In a dramatic twist, DC Comics is killing off the Justice League - and though nobody expects the deaths to last, they will still prove comic book deaths can serve a purpose. Thirty years ago, DC Comics killed Superman. Nowadays, high-profile comic book deaths are a dime a dozen, but at the time it was international breaking news. Now, in honor of the event, DC is killing the entire Justice League.

A mission to a dead multiverse will see all but one member of the Justice League die, with the survivor returning to Earth with news of the team's tragic fate. Nobody actually believes the entire Justice League will stay dead - there's no way the comic book publisher would kill off so many high-profile brands at once, or even for long - but in truth that's not the point. DC is honoring the famous "Death of Superman" arc in the best possible way - by proving comic book deaths really do matter.

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It's easy to forget that the death of Superman wasn't just a media gimmick; in narrative terms, it was designed to demonstrate to the world just how important Superman really was to the DC universe. The fateful battle between Superman and Doomsday may have been brutal and bloody, but the really interesting comics came after it, as heroes mourned and new characters stepped out of the shadows to try to fill the void that had been left by Superman's death. Events headed in an apocalyptic direction, demonstrating just how bleak the world would be without the Man of Steel as a champion of truth, justice, and the American way. The upcoming death of the Justice League seems to be honoring the original comics by serving the same purpose.

Comic book deaths seldom last forever; it was once a joke in Marvel Comics that only Uncle Ben and Bucky stayed dead, and Captain America's sidekick returned in 2005 - underlining the point. In general, there are two kind of comic book death stories. The first uses death as a shock tactic, with a hero killed as part of a major comic book event to try to make readers believe this particular story really does threaten the heroes. This became so commonplace in the 2000s that readers began to approach each event wondering who the death would be, and once it had happened they stopped feeling there were any risks. The second, though, are stories that use the death to explore the impact a character had on the world in which they live. These are the stories that help readers understand why a particular superhero matters, and they usually provide an opportunity to develop legacy heroes who try to fill the void.

Viewed from this perspective, The Death of Superman - and, more importantly, the stories it led to - is one of the better examples of a comic book death, one that serves a strong narrative purpose. It sounds as though DC's Death of the Justice League arc will take the same approach, which means it will be particularly interesting to see how this plays out; the simultaneous death of so many high-profile heroes is a cataclysmic event that could potentially create ripples through the entire publishing line. It's going to be interesting to see what the DC Universe looks like without the Justice League.

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