Death In Comics

I've been reading comics for a long time. For as long as I can remember literally.  So I've accepted that no comic character can truly stay dead. Characters people embrace are hard to come by and bringing back the ones that have been earlier killed off is easier than trying to make a new one. But every resurrection should at least have an explanation.

I was reading New Avengers:The Reunion #2 and was bothered by the possible return of Monica Rappaccini, an A.I.M. scientist supreme who was apparently exploded in MODAK's 11.  Now, explosions are the easiest way to "kill" a character but leaving enough of a loophole to bring the character back later. It's on the opposite end of the scale as a goblin glider through the chest. What irks me though is that to explain her not death, all that was given was "She must have survived."

Really? That's the best you can come up with. A woman in charge of a super-science army and just "must have survived"? Lame. It made me think of Andy Diggle's start in Thunderbolts when he really needed the second Black Widow on his team, who was mutated and killed in New Avengers. The explanation? "That's what they were supposed to think." Now, I love Diggle from The Losers, Adam Strange:Planet Heist, Silent Dragon and Green Arrow: Year One. But you don't explain away what you don't like in a continuity based shared universe with sarcastic comebacks.

Then again, a five part wank fest for a boring, quarter century dead hero probably isn't the way to go, either. Does anyone else feel like Kid Flash reading The Flash:Rebirth?

I Had A Weird Thought

In last week's Thunderbolts, there was a moment that caused me to think something I never thought I would. The moment was this:

Upon seeing this, I thought,"Man, it would be awesome if Speedball came back." Then, I thought, "I think it would be awesome if Speedball came back." It threw me because I was not a Speedball fan at anytime from his debut up to his near-death experience in Civil War and his full-emo experience in Civil War: Frontline. He was just a goofball character Steve Ditko made before bowing out.

It took lead-handed Paul Jenkins to make me care about Speedball. If I didn't so greatly hate every aspect of Penance, I wouldn't get excited for the return of Speedball. Well, Warren Ellis deserves the credit, since Jenkins would more than likely keep Robbie Baldwin as Penance forever, which would suck.

Oh, and read Thunderbolts. It's excellent.

Have A Coke And A Smile. Robbie

Even Norman Osborn knows