
Reports Were Greatly Exaggerated: Death and Fatalities in Hero Comics
2016 and 2017 have taught us that fake news can hurt, especially when it involves death. It can stress us out. What’s more, it can trigger intense anxiety and depression. The truth hurts, but someone crafting deceptions, either by accident or on purpose, can stab us in the gut.
Last week in a fandom, people found out that a fan artist was dead, a beloved woman who made viewers happy with ferrets and dragons. One of her friends posted a heartbreaking message on Tumblr about it. I shared it, as did my friends. I even drew a ferret among stars and planets to deal with my sadness. There was also some anger, and feeling like death was everywhere, since my high school sent an email mentioning that one of my classmates had died on New Year’s day.
We mourned from Tuesday until Wednesday afternoon, when the artist messaged friends on social media, including the one who made the announcement, and said she wasn’t dead, just taking a break. She made it clear that she was touched by how everyone cared.
Normally this news would be a relief. In this fandom, however, a troll had faked their death several times and caused a lot of stress; the announcement with the artist, while completely different, produced similar stress. To deal with it, I thought of another scenario where death is cheap: superhero comics.
We remember Superman’s death from 1992, either from the comics themselves or the DC history book that covered it. Likewise, the new 2010s brought us Batman’s death. They came back to life after months of fanfare and mourning both within and outside the comic world. Other characters have died and have returned wrong: Jason Todd the second Robin (glares at Jimmy Starlin), Joshua Wilson aka Jericho, Aquaman, Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Regardless, Death comes for everyone but can be persuaded to change her mind. Her Sandman incarnation would probably have much to say on the subject.
Love and Capes also discusses how if these heroes were real, and related to us, their deaths would be painful each time to friends and family members. Our lead The Crusader cracks some gallows humor, but he remembers a timeline where he died thanks to Evil Brain. He and his wife Abby have to memorize a cover story for knowing a dead hero’s civilian identity, and to comfort the survivors. When Superman died in 1992, for example, Lois held his body and begged him to stay with her. Jonathan Kent would suffer a heart attack from the grief of losing his son. Batman’s sons had it just as bad; Damian Wayne tried to claim the legacy spot while attempting to boot out veteran Tim Drake.