"A very special FINAL CRISIS one-shot honoring the passing of a great hero who’s been a staple in the DC Universe for years. All that remains is one final memory that the League experiences together as they must fulfill his last wishes or die trying!"
And here's the cover:
So who do you think is going to bite the dust? The term "staple" in regards to the character makes me think it's not going to be one of the top tier characters.
My guesses:
With the popularity of Hawkgirl, DC could get away with killing off Hawkman...at least for a "while." The "face" on the cover sort of looks bird-like. Also, Hawkman can regenerate or be reborn or some other thing like that, so it would be relatively easy to bring some version of him back.
Martian Manhunter was known around the offices as a character that was sort of boring, but was a JLA "staple," if you will (though we did try to jazz him up with that storyline where he was Scorch's love-slave). If it was him, the fire on the cover would make sense, because fire is his only weakness.While you're at it, you can read Mike Gold's opinions on the "deaths" cited in the latest DC solicits -- and on the issue of character deaths in general.
So who do you think it's gonna be?
I think Martian Manhunter is a pretty fair guess.
ReplyDeleteKilling Hawkman almost kinda seems predictable at this point, I mean...how many times has Hawkman died?
Fire = MM. Totally.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my plan is Zauriel = Hawkman's Ka. (C)
"Trial By Fire" was one of yours? Trip out. I still have those issues.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'd go with J'onn to take the bullet here ... now, if we're lucky, this will mean further development for Miss Martian than "Oh, I've got a White Martian in my head!"
The black streak in the middle of the flames look suspiciously like a bolt of lightning...
ReplyDeleteDC killing Marvel, anybody?
Uh... I've only jumped on at number 5, and all the red on that cover made me think of Jimmy Olsen.
ReplyDeleteI can't even back up my guess with any reason. Who knows, right?
J'Onn's my bet. The best the character has been handled was in the Ostrander series.
ReplyDeleteIsn't burning J'onn's corpse in kinda bad taste?
I vote for the Martian because it looks more like his Martian form than his current human form.
ReplyDeletegood guesses... im with you on that stuff.
ReplyDeleteothers could be firestorm? bleh.
Wasn't there an item on Lying in the Gutters some time back that Martian Manhunter was going to be taken out?
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was J'onn. I wonder if that's a close-up of H'ronmeer?
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was Alan Scott or Jay Garrick.
ReplyDeleteFirst person I thought of was the Martian. He's definitley a staple, almost famous, yet he can't sell books. I love the character, but he's not essential to the JLA, and he's almost useless outside of the JLA. Writers have been trying for decades to make him exciting, but it hasn't happened. Also, due to his nature as the ultimate cross between Superman, Super Skrull, Phantom Girl and Professor X, it won't be hard for a good writer to bring him back some day from whatever limbo he goes off to.
ReplyDeleteQuestion about J'onn: Is it me, or did he not seem as "dull" in the animated series? Is it just a matter of the difference in mediums?
ReplyDeleteAlways had an affinity for the Manhunter from Mars. I just thought he was the coolest with all those powers and the pirate boots as a kid.
ReplyDeleteBut time moves on, and the JLU cartoon made me an even bigger fan of J'onn. Oh and New Frontier. So I am a fan of the Martian shapeshifter.
That being said, I maintain with all the lasers, cosmic blasts, lightning bolts and exploding arrows going off in these funny books it's a wonder Earth still has people on it.
Just when I thought I couldn't possibly be more excited about the Final Crisis, Val you come up with more jaw dropping tidbits. Thanks for the update, Val, my guess is Martian Manhunter too - but could it also be Nightwing?
ReplyDeleteWasn't there an item on Lying in the Gutters some time back that Martian Manhunter was going to be taken out?
ReplyDeleteYes there was.
My vote is on Batman. I think that DC will be dense wenough to do that.
And I think the entire cover is a swerve.
My guess is Kyle.
ReplyDeleteJ'onn's my favorite DC character. His death would be another DC low-point, second behind Ted Kord.
ReplyDeleteNot to hijack the thread, but does anybody do a deadpool on comics characters at crossover season? And what about a lifepool for dead characters?
Joe Kelly had the best run on JLA. I love Mark Waid and Grant Morrison, so I was surprised how much more I liked the Kelly run.
ReplyDeleteThe Martian Manhunter stuff was so good.
I love Martian Manhunter. I don't think he's boring at all; I just think he is one of the many missteps after the Infinite Crisis/One Year Later jump. See also: Flash, Bart Allen, Firestorm, Manhunter, the Marvel Family, and so on and so forth.
I love him in JLI and in DC One Million. In New Frontier and The Batman.
Killing Martian Manhunter would be kind of stupid, really. Most of these deaths are. They don't resonate anymore. They just make stories feel cheap.
I'm hoping for an imaginary story, and NOBODY dying.
ReplyDeleteI am so sick of heroes being killed. This crap has been going on for 20 years.
It's a Crisis. Doesn't that pretty much ensure Flash is going to take a dirt nap?
ReplyDeleteCan you see my eyes rolling?
On the other hand, if heroes didn't ever die, wouldn't THAT be sort of stupid? It's them coming back to life that's the issue.
ReplyDeleteI look at it as sort of mathematical thing though. Comics have just so many different issues they have to fill stories with over the years that just about ANYTHING is going to happen sooner or later, including killing someone and bringing them back from the dead. It's simply an unavoidable element of a medium/universe that a million issues to fill and no set end point.
And frankly, compared to the way it used to be in the "good old days" of comics, we're spoiled. Half the JLA died and then was resurrected in like every other issue for goodness sakes. My favorite was when someone dressed the Earth 2 heroes in bad guy costumes, and then tricked the Earth 1 heroes into killing them... after which the spooky Earth 2 heroes haunted their killers. Then the Spectre brought everyone back to life, or something, and it was all good.
Grant Morrison's Final Crisis interview on CBR seems to hint pretty strongly at Martian Manhunter dying, so I'm going with that.
ReplyDeleteToo much to hope that DC is tired of all the legal hassle over Superman and they're finally gonna off him once and for all? Probably...
ReplyDeleteManhunter seems fair, he is kinda dull in the comics compared to the 'toons. Although that fire arc of the JLA comic did almost get me to be a regular reader...until they ruined it with a space monkey.
I like Morrison and I've been looking forward to the Crisis, but his explanation sounded very, VERY convoluted. Proof'll be in the pudding, I guess.
ReplyDeleteBah! I lose. Pretty throwaway death if you ask me.
ReplyDelete