ROBERT GREENBERGER: Death be not proud
The rule of thumb used to be that the only characters that stayed dead are Uncle Ben, Bucky and Barry Allen.
Some version of Uncle Ben is running around in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man; Bucky turns out to have survived and is now the Winter Solider; and if you believe Dan DiDio’s “slip” of the tongue, Barry Allen may be here soon.
It used to be a big deal when a character died. Amazing Spider-Man #121’s cover, as Spidey faced those nearest and dearest to him with a cover blurb promising one was going to die compelled us to buy that month’s issue. It worked, sales spiked, the status quo was different and people were buzzing.
In 1985, I participated in the planning and, ahem, execution of Crisis on Infinite Earths. One of the key housecleaning elements had to be the elimination of both major and minor figures, heroes and villains, civilians and loved ones. The hit list, as seen in the Absolute edition, evolved as editors and management weighed in. Killing the Flash and Supergirl were the shockers while few cared if the Bug-Eyed Bandit survived or not. Still, these deaths were supposed to be permanent changes to the DC Universe, although few of them have remained dead 20 years later.
By the time Superman died in 1992, the freshness had long since worn off as deaths had been faked (Professor X, Foggy Nelson), undone (Jean Grey, Iris Allen), or were too minor to care (I Ching).
Since then, characters have continued to die and come back with stunning regularity. As a result, the death of a major figure has been more of a blip than a major event, making one wonder what it will take to get people really stirred up.
Much has been made of Captain America’s death and I was among those scoffing at the permanence of his condition. Less has been said about the return of their first Captain Marvel, plucked out of the time stream before his death from cancer (as wonderfully told in a Jim Starlin graphic novel), an altogether new kind of cheat.
Marvel isn’t the only company wheeling and dealing with the Grim Reaper. (more…)
It looks like Warner Bros. Pictures has greenlit Metal Men and looking to get the final pieces in place. So far, Eric Champnella is slated to write the script. You may or may not remember Champnella’s last picture about Bernie Mac attempting to break his own baseball record while wise-cracking at a bunch of "nuckle-headed kids" in Mr. 3000. I personally can’t wait for a jive talking Iron slapping around the rest of the Metals and calling Platinum his "beeyotch," but they might be going for a different approach.
As many readers doubtless know by now, my father recently died due to injuries he sustained in a car crash. Dad always said that Las Vegas drivers were the most dangerous in the country, and he was right. While I’d be happy to talk about Dad at length in person, I won’t take up ComicMix space by expounding on anything at length here. It’s all been too draining.
When you go to a comic con, it’s always a good idea to have a gimmick or two – some unique stamp that distinguishes you from other fans, makes you easy to remember, etc. For Laura Gjovaag, one of her best hallmarks (aside from her sparkling personality) is 
Late last year, Fantagraphics released the first in their series of books reprinting E.C. Segar’s work on Popeye, one of comics’ greatest creations. This summer, Warner Home Video will be releasing something of a companion volume: Popeye The Sailor 1933 – 1938, as produced by Max Fleischer under the direction of Dave Fleischer.
Over 3000 readers of the UK-based SFX magazine 
