Not Dead Yet « snap judgments

10Mar/076

Not Dead Yet

So, Marvel shouts "DEAD!!" and the 'Interfret' just sort of sighs and goes, "Well, he'll be back."

Really, what else have we been taught? Where once Joe Quesada himself declared that 'dead means dead' and the cliche would be put to rest (or was it back in the bottle?), he has since rescinded that belief and said that you have to be able to change your mind in the entertainment world.

Does that change include a book not a few issues down from it on the stands? As the media is told with blaring sirens and bang-on-pots attention grabbing theatrics, Civil War: Inititiative featured a conversation between the rogue Spider-Woman and Iron Man's right hand woman Ms. Marvel.

So... what the hell is going on? Is death really that meaningless? I thought Brubaker really pulled out all the stops on #25 and now you're telling me that all of it might have been for nothing? Or is Ms. Marvel lying and confusing the reader as well as Spider-Woman? Should I take this death to heart and know that the Marvel Universe as I knew it is gone or should I just ignore the significance of the murder knowing that it's all going to change next week anyways?
I mean, we've been waiting for them to put back the Marvel Universe for awhile now. Announcing Spider-Man's identity had more than just a few customers at my store thinking ahead to when everyone would all forget it. Daredevil was announced as Matt Murdock and now he's back to relative anonymity. Mind you, it's a rumor because Brubaker has some respect for the reader's intelligence (and we don't have the right kind of Spectre, I hear), but this could very well be the pre-identity reveal days. SHIELD was scrambling at the stroke of midnight to put unregistered heroes away, and now we learn that Tony only built the prison so he cold house the real criminals? I mean, I'm all for change but this much so quick and so much of a 180 from the other, this is getting difficult to have an attachment to.

Because why bother? "Don't like the weather, just wait a couple hours", some say and it seems that's what I feel trained to do Marvel. Cap's dead? Well, it's probably an LMD so why bother being really touched by an awesome and well-written story? Won't all these heroes look stupid when the reader is so cynical by this point that a picture of Spider-Man crying in the rain seems overdramatic for a man who'll just be back a few months down the line?

Joe Quesada admits to 'disinformation' in order to keep secrets about story lines, but shouldn't there be some truth in fiction?

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CalvinPitt
March 11th, 2007 - 07:22

Honestly, i don’t know what to think. Carol could be lying to draw Spider-Woman in without having to pummel her. She did say Tony liked Jessica and wanted to ask her out, only we see Tony insisting he’s going to throw Jessica in jail and try her for treason the first chance he gets, so somebody is lying here.

I think Stark is misinforming his people as to Cap’s condition, because if he really did die, then they’d start to wonder about following Tony (which they should be doing already, but apparently most heroes in the marvel Universe are even slower on the uptake than Spidey was).

Ultimately, I think Quesada is following that axiom about “any reaction is a good reaction” a little too much. He seems determined to keep jerking us around, because he thinks it gets us hopping mad, and that’s a “good” thing. Except he’s burning some of us out instead.

I suppose the summation of all this is, Joe Quesada is not very intelligent.
Ami Angelwings
March 11th, 2007 - 11:58

Yus! :O I have that issue too (tho maybe “issue” is too strong a term for that giant advertisement XD)

And I was so confused too! :O

I rly think Cap’s not dead. :\

I would think that if Carol was lying, she and Tony would talk about it later. And if Tony was lying, we would see it too. Just so that there’s no confusion, and we can see how evil Tony is (Marvel doesn’t miss a chance to remind us how evil he is lately) XD

But I think the general consensus is that he’s not dead. :\ Esp with how much hype Marvel’s putting in it.
admin
March 11th, 2007 - 19:16

CalvinPitt: True ‘nough on Tony lying to cover his own ass; in character these days as martyrs are notorious icons for rebellion. But at the same time, you gotta give some love to the reader and let them know what’s at stake so we can figure out whether we’re dupes or on the inside. You know, Marvel Adventures: Avengers never lies to me…

Ami: rly? =D Again, it’d be nice if they gae the reader a little insider info, just to give us an answer to all this ‘disinformation’ eventually. And while Joey Q may have coined the term ‘interfret’, I don’t think too many of us are fretting. Or at least, not about Cap’s death. Maybe more about bad editing…
Fortress Keeper
March 12th, 2007 - 22:27

I’m with Calvin Pitt. I think Carol was lying because she’s desperately trying to work out some deal with her pal Spider-Woman.

Unfortunately, the scene doesn’t work on those terms for me because it just means that Carol is even more of a desperate loser than we’ve seen in her own title – and I used to like Ms. Marvel almost as much as Spider-Woman and Cap.

If Cap really is alive – or if this is just a tease for a big conspiracy plot that will rage between the two Avengers titles – then Marvel really has no brains and doesn’t care because the money flows in anyway.

Either way, ick.
admin
March 12th, 2007 - 23:21

…. poor Carol. I really want to like her but her series and actions through Civil War seem so self-serving and spotlight-grabbing that I don’t take her seriously as wanting to genuinely help anyone. But hey, it sells so what does Marvel care?
Andrew
February 19th, 2008 - 20:49

Dude shouldn’t be dead. He got shot in the head with a bullet, doctors said he was dead, and the very next issue he got better and was kicking tail like nothing happened.