Current Events > What comic book character death was the biggest? *Spoilers*

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as in "biggest" i mean had the biggest overall impact on comic storylines, comic sales, etc. movies can also be discussed.

was it the death of superman? captain america?
movie tony stark?
ideas? thoughts?

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it's superman, by like a tremendous amount. his return helped kill comic books

Gwen Stacy? Comics didnt really kill off characters like that before her

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Uncle Ben.

his death led to Spider-Man being the BEST superhero out there.

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Ultimate Peter Parker is up there.
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In terms of how it impacted the characters, I think Jason Todd in terms of the Batfamily.

Of course there's tons of Justice League comics where one of the members die but it doesn't seem to have the same sort of ripple.

Besides that maybe Peter Parker's death with how it lead to Miles Morales?

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Uncle Ben or the Waynes
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Smashingpmkns posted...

Ultimate Peter Parker is up there.

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Superman's death was a moment of American history.
https://youtu.be/mDqebV52CSY

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I don't read/follow comic books, but the death of Superman was huge news.

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Thomas & Martha Wayne. No Batman without it.

for the real world impact nothing beats the original death of superman

Probably Gwen Stacy. Superman always seemed like a marketing stunt.

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Gwen Stacy because it took about four decades to undo it.

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Jason Todd in my eyes
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RieTakahash posted...

Jason Todd in my eyes

I mean, the readers p much decided his death and it was a p big deal. then he came back and that was a p big deal.
When it comes to superman, i remember there being news reports and everything, and when he came back, sure there were news reports but a ton of people were just like "ok, cool" and moved on.

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I believe it came to light that the Jason Todd death vote was manipulated by robocallers. Iirc he wasn't as unpopular as people made him out to be

But he was a total bitch Robin and definitely killed people so maybe they would have killed him anyway, who knows

Superman, not because of his death but because his return to life fundamentally broke comic books in the west after that.

Jason Todd #2, a death tarnished because of Superman.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ladagy7wgNA

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Only permanent deaths should count I think.

So I say Uncle Ben, and Thomas & Martha Wayne.

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Herodopus posted...

it's superman, by like a tremendous amount. his return helped kill comic books

Captain Marvel?

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I don't see how Superman's return killed comics. It helped burst the speculative bubble, but I think that would of happened sooner or later. Most people weren't making money from collecting comics and sooner or later people would figure that out.

I'd say in-universe that Uncle Ben's death was the most impactful. Not only would is it a vital part of Spider-man's story, but plenty of characters in-universe were influenced by Spider-man, without Uncle Ben. he wouldn't have had the same influence.

Out of Universe I'd say either Superman's for all the news coverage it got, or maybe Captain America as that went onto effect movies which are way more popular. Of course it could also be Uncle Ben's as Spider-man's success influence lots of other creators.

JE19426 posted...

I don't see how Superman's return killed comics.

Here's a video that explains everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PlwDbSYicM

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I feel like Captain Marvel's was big for being the only death that stuck.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Here's a video that explains everything.

I disagree with his assertion that Superman's death and revival was the one that broke death in comics. I'd say that was Jean Grey's death and revival. She died in 1980 and wasn't revived until 1985, during these years Cyclops dating, got married to and had a son with another woman, this death seemed as permanent as anything could do. She dead as the culmination of a story arc where she destroyed an entire planet full of people, how do you revive a hero that did that?

JE19426 posted...

I disagree with his assertion that Superman's death and revival was the one that broke death in comics. I'd say that was Jean Grey's death and revival. She died in 1980 and wasn't revived until 1985, during these years Cyclops dating, got married to and had a son with another woman, this death seemed as permanent as anything could do. She dead as the culmination of a story arc where she destroyed an entire planet full of people, how do you revive a hero that did that?

Ask Hal Jordan ayy lmao

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Ask Hal Jordan ayy lmao

Jean Grey destroyed an entire planetful of people, I'd say that's at least as evil as destroying Coast City.

Ferro Lad was pretty big.
Sure, he was a background character in The Legion of Super-Heroes, but this was a fun and light-hearted series about a future club of teenaged superheroes back in the 60s. They hung out, had adventures, had super-pets and were the epitome of the innocence of the Silver Age.
Suddenly a Sun-Eater appears near Earth and the Legion was the only ones that tried to stop it. Superboy was weakened by red sun rays and the teams brain managed to build a bomb that would destroy the Sun-Eater, but it had one problem... it had to be detonated by a person inside the Sun-Eater because remote controlls or a timer are too hard to create.
Superboy is ready to sacrify himself, but is knocked down by Ferro Lad. The team leave him behind and we see a big explosion.
Every reader expected a last second rescue by something unexpected, but it never happened.
Having heroes just die like this was pretty much unheard of by then.

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Definitely not Batman's.

Superman

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Collat posted...

Definitely not Batman's.

How many times has Batman died?

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I thought that Marvel and Image flooding the shelves with trash is what killed the comic book industry. Regardless, The Return of Superman is better than damn near everything that they were putting out at the time.

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nevershine posted...

How many times has Batman died?

Including alternative universes, retcons, future visions and when we thought he died but never did?
Many times.

Only then currently main universe Batman that really died?
A handful of times.

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Foppe posted...

Including alternative universes, retcons, future visions and when we thought he died but never did?
Many times.

Only then currently main universe Batman that really died?
A handful of times.

Didn't they make a ridiculous justification so that Batman didn't die when Darkseid killed him? something about being pushed back in time or something so that Batman totally never died, he's way too cool for that

Tyranthraxus posted...

Here's a video that explains everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PlwDbSYicM

Oof. I'm struggling to get through this video

OK I quit. That was awful.

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Proto_Spark posted...

Didn't they make a ridiculous justification so that Batman didn't die when Darkseid killed him? something about being pushed back in time or something so that Batman totally never died, he's way too cool for that

They decided that instead of having the Omega Beam kill him, it sent him back in time with amnesia.
He acts on instinct for a while before being thrown forward in time for the next issue, and in the end it is revealed that... Darkseid intended this, because Batman is gathering Omega Energy in this body every time he jumps into the future, and once he comes back to the 21st century his body should contain enough Omega Energy to destroy reality.
But since Batman is Batman, he discovered it and saved the day, again.

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superman

all other people die constantly in comic books and no one gives a fuck. seriously. no one gives a shit.

but everyone knows about the death of superman. it's way more of a part of pop culture than any other hero's death.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

Ultimate Peter Parker is up there.

I mean, thats how we got miles, right?

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