being taken seriously. Since then no superheroes' life or death was covered as much as that one except for maybe the death of Captain America.

When I read that comic it was so surprising and delivered so well, but the cynic in me just couldn't shut up and enjoy the story. "They'll bring him back, the voice in my head said. Death in comics mean nothing." I was really hoping for that voice to be wrong and I said if they ever do I'd be done with comics. The american superhero kind anyways. If they bring back Steve Rogers as Captain America I will no longer view superhero comics as art or anything else other than uncreative rehashing of one story after another for the purposes of making a buck.

I died a little today.