NO MORE KILLING, PLEASE!

Death.. in real life terrible, in entertainment like comics, a plot device that has worn out its welcome. Just off the top of my head: Harry Osborn, Bucky Barnes, Hal Jordan, Barry Allen (although to be fair, his "death" wasn't really that, he just vanished and people have been calling it "death"), Green Arrow, Cyclops, Phoenix (okay, she's SUPPOSED to die and come back), Colossus, Hawkman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hippolyta, Captain America, and MANY more for the list to go on. These are all characters who have died and been resurrected. So what's the point? Maybe that comic creators should STOP killing characters in an attempt to "shock" the audience, because it's ultimately futile since another writer, some time later will just invalidate that death by bringing that character back to life. Death has become an overused plot device that has become pointless and I urge comics editors to put a moritorium (pun intended) on killing off characters because it begins to show laziness and a lack of imagination on the part of the writer. There are other ways of creating drama that doesn't involve the pointless death/resurrection cycle in comics. Look at Alan Moore and what he did to Barabara Gordon in THE KILLING JOKE. He crippled a major character who to this day is still dealing with the effects of that incident, and who has become a much more interesting and integral character since. What about Tony Stark's alcoholism? Again, long range complications that make for compelling drama. At least BLACKEST NIGHT seems to be addressing this overused shock mechanism. Writer Geoff Johns I think is crafting what might turn out to be one huge deus-ex-machina of character ressurection with a consistent, storyline dicatated reason for bringing the dead back to life. Doesn't everyone think that Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and other dead heroes will permanently resurface at the conclusion of the crossover event? Johns too was responsible for killing off Connor Kent and Bart Allen and then bringing them back himself, but at least you could tell he had a plan set in motion to do it. Which brings us to another point; every character in comics is someone's favorite and maybe it's unfair to rob the audience of that character. If a writer can't think of a use for a particular cast member, they should just find a means of writing the character out of the story for awhile so that someone else can come in and use him/her/them when they get the chance. Take a look at the unfairness here. So many heroes and their supporting casts have been killed and returned to life, and yet no one has thought of a way to bring Gwen Stacy back to life? I have, and it would be one great and OBVIOUS way to do it, that I'm surprised no one has thought of it. Yes, I know it sounds like a contradiction after saying no more killing and resuurection, but if they could do it with the long standing death of Bucky Barnes into the brilliant Winter Soldier/Captain America arc, why not Gwen? But hey, at least DC is not claiming that Bruce Wayne's current disappearance is a death....