via – FanpopIt’s all over the news, and on the lips of every geek who’s ever read a comic book. (SPOILER ALERT?) The Boy Wonder dies in the latest issue of Batman Incorporated. And though it is the death of the child in a fictional world where no one ever, really stays dead, it has been felt throughout the community (well, the community that cares), and people are upset, furious, and down right banning the company that would let such a thing happen. Damien Wayne, the son of Bruce and Talie, will never don the cape again. Well, so we think.
Now it’s time for the disclaimer – I am not a hardcore comic book reader, I don’t know the complex and vast histories of every hero that ever was, and I haven’t been collecting comic books since I was a kid. Also, I only know the most basic facts about the Batman universe from podcasts, wikis, and my own research, and have only been reading the “Batman” brand (because there’s about 350,000 different Batman books) since the DC comics, new 52, reboot. With that said, I have seen a lot of anger over this issue, a lot of reaction to the death of this Robin, and it all led me to this question. Does one bad event, destroy an entire fictional universe?
When the (non existent) prequel movies happened for Star Wars, many people were outraged by the changes to the beloved series, and the way familiar characters were…portrayed. The introduction to midichlorians, a wimpy Darth Vader, and racist, to Earthling, aliens, made the prequels a sad thing to see. Some people accepted the fact, that these were the new Star Wars truths but there were those who refused to acknowledge that this intergalactic heresy was part of the story poper and even denounce the Star Wars all together. We geeks get mad easy, don’t we? But in the end, the geeks and nerds came back because of our love of the lore and the Jedi and the Yodas. But it was one man’s bad decisions and continued bad decisions (Remake the original trilogy? Really? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!) that ruined, for many, what was once a fond, childhood memory. But was George Lucas really changing the original trilogy to make his Star Wars closer to his original vision? Or was this guy just a greedy bastard! Well, he gets people to buy the same three movies, over and over again with changes they didn’t want, and an original he won’t give. But see, one small thing (the prequels), turned a community of loyal fans into enemies.
via – Geek ExchangeWhich leads me back to Batman, a world rebooted for a new audience, where the uninitiated may be shocked by the news that Robin died, but confused when no one died after the “epic” storyline of “Death Of The Family”. You’d think with a title like that, there’d be a whole lot of dying going on. They brought back the Joker and things were going awry and it was, biff, bam, boom all over the place! And then…nothing. It was a big event for us noobs who haven’t been comic book readers our whole life, so for us, maybe this whole death of Robin bit is just a thing that happens, but for those who are loyal fans for years, it could be seen as a slap in the face. (Another SPOILER-ish alert!) It’s not like Damien died doing something big, but from what I’ve read, he died saving the life of a background character. Sure he saves the world, but at what cost? What was the purpose of killing off Robin?
It’s a stunt! A rouse! This kid will probably be tossed into the Lazarus pit and be reborn again! Batman will once again save the day!
So I peruse some websites and try to read the opinions of avid fans, and they many say the same thing. This was a sham! A ploy to get readers into a “dying” market. How? I don’t really know. What makes Robin’s death different from any othe comic book hero. As I recall, Batman and Superman actually DIED! And then, they miraculously return from the dead. But Robin, that boy seems to be expendable! As far as I know there were five other Robins before him. And then this Boy Wonder, who’s just a mere child, dies. That’s a big deal letting a kid die in anything! So for Robin to bite the dust…it’s controversial, it’s extreme, and it’s taboo, and maybe people will eat it up. Me? Well, I don’t really care, because I’m in it for the Batman, not the sidekick. But others may have a wet enough apetite to pick it up and find out what happened.
What really shocked me was when I see people are upset enough to leave DC all together. That’s a bold move. But why does one story line’s character ruin a whole comic book universe? With DC you have multiple Earths and hundreds of different characters and story lines all intertwined in this gigantic world. So it’s curious when a single writer on a single comic could have such a resounding impact on the fans. It’s not like it’s as big as say…World of Warcraft, and the drastic changes made to that world.
via – Where’s My SammichThough World of Warcraft touts millions of subscribers, it seems that with each new expansion, the long time players seem to like the game less and less. It’s like each new addition to the world just pushes away the people who put hundreds of hours conquering the world of Azeroth. But, with the latest expansion, the ridicule has grownand people who have played it for years seem to have had enough and are leaving in small droves. Mists of Pandrea has been criticized as the Kung Fu Panda of WoW, which I thought was a good thing as that movie is great. It was the introduction of the fuzzy panda that seemed to turn people off, but can Pandas really destroy the rich and vibrant world of Warcaft? It wasn’t like the addition to the game was made to scare people away, but yet maybe it’s just that people don’t like change. Hmm, this point seems different from the point I was making with Robin’s death, but I don’t think it is, because isn’t Robin’s death and the introduction of cute, furry, playable characters all about the same thing? I feel it may be about doing something drastic in the hopes of making news and building hype. Then through the hype these companies can make more sales. And then through the sales make a name for yourself and be infamous throughout the world!! Okay, it’s money. People think it’s all about the money. And it’s possible that, is the what bothers people about this move made by killing off Robin. Was it just in bad taste? Bad timing? Bad writing? Maybe it was really clever and we just don’t get it yet.
In the end, there is still a huge world out there for comic book fans to enjoy. But the question still remains. Can one death, one midichlorean, or one panda ruin a name, a franchise, or a company? Can one bad apple spoil an entire universe? It seems like the answer is yes for some. For me, I can ignore the fact and still enjoy the other stories that DC, George Lucas, and Blizzard have to offer. But the real question is, what do you think?
