I found out about something horrible today, and it's completely wrecked my week. If you read DC's New 52, then you know what I'm talking about.
Damien Wayne is dead, and probably not for long. This is old news by a week, but I'm still going to complain.
For anyone who doesn't know, Damien Wayne is Bruce Wayne's and Talia al Ghul's son. She took his DNA and genetically engineered the perfect child, Damien. Then she trained Damien to be an evil ninja assassin. Yeah, it's a long, strange story.Damien hasn't even been around that long-only since 2006, when he was introduced in Batman and Son by Grant Morrison. Grant Morrison has always been one of my favorite comic book writers. I mean, the man's a bona fide genius. But my trust has been violated. I was already a little iffy about the speedy death and return of Batman himself, but now Robin as well, another Robin?
Granted, I've never been a fan of Robin. I didn't like Dick Grayson as Robin. Jason wasn't cool until he was dead. I liked Tim Drake. I never even knew Stephanie Brown was Robin until recently (and apparently she died too. What is it with people and killing off the Robins?) I've always preferred Batman on his own, because Robin just never seemed to fit very well into a Batman story unless it was written extremely well. Case in point, The Long Halloween. But that book just got everything right.
However, Damien was a different story. He was Bruce's actual son, and neither Bruce or Damien were very happy about it. In addition to that, the rest of the Batfam was mostly hostile towards Damien as well. Things in the Batfam haven't been this tense since Dick left the nest and became Nightwing. For a while, Damien and Tim couldn't be in the same room without getting into a fist fight. But eventually, everyone finally got used to Damien and accepted him. Sure, he still had a long way to go before he got along with everyone, but he and everyone else in the Batfam had grown as people because of him. For me, at least, the character was cut short just as he was starting to really bloom.
And you know what the worst part of all of this crap is? They're going to bring Damien back. We all know it's going to happen. He's the son of Talia al Ghul for crying out loud. Why is this such a problem, you might wonder, since I seem to like this character so much?
Allow me to explain.
In superhero comics, no one ever stays dead. There is always a lazarus pit, or a magic Kryptonian stasis, or just a simple misunderstanding. The resilience of these characters completely negates any attempt to kill them. Plus, superheroes are icons. Some might say they're our modern Greek gods. So, naturally, they can't stay dead. This trend is one of the few things I hate (abhor, loath, shall I go on?) about superhero comics. If you're going to kill a character, then leave them that way. If the only reason you're killing the character, is to bring them back to life a few story arcs later and return the story to the status quo of before, then why did you kill them in the first place? The purpose of death in fiction is to shake up the story, and often to bring it back to reality. Death doesn't just affect the character who passes on, but also all the characters around them. Family and friends grieve, and the whole fictional world has to find a way to go on with a part of itself missing. If you magically revive the character who has passed on, he or she doesn't fit into that hole anymore. Just look at Harry Potter, and the pivotal importance that death played in those books. Would J.K. Rowling have brought Dumbledore, Sirius or Fred back to life? Nope.
Although, I have to say the way Jason Todd's death and Resurrection were handled was excellent.
/endrant
P.S. Arrow was a repeat tonight. ): I was hoping it would cheer me up, but no.
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