A Member of the Fantastic Four is Dead ***SPOILERS***

[Gnashvar]

Isn't the next issue the last one of the series?

[BurningDoom]

Again?

lol. Yeah, but most of those were solved by the end of the storyline, or were What if? stories. The word is that this time, Johnny's death is meant to have meaning and will last at least for a little while.

[BurningDoom]

Isn't the next issue the last one of the series?

Yes, but they are restarting the book under the title "FF". So not really.

[Flake]

I think this sums up my thoughts:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1942996

Also, Flake was that guy a sidekick? Cause sidekicks are the only ones allowed to die.

Ted Kord a side-kick? No way! He was full fledged member of the Justice League International. He teamed up with Booster Gold all the time but he was no ones sidekick.

[SpaceBooger]

The statement that his death will mean something is almost as overused as killing off high profile characters. I have no problem with characters dying if it plays a big role in their own comic, heck even if they return and it is a large part of a storyline in THEIR comic.

I am really getting tired of all of the universe and character shattering events in the both the Marvel Universe and the DCU. Now that it has passed, Final Crisis has the same feeling that House of M had and the whole Superman leaving Earth (War of the Supermen story) had a similar feeling as Wolverine turning feral in the 90's. I didn’t like Marvel’s Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Siege because of the “universe changing events,” but I did LOVE Batman R.I.P. because it was self contained. I gave DC Comics a free pass for killing off Ted Kord (who was one of my favorite characters) and all of the negativity and violence in Infinite Crisis because it was relevant to the story and the result created great new characters like Ryan Choi, the All New Atom. Sadly, Professor Choi was recently killed to move the plot of another mediocre story forward.

Comics should be entertaining, meaning fun, and comic companies need to remember that big events can be fun while not “universe changing events.” Remember, Secret Wars took place off planet and once it was over had very little impact on the big picture of the Marvel Universe. It seems like the self contained stories like Batman R.I.P. are becoming the exception in the DCU, while huge “universe changing” plot-lines are becoming the norm.

Sorry for the rant it may be slightly of the topic, or the title of the topic, but relevant.
Oh, and I love the Blue Beetle both the new one and Ted Kord. Kord's full run as the Blue Beetle is proudly displayed on my spinner rack along with The Question.

[Flake]

I gave DC Comics a free pass for killing off Ted Kord (who was one of my favorite characters) and all of the negativity and violence in Infinite Crisis because it was relevant to the story

Amen, brother. The greatest thing to come of Ted Kords unfortunate demise was the premise for Booster Gold's current on-going.

Spoiler:

Seeing Booster Gold call out the entire DC universe for ignoring Ted in his time of need was almost as satisfying as finding out that the entire fate of the universe hinged on the man dying what seemed a senseless death. Superman has never seemed so heroic to me as Ted did when he, with a smile on his face, went back in time to die again.

[Gamerforlife]

Death really has no meaning in comic books, since characters and books get re-booted all the time. A-listers like The Fantastic Four, Batman, Spider-Man, etc. never really die

Still, if it makes for a good story than it's all good in my book

In a way, this is why I like non-super hero books better than super hero books sometimes, like Y:The Last Man or Fables. Those stories don't use characters that are a huge part of pop culture and can go ahead and kill whoever they want and the death will mean something. Death in superhero books though never seems to mean anything unfortunately

[ZeroAX]

At least the comic's characters don't know that the dead heroes can be brought back to life. Anyone remember the "drama" in dragonball every time someone dies? I'm sorry, but why should we be sad someone dies, when we know there are 7 magical balls that will bring them back to life?

[Bradtemple87]

At least the comic's characters don't know that the dead heroes can be brought back to life. Anyone remember the "drama" in dragonball every time someone dies? I'm sorry, but why should we be sad someone dies, when we know there are 7 magical balls that will bring them back to life?

[BurningDoom]

Isn't the next issue the last one of the series?

Yes, but they are restarting the book under the title "FF". So not really.

So I take it back. Apparantly Fantastic Four is not being relaunched. FF stands for Future Foundation. It will have the surviving members of the Fantastic Four, but not Johnny Storm (also no Frankie Ray or Original Human Torch).