January 2011 marks the death of a member of the Fantastic Four (Again. Back in ‘03 Thing was killed off—only for a mere 3 issues before he was resurrected.) This really isn’t big news to me, but it raises a topic for discussion. If you really want make an impact by killing a major superhero off (I am not saying that any one member of the Fantastic Four is a major player. I believe their impact is made as a unit)—kill them and keep them dead for more than 6 months.  We all know the greatest example of this is the Death of Superman.  Superman’s demise was a major media event, selling between 2.5 - 3 million copies, being covered by numerous news papers and television networks, after all it was the death of one of the most well known American icons.  During the six months that Superman was dead that issue skyrocketed in value, but DC made the dumbest move…they brought him back to life. C’mon! You didn’t give people enough time to miss him. Keep him dead for a year…shit maybe even 3 or 5 years, so when you do bring him back, people are up in arms and its epic all over again.  With this whole Fantastic Four thing, one member doesn’t mean much to me, Sue and Reed have kids and can easily replace a member. (Hell, remember in the 70s when Human Torch was replaced by Herbie.)  Marvel, if you really wanted impact…you should have killed off the entire team for a while…make us want them back. Make it epic, because in all honesty…issue #587 WAS NOT EPIC.  Seriously, this shit was like the end of Armageddon (those of you that have read this issue know exactly what I am talking about.)  Even though this issue was less than impressive, its still one for the vault.  Lets face it, paper products are on their way out, so milestone issues like this will eventually be worth something.  Collectors know. My ramblings are done - peace, enjoy the weekend.

January 2011 marks the death of a member of the Fantastic Four (Again. Back in ‘03 Thing was killed off—only for a mere 3 issues before he was resurrected.) This really isn’t big news to me, but it raises a topic for discussion.


If you really want make an impact by killing a major superhero off (I am not saying that any one member of the Fantastic Four is a major player. I believe their impact is made as a unit)—kill them and keep them dead for more than 6 months.  We all know the greatest example of this is the Death of Superman.  Superman’s demise was a major media event, selling between 2.5 - 3 million copies, being covered by numerous news papers and television networks, after all it was the death of one of the most well known American icons.  During the six months that Superman was dead that issue skyrocketed in value, but DC made the dumbest move…they brought him back to life. C’mon! You didn’t give people enough time to miss him. Keep him dead for a year…shit maybe even 3 or 5 years, so when you do bring him back, people are up in arms and its epic all over again. 


With this whole Fantastic Four thing, one member doesn’t mean much to me, Sue and Reed have kids and can easily replace a member. (Hell, remember in the 70s when Human Torch was replaced by Herbie.)  Marvel, if you really wanted impact…you should have killed off the entire team for a while…make us want them back. Make it epic, because in all honesty…issue #587 WAS NOT EPIC.  Seriously, this shit was like the end of Armageddon (those of you that have read this issue know exactly what I am talking about.) 


Even though this issue was less than impressive, its still one for the vault.  Lets face it, paper products are on their way out, so milestone issues like this will eventually be worth something.  Collectors know.


My ramblings are done - peace, enjoy the weekend.