There's nothing like a dead superhero to dredge up press and sales. Just ask the long-time tradition's latest victim, The Fantastic Four's Human Torch.
The erstwhile Johnny Storm exits the heavenly gate in Wednesday's arrival of Fantastic Four No. 587, previewed above and written by Jonathan Hickman. The Human Torch's predictable expiration concludes Fantastic Four's "Three" story line and sets up the inevitable resurrection of a Marvel Comics C-lister. Storm is, after all, only one of four heroes in single superhero group representing part of Marvel's sprawling universe, so his passing isn't quite the "shocking death" that the newly acquired Disney property is promising.
Especially since the venerable comics publisher already killed and resurrected Captain America, a much more significant superhero, a scant few years ago in the underwhelming Civil War story line, and is currently looking to smoke Spider-Man as well.
Plus, as we learned with superior kill-your-superheroes maneuvers like Grant Morrison's ambitious apocalypse Final Crisis – which offed Batman before resuscitating him in the slipstreaming miniseries Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, due Feb. 2 in collected hardcover – it's not how you kill off your major and minor heroes, it's how you bring them back.
One wonders if the Human Torch's inevitable reanimation will flame on or flame out. Set fire to the comics industry's superhero death-dealing in the comments section below.
Images courtesy Marvel Comics
See Also:
