He Will Be Missed

You may have seen this recently – Marvel Comics have killed off Captain America. After the events of Civil War, Marvel’s most recent blockbuster story, guaranteed to change the face of comics for, at least, the next couple of months, no really, we mean it, you’ll gasp, you’ll cry, you’ll believe a man can fly….

Erm, anyway.

I read Civil War, and it seemed like the ending was one big sucky cliffhanger. Now I guess we find out why that was – they were setting us up for the succeeding events in Cap’s own comic. A guy who’s faced the likes of Galactus and Thanos gets shot by a sniper whilst in police custody.

The thing that really pissses me off about this?

Its a marketing gimmic, designed to cash in on current events. And the same thing that’s happened to other similar stunts in comicdom will happen to it too (Colossus dying in X-Men, Jean Grey dying so, so many times, the death of Superman, the death of Green Arrow, etc etc.). One year down the line, or five years (more likely one, given the current state of comics) someone will bring him back. And it’ll be another great crossover event, guaranteed to change the face of comics, no really we mean it…. and so on.

And the more often they do this, the less it comes to mean. And the less it comes to mean, the more outrageous they try to become. All we’re doing, by buying into this crap, is encouraging people who can’t write a decent story and instead have to rely on giant crossover marketing gimmics to push sales.

Anyway, that’s enough from me. If you really want a fair and balanced opinion on this, check out the words of a man far wiser than I am. Or at least, The Word.