Batman Inc. series (spoilers...was the Kathy Kane thread)

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

 

 

See Batman, Inc. #4...

 

I love you, Grant Morrison...oh, and your fantastic artist this time, Chris Burnham!

[Eric L. Sofer]

I guess Superboy Prime punched Batwoman back to life as well, then?  Sheesh.  They're right... nobody dies forever anymore in comics.

 

I want to see the story (maybe multi-part) in which an indignant mother/wife attacks Superman as he finishes up a job, "Why didn't you save my husband?  He was in that bus and he got crushed to death!  What are you going to do for him???"

 

"I'm... I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't do anything for him.  He's dead..."

 

"BULL!  You came back to life, Wonder Woman come back to life, Flash and Green Lantern and Batman... y'all move heaven and earth to bring your friends back to life!  So why can't you do it for us normal people?  Or ain't we GOOD enough?  You got yer magical thingy-do's that let you go through time to find Batman, but you can't cure cancer?  Or AIDS?  Or ain't it worth your time?  I bet if Robin got cancer, y'all would find a way to cure it!"

 

It's a story that cries out to be told, I think.  It will never happen, of course, but it's a topic that's probably got a ripe potential audience to it...

 

ELS
x<]:o){

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I want to see the story (maybe multi-part) in which an indignant mother/wife attacks Superman as he finishes up a job, "Why didn't you save my husband? He was in that bus and he got crushed to death! What are you going to do for him???"

That's pretty much exactly what happened in Superman #700 and the multi-part story that followed it.

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Well...as far as we know, in this story...SPOILER SPACE

 

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Kathy Kane is dead, but she being the first Batwoman and being Bruce's first love are back in continuity.  Really, I think, to Grant Morrison, every single story every written about Batman is in continuity somehow.  Dan Slott is doing something very similar in Amazing Spider-Man, there have been little dialogue and visual flashbacks (using Ditko art) to link today's Spidey back to his earliest years to say, yes, this all happened.  Heck, even the wedding to MJ "happened"...she remembers it...but only she does.  It's like Superman II, except MJ got to give the "forget you love me" kiss.  He does remember that she knows his Spidey identity and she's still a close friend. 

 

Anyway, back to Batman, Inc.  Who is this Chris Burnham guy?  He needs more work.

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

I just checked...he'll be back on issues 6 and 7.  Huzzah!

[ClarkKent_DC]

Eric L. Sofer said:

I guess Superboy Prime punched Batwoman back to life as well, then?  Sheesh.  They're right... nobody dies forever anymore in comics.

 

As I recall, the original Batwoman was stabbed to death by the Bronze Tiger, who at the time was brainwashed to work in the service of the League of Assassins.

You really think it's better that she remain dead?

[ClarkKent_DC]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I want to see the story (maybe multi-part) in which an indignant mother/wife attacks Superman as he finishes up a job, "Why didn't you save my husband? He was in that bus and he got crushed to death! What are you going to do for him???"

That's pretty much exactly what happened in Superman #700 and the multi-part story that followed it.

Over on the Polite Dissent blog -- a wonderful place that focuses on the way medical matters are presented in comics and TV -- the author pretty neatly skewers what happened in Superman #700. Take a look: "Could Superman Cure Cancer? Crunching the Numbers"

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Heck, even the wedding to MJ "happened"...she remembers it...but only she does.

Does she remember baby May?

[Lee Houston, Junior]

It has been noted above:

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I want to see the story (maybe multi-part) in which an indignant mother/wife attacks Superman as he finishes up a job, "Why didn't you save my husband? He was in that bus and he got crushed to death! What are you going to do for him???"

That's pretty much exactly what happened in Superman #700 and the multi-part story that followed it.

A similar situation also occurred within Jim Starlin's The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel, where everyone started pooling their resources trying to cure the Kree Captain of cancer. But while they did learn a lot more about the subject, no cure was found.

Yet I do agree that the revolving door at Death's place needs to be removed.

Mister Silver Age has already initiated a discussion on this.

Having lost a few loved ones in my family already, I do not take this subject lightly. Hopefully someday the comic book industry will too.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Anybody remember when Bruce Banner had ALS? Sure is nice that he was cured, eh? Too bad about all the normal people in the Marvel Universe who weren't.

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

I'm reminded of the controversy a few years ago when, in the Rex Morgan, M.D. comic strip, Rex recommended to a mother that she give her child aspirin for a fever...advice that has been discontinued ever since the connection between aspirin, varicella virus (usually chicken pox), and Reye syndrome was discovered.  The response, a good one I think, from one reader later was..."It's probably best not to take medical advice from a comic strip physician".  If we're looking for real discussions and depictions about serious illnesses and death, best not look within a fictional world where Greek gods still visit, aliens hang out at newspaper offices, and a really rich guy solves crimes in the cave under his house.  But comics, themselves, are a great vehicle for these discussions.  Our Cancer Year, Fun Home, and Epileptic are just three great comics about real people dealing with life and death situations. 

 

I think we want to see our heroes beat death time and again...that's why we escape to their worlds when this one sometimes becomes a bit too much.

[Eric L. Sofer]

Well... I think it's better that she remain dead than that she suddenly come back to life after twenty years without being a zombie.  (Come to think of it, I'm not all that keen on zombies, either.)

 

Do you think it's better that dead characters don't remain dead?  That once again, character deaths are just an elementary story element that can be reversed when convenient?  (I'm sure that Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy have their bags packed and are just waiting for the writer who's "courageous" enough to bring THEM back now...)

ClarkKent_DC said:

Eric L. Sofer said:

I guess Superboy Prime punched Batwoman back to life as well, then?  Sheesh.  They're right... nobody dies forever anymore in comics.

 

As I recall, the original Batwoman was stabbed to death by the Bronze Tiger, who at the time was brainwashed to work in the service of the League of Assassins.

You really think it's better that she remain dead?

[Lee Houston, Junior]

But considering how many times the "cosmic reset" (for lack of a better term) button has been hit in the DC universe over the past few decades (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night/Brightest Day, etc) are we sure all the unused characters from years past are truly dead or just in obscurity?