10 Comic Book Deaths That Angered The World
1. Peter Parker (AKA Spider Man)
THIS COMIC F*CKED ME IN THE @$$ WITH A THREE FOOT DILDO AND NO LUBE! shouted one irate YouTuber in his review of Amazing Spider Man Issue 700, the issue in which Peter Parker, the superhero formerly known as Spider Man, finally passed away. Fans had been upset when the Ultimate universes version of Peter had been killed off and replaced by new Spidey Miles Morales, but that was a different universe. It didn't really count.
Now, however, Marvel were celebrating Spidey's landmark 700th issue by killing the poor fella stone dead. If nothing else, you have to admire that move for its sheer audaciousness and balls. Usually, a comic book anniversary special contains one, or all, of the following: the (rushed) conclusion to the current storyline, a couple of short standalone stories, several pages of artwork by former artists that worked on the book and a few self congratulatory quotes from the series major architects. Oh, and sometimes a poster. So, readers were primed to expect very little from this edition, save for the conclusion to a 'Doctor Octopus has stolen my body!' storyline that had been running in the book up until that point.
Instead, Peter Parker never actually got his body back and, in a stunning twist, he died in the arms of his greatest foe, who then promised to become a SUPERIOR Spider Man in his stead. Wow. Seriously, who the heck saw that one coming? Dan Slott, the writer of this controversial tale, ended up on the receiving end of one of the worst fan backlashes of all time, even receiving borderline-angry Tweets from none other than Stan Lee about it!
Fans took to the Internet to protest the death of their hero by the thousands and the video reviews (many of which were/are utterly hilarious) circulated the net for months afterwards. Inevitably, Peter Parker resurfaced (in this case literally) and The Amazing Spider Man series was relaunched.
In today's world, the death of a comic book character is bigger than ever. It means mainstream media visibility, increased sales and a lot of angry blogs, Tweets and articles. As the old saying goes, any publicity is good publicity and both major superhero publishers regularly use death and rebirth as a bankable sales tool. Marvel, for its part, is reputedly obligated to kill off four characters a year, which makes the fan anger all the more bewildering, really.
Finally, if you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, the best thing to do is not to post angry comments anywhere, all that does is drive sales and keep them doing it. Instead, just do what the rest of us do, stick your hands in your pockets and grumble quietly to yourself like a mad old codger at a bus stop.