Superheroes Never Die, but They Should: X-Men, Spiderman and Movies

A few years ago, comics publisher Marvel decided introduce the “Ultimates” series, a rewrite of their favorite characters including Spider-man, X-men, Fantastic Four, and The Ultimates (originally called The Avengers). The reason was simple: newer readers simply could not pick up and read an issue without being immersed into a soap-opera storyline that is, in some cases, decades-old. DC, another leading comics publisher, did a similar move in the late 1980s. Unlike Marvel, who kept the original storylines, DC took all of its characters in its universe, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and completely revised them. Even though these comic-book companies believed they were doing newer-readers a favor by these re-dos, there are some ramifications that were not considered.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

It meant that all the storylines, classic as they were in their day, are now instantly eradicated. That means that stories found in exorbitantly high-priced DC and Marvel back issues are no longer part of this recreated Superhero Universes. Those in charge of comics have apparently decreed this to be a good thing, for any stories worth saving will now be retold with newfound glory.

After all, if a reader were to look at some of the decades-old stories, they would probably find them very “old-school”. Just like many classic movies seem very poor by today’s standards of filmmaking, many comic-book stories from the supposed “Golden” and “Silver” ages of comics look terrible in comparison to the present standard of comic writing. This is because older comics tended to contain their story within one issue, while later comics introduced many sub-plots intended to keep the reader’s interest for the next issue.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

As later comic books moved into this “continuing, ongoing saga” format, another change began to occur. Comic books began organizing their storylines to play out more realistically, which means the old-fashioned one-issue storylines needed more space. For example, a fight scene that might have taken a few panels in an older comic will now take several pages.

The problem with these revised storylines is that the comics industry are silently admitting that the original stories are poor, therefore deserving of a redeux. The truth is, the original comic books writers, like Stan Lee or Bob Kane, never intended these characters to become what they have become. In those days, a comic writer would focus more on success of one issue rather than building a series of planned adventures for their superhero character.�¯�¿�½

Yet the advantage to rewrites is obvious: new writers can use the developed characters and storylines and rework them for modern audiences. For example, events in Ultimate Spider-man retell a classic storyline: the death of Gwen Stacey. In the “original” Spider-man chronicle, the Green Goblin killed Gwen Stacey, and it was an event that completely changed Peter Parker. In the Ultimate Spider-man, Gwen is killed by Carnage, a character who wasn’t created until twenty years after the “Gwen Stacey” incident. Rewriting the story so that Gwen still dies is an admission that the original story is of high quality and does not need to be changed, which leaves many comic book readers wondering why it had to be retold in the first place.

However, once comics became a huge, for-profit industry, and the survival of these characters became of paramount importance to the profits. It appears certain superhero characters can never die, and will probably have their history being constantly rewritten over and over again. I wonder why the comics industry does not focus on creating new characters that have a definite beginning, a planned progression of lifelong events, and a definite end. Even though the character’s life and profits may be brief, it is better than milking the value of a superhero who has already had the best happen to him or her decades ago.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

Perhaps this is why superhero movies such as Spider-man and X-men have been successful amongst fans and non-comic book readers. The audience has the opportunity to see the most important elements of the story, and don’t have to worry about all the unimportant details resulting from trying to keep the franchise alive. I think Marvel and 20th Century Fox have made a just decision by making certain that the upcoming release of X3:The Final Stand will be the last one. They could easily make three more movies and more money, but giving the story an end, even if it is not a happy one, will finish a story that deserves to be told.