The dynamic duo of Robbie Landis and Ben Morse is back once again for another episode of the Other Identity. The Other Identity is a podcast about exploring the culture created by comic books. This week Robbie and Ben dig deep into the effect of loss and death in comics. Some of the most famous story-lines in comics revolve around the death of a hero.
This week Robbie and Ben caught up with they’ve been reading in their spare time. Ben continues to work through his read of the Blackest Night storyline. Robbie finished his #InBlackestNight challenge weeks ago, but Ben has barely scratched the surface. As Robbie continues his #DCRebirthEraChallenge he talks about how much he’s loving Supergirl. He also expresses his hopes and dreams for the series long-term.
Several months ago a discussion sparked on Twitter about comic book deaths. Whether or not bringing back a dead character invalidates the weight of the original death. One of Ben’s favorite stories is the Death of Barry Allen in the Crisis on Infinite Earth’s crossovers. Robbie thinks that the Death of Spider-Man in the Ultimate Timeline is one of the best stories from Marvel. Where the two differ, is that Robbie doesn’t think bringing a character back hurts the original story. They discuss at length, if Barry Allen’s resurrection is worth it or if Wally West actually suffers more as a character.
It doesn’t stop with death in comics though. Despite the short history of the comic book movie or TV show, there are a few examples to draw from there as well. Robbie and Ben use the death and Resurrection of Agent Coulson from Avengers and Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to keep the discussion going.