LINKS
(12/21/05)
Broken Frontier: Big Crisis, Huge Impact - EEB founder A. David Lewis speaks a few words on the refocused power of death and loss in the DC Comics Universe following the conclusion of Identity Crisis and its 2004 Broken Frontier Award for Best Limited Series.
Broken Frontier: "Library of Babble" Hydrogen Age - Part III - Lewis reexamines the nomenclature of the superhero "Ages" in this concluding part of a three-part series that highlights mortality as the governing factor of recent comics.
Broken Frontier: Superheroes, Death & Dying - Broken Frontier E-I-C Frederik Hautain reports on the Ever-Ending Battle results (and reprocussions) presented at the 2005 PCA/ACA Conference.
Buzzscope: Death and Superheroes, Part I - Earth X and Justice co-writer Jim Krueger begins his excellent, multipart "definitive understanding of the importance of death in terms of the continuing adventures of a hero," citing Peter Pan, who says, "that to die would be an awfully great adventure."
Comic Book Scoop: Death in Comics - Jerry Whitworth questions whether -- from the death of the Waynes & Ben Parker to the ressurections of Hal Jordan & Oliver Queen to the possible villainous return of Jason Todd & Bucky, whether death in comics has meaning anymore.
The Center for Thanatology Research and Eduction, Inc. - Roberta Halporn's "non-profit Small Press, Library, Museum, Resource Center, and Mail Order Bookseller, that handles books, media and periodicals" concerning Thanatology, "the study of everything that has to do with dying, death, and grief, including cemeteries and gravestones," etc.
The Ernest Becker Foundation - "Devoted to multidisciplinary inquiries into human behavior," based on the writings of the late Ernest Becker, particularly his Denial of Death, linking America's death-denial to concepts of heroism.
Going Cheep: Killing Time - Lee "Budgie" Barnett ponders the role of the writer in killing off a long-standing property for short-term effect and whether there are "really no bad characters, only bad stories?"
Going Cheep: The Destiny War, or Why Is Hal Jordan Going to Be GL? - Budgie questions fans' roles (and moralities) in the resurrection of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern and the death of Jason Todd as Robin.
Going Cheep: Shocking! - Budgie investigates the impact of death in comic book storytelling, both then and now with Powers #1 from Marvel's Icon imprint.
Newsarama: Does Mortality Matter? - Coverage from the inaugural WizardWorld Boston of the "Ever-Ending Battle" panel featuring Greg Rucka, A. David Lewis, Paul Ryan, and Mike Cotton.
Reconstruction: "The Night Gwen Stacy Died": The End of Innocence and the Birth of the Bronze Age - Curator of the forthcoming Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and Editor for Gemstone Publishing's comic book and collectible price guides Arnold Blumberg reflects on the industrial shift embodied in the death of Spider-Man's girlfriend.
Revolving Door of Death - A series of character profiles from the Quarter Bin circa 1998-2003, focused on those who have cheated death (and perhaps readers).
The Trades: The Price to Pay - Howard Price's 1992 essay on the power of life and death, as well as its played-out potency in superhero storytelling.
Women in Refrigerators - Gail Simone's on-going chronicle of superheroines and female supporting characters who face increased trauma or acutal fatality as compared to their male counterparts.
