It's been a while, but Thought Bubble Thursdays is back! _{It's back!!} ^{It's back!!} Like any popular comic book character, you can never put it down for long. So, let's make like a zombie and hop to it! Cue the lightning!

Name any popular comic book character, and you can rest assured that it has died at least once in its illustrious career. Whether its Superman at the hands of Doomsday or Bruce Banner/Hulk at the hands of Hawkeye, they just keep coming back. Magic, time travel, parallel dimensions, cloning, miracle drugs, you name it! Every explanation for a revival that you can think of, comic book writers have already used it.

It's weird to talk about death to start the year, but when we think about it, why should it be? After all, it goes hand in hand with life, creation and renewal. One can't truly know the true value of life if it doesn't have an expiration. If you look at it through the eyes of someone immortal, seconds hold more value for a person that has a limited amount of it, doesn't it?

I dedicate this edition of Thought Bubble Thursdays to my sister from an AWESOME mister's dad who recently passed away, Papa @dreemit. While I didn't have the pleasure to know him while he was alive, he was one half of the spectacular duo that raised one of my favorite people in the world. That in itself already makes him a total winner in my book. I tip my hat to you, sir!

What is it about bringing characters back from the grave that's so alluring? Join me as we take a look at why you can't keep a comic book character down.

Death is Temporary

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Death is a serious subject, one that isn't often discussed lightly, and for good reason. It signifies the end of a life, or at least one's mortal existence. What lies beyond is a mystery, but what we can physically see is the finality of a person that was once among the living.

Unlike us, comic book characters (or any fictional character) have the luxury to defy conventional science. They have their own sense of time, their own physical rules and their own everything. Basically, they don't have to follow anything that applies to us. They're bound by the rules that are set by the writers, which doesn't help in deflating the latter's megalomaniac tendencies.

Among fans, the term comic book death has been coined as a sort of derogatory term which pertains to the temporary nature of a character's demise. Over the years, death in comics has lost its meaning because everyone expects the character that died to eventually come back. It might take months or years, but they do come back, taking away the sting of their previous death. Some writers even insert meta-jokes in the comics, with characters expecting their fallen peer to come back after a few months.

At the top of my head, some notable deaths that had a tremendous effect include that of Barry Allen (oh shoot, not again), Nightcrawler, Jason Todd and Wolverine. I know I've mentioned it in a previous edition, but I just want to refresh everyone's memory, Barry Allen (aka The Flash) died while saving the Multiverse (not just one universe, as if it wasn't big enough, but every universe imaginable) against the Anti-Monitor. He ran so fast (so fast) that he became pure energy and even went back in time to become the very lightning that gave him his powers. You see, his death needed to stick because he died a hero. He died saving everyone. Every. Living. Thing. How would he be able to top that? If he saved a Primer Minister's wife from certain doom, that wouldn't even begin to measure up to what he had already accomplished. Plus, his death gave Wally West (the real one) the opportunity to step up and fill his shoes. For all intents and purposes, Barry Allen's story had a good bookend. He had, excuse my pun, a good run. And, it did stick for about 20 years, right when he literally outran Death and returned to life. Comics, amirite?

Nightcrawler, that furry, blue teleporting mutant also had a good death (or two). His more notable one came as a sacrifice while he was trying to save the mutant messiah, Hope Summers. If you're a comic book character, you couldn't ask for a better death. Well, you could ask to not die, but that's beside the point. His death affected the whole synergy of the X-Men and further caused the schism between Cyclops and Wolverine. But, after spending a few years in Heaven, the writers X-Men teleported him back to existence.

Jason Todd, the second boy to take up the alias of Robin, the Boy Wonder, was not a well-liked character. In fact, DC put up a poll whether he should die or not. After which, he died at the hands of the Joker. His death haunted Batman for years. You see, the Caped Crusader isn't really well-known for failing, so having a sidekick die on his watch was considered his greatest failure. That is, until Jason Todd was restored to full health after taking a dip in a Lazarus Pit. When he came back with a vengeance, he took on the moniker of the Red Hood, the previous alias of his would-be killer, and went on a violent tear across Gotham.

Not many of you may know, but Wolverine, that mutant whose power is to regenerate from any injury, *can* be killed. Decapitation, slowing down the healing factor, and even drowning. There are tons of ways to dispatch of the ol' Canucklehead. His most recent death, however, was the most poetic. He sacrificed his life saving others and died while being encased in adamantium, the hardest metal in the Marvel Universe and the metal coating his bones have been known for. His death created a vacuum that legacy characters hoped to fill. Sabretooth, his archnemesis, turned to the side of good while trying to fill the void he left. Ultimately, his clone/daughter X-23 took up the Wolverine mantle. That is until a Wolverine from an alternate future (Old Man Logan) took up residence in the main Marvel Universe, Jimmy Hudson (his son from the Ultimate Marvel Universe) escaped the wreckage of his destroyed universe and came to the main one, and even the OG Wolvie coming back through as-of-yet unrevealed means. X-23 just couldn't catch a break.

Death is a State of Mind

With all that being said, let's explore why characters are constantly getting resurrected. The cause could be any number of reasons really. One of the most prominent ones is the character's popularity. While it's easy to say that creating a new character could fill the void left by a departing character, it's never going to be quite the same. Different backstories, different personalities, and different characters altogether. No wonder movie and TV producers just change the race and gender instead of creating a whole new different character. Every character comes with a baggage, good or bad, and with that cache comes a following that was built over time. The character's death won't automatically result to its fans hopping over to its successor. If anything, a lot of fans would still stick with the deceased character and compare all the others that would seek to replace it.

Another common reason is story purposes. Comic book stories are passed on to different writers. Even though one writer feels like a character's time has passed, the next writer might feel differently and look to bring back the character to tell stories he had in mind. This could either be good or it could mess up the entire continuity. Handling these kinds of situations is a logistical nightmare and it only seeks to further solidify death in comics as a running gag.

One other possible reason is escapism. Death is inevitable, and writers may want to exercise their power to rid of it in the universe of their making. Comic book characters have been known to outlast their creators, so why not make them live forever?

Personally, I prefer it when art imitates life in this regard. Giving death permanence also gives more weight to the character's death. It gives a whole new impact when a character makes a heroic sacrifice, and it could make character's think twice about giving up one's life. Sure, they really never expect to be resurrected when they make the decision, but we readers surely do.

I think this won't be that big of a problem in movies and TV. Apart from cloning and time travel (or resurrection via Kryptonian genesis chamber * cough * I'm looking at you Supes), actors wouldn't want to come back to life time and again even when the character's arc has run its course. It would be like a guest that has overstayed his welcome. I bring this up because I feel like the MCU is due for a number of major deaths with Infinity War. I'm calling it right now, Captain America's days are numbered :D

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But, enough of my thoughts, what do you guys think? Should dead characters stay dead? Does resurrection lessen the impact of their demise? Should I order a burrito for lunch? Let's discuss.

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