So as I said last time, let’s talk about characters who shouldn’t have returned. Generally speaking when a character dies, who figures a resurrection is down the road. Usually when a character is killed the question “what happens next?”. But sometimes a character death has such ramifications that it’s kind of insulting to bring them back. It not only tarnishes whatever effect that death had, but it’s just insulting to the story where the person died.
Here are five examples of what I mean. I didn’t specify it in my last list so let me do it here, all of these examples are BEFORE the reboot in 2012.
Maxwell Lord
It wasn’t enough that they ruined the character by making him evil. I was on board it this chatacyer until day one, and I promise he was not evil in the 80’s. Of course that changed and he became evil, and killed Ted Kord. Then Wonder Woman killed him (long story). So what next? Why not bring him back at the end of the Blackest Night event..for no real reason.
Jason Todd
This was baffling to me when I heard about it. I mean, why?? Not only was the killing of Jason Todd a fan approved event in 1988, but it was a lasting one also. It helped to shape Batman’s identity, serving as a reminder that sometimes the good guys don’t come back. Jason went out as a hero trying to stand up to the Joker. Only to come back as a jerk. Only twenty years later they returned him in a convoluted way, and then did nothing with him. If he wasn’t going to challenge Batman psychologically what was the point? It was stupid and just made no sense.
Barry Allen
Barry Allen was one of those characters who made a great martyr. After he died, in an extremely heroic way in Crisis on Infinite Earth’s, Wally West took over the mantle of Flash and actually made the character work. It was one of the last comic series I read regularly (and only stopped because I stopped all comic reading). Barry had a good legacy but he was also kinda dull. He really worked better as someone to aspire to. And one of my favorite story lines ever was the Flash story “Return of Barry Allen” which turned out to be a fake out. It seemed like he woild never really return. But no, twenty years after he was killed Barry was returned and ever since then DC has had no idea what to do with Wally (we won’t even get into the latest revelation).
Hal Jordan
This is a weird on I admit for a few reasons. First of all, the reason Hal Jordon was turned evil was insulting. I wouldn’t even read the Kyle Rainer stuff after. Obviously I was alone in that since Rainer proved quite popular, but that’s how pissed off I was. But at the same time, Jordan’s place in the DCU did seem to be passed on. And then he had a redemption in the “Final Night” even which was a really solid way to redeem the character and send him off on a blaze of glory. So why then was he returned ten years after? And that nonsense with him being The Spectre was really pushing things.
Terra
Ok this is a cheat, but I always wanted to bring this one up. So follow on, yeah this gets tricky. Tara Markov was a sociopath mole for the Terminator. She pretended to be one of them while she was really trying to get inside information on them that Terminator used to destroy them. Well, try to anyway. Longs story short, after betraying the Titans she ended up destroying herself in a fit of psychotic rage. It was a tragic end to a tragic character, whose actions resonated with the Titans permanently after “The Judas Contract”. So why not bring her back? Sure. To be fair they make it clear it isn’t really the original, it’s a doppelganger. But, so what? They tried to make her have an impact but no one cared. It took ages to get a real explanation for her origin and by then the basically pointless character had accomplished almost nothing.Terra should have remained a tragic figure I have no idea why this character was conceived. If they did want to reinvent her, they should have done what they would do after the reboot and make her someone totally new and original. Saying she is, but isn’t, the original character is just stupid.
Any characters out there you feel that way about? Some may say Superman but c’mon, did anyone really believe he wasn’t coming back?
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