5 Things We Don't Miss About '90s Comics (And 5 We Do)

The status quo seems to be the rule of law in modern-day comics. Both Marvel and DC have prevented two of their most popular characters from either getting or staying married in the last fifteen years, with assertions that a married superhero shows their age and is not relatable. Many changes that were meant to be long-lasting were reversed due for one reason or another.

The New 52 reset combined questions on the logistics of the timeline with some outright anger-inducing creative choices that necessitated DC's Rebirth to fix some their issues. Similarly, many big-scale events carried out by DC or Marvel seem to have little lasting effects. Change isn't necessarily the problem: adhering to it for any length of time seems to be the real challenge.

Modern-day comics death has all but lost any sort of impact. Resurrection isn't a question of if, but when. Knightfall and the Death of Superman, by contrast, had predetermined endpoints returning to normalcy.

The '90s helped cement some substantial changes. Hal Jordan went insane following the destruction of Coast City and became the villainous Parallax. This paved the way for Kyle Rayner, who became fast friends himself with Wally West, who had taken the mantle after Barry Allen's sacrifice, becoming a new generation's Green Lantern and Flash.

Changes were meant to be permanent, long-lasting. While they weren't always successful, they showed real development: something that has been absent from comics for a very long time.