For my own curiosity.

[brown_betty]

So, every time you mention W.I.R., some fanboy helpfully says, "Hey, way more men have died in comics than women!" Thank you, random, hypothetical fanboy, that is a good point. Hm, how could we compare needless W.I.R. type deaths?

Comments

[some_stars]

*wordless squawking raaaaaaaaaage* note that only ONE of the ones in the women-losing-men column both (1.) involved another hero and (2.) were at least partly *about* the woman in question. AND IT HAS BEEN SINCE UNDONE. argh argh ARGH.

also, preemptively--i know YOU know this--kon doesn't count as a refrigerator death for cassie, because it wasn't about her at all. I KNOW SOMEONE WILL BRING THIS UP. I KNOW IT.

also, there is a horrible hilarious fanart somewhere of Kyle opening the microwave with a distressed angst-face saying, "Grandma?!?!?"

(also, I'd argue that metaphorically, the total savaging of Leslie's character would count since it served solely to affect Bruce, but I would not attempt this argument with people who don't even understand the concept of 'subtext' yet.)

[some_stars]

...ALSO ALSO ALSO ALSO ALSO. there, I think I got it out of my system now.

i need new words :(

[some_stars]

oh, another (totally minor) one for the women column--Anita's dad getting killed in YJ--am I remembering this right? I don't think it'd count as reversed since they came back as babies, in one of the more horrifyingly blatant instances of the terrible things that happen to the YJ girls when they dare to enter puberty--the character most threatening to the white-male-hegemony framework is not only taken off the playing field(like Cissie) or ultra-feminized, skinnied, and stripped of personality or development(Cassie) but sent home to take care of babies. I honestly don't understand how people MISS this stuff. (Well, no, I do, it's completely willful, but JESUS YOU GUYS, LOOK AT IT

[brown_betty]

I'm just counting romantic relationships. Given the lack of screen time given Anita's mom, her Dad barely has a romantic relationship.

But man, yes. Go home! Get pregnant! God I love Anita. Have you seen her in the 52 splash? MAYBE SHE WILL GET MORE PANELS AND NOT DIE!!!!!!!!

[derryderrydown]

Kon lost Tana Moon.

[derryderrydown]

Oh, and it could be argued that Roy also lost Donna. Because the woman was a ho-bag.

[brown_betty]

Good point. And I think he did angst over it, so that's fair.

[some_stars]

augh, yes. that was sort of HORRIBLE--the issue even ended with the narrator talking about how Kon just "became a man." AUGH AUGH AUGH.

[rubynye]

I applaud you.

And also FLAIL IN RAGE.

[liquidengineer0]

Greatest. Icon. Evar.

Seriously, this tops the animated GIF of Question running over parademons in his car during one of Darkseid's invasions.

Nice.

[rubynye]

*blush* Thanks. My friend clauclauclaudia made it.

[some_stars]

ALSO(heh), a point of comparison--how many of the dead women had death just HAPPEN to them, vs. being the end of their own arc? like, donna, ted, ollie, kon, maaaaaaaybe steph in VERY PROBLEMATIC WAYS all died because they took *actions*--in heroic battle, mostly, or sacrificing themselves(and note that Donna was never for a second intended to stay dead, which may be why she differs in so many points). Whereas Tana, Indigo, Alex, Vesper, Sarah, the nameless Clench-guy all died as a result of no actions or choices of their own--it happened to them out of nowhere for the SOLE purpose of affecting the men(or Renee).

don't know enough about Katma/Tora/Hippolyta/Jade's deaths to pronounce, but I will be SO UNSURPRISED if they're passive deaths. Well, except Tora who tended to get treated pretty well, but anyway, yes, no clue. oh, and terry, AS IF ANYBODY CARES. heh.

[brown_betty]

There are comic deaths, even comic deaths of women, that I'm okay with. I mean, not “Yay!” but they were done well. Sarah Essen died in the line of duty, and it was her death, not the death of Jim's wife.

[some_stars]

hmm. I have an icky feeling about it--because it creates a pattern of women being killed/brutalized to affect Jim, because she died while protecting babies(way to redeem a troublesome Hardass), maybe other things--but overall it is one of the least objectionable, yeah.

[sparcck]

Just playing devil's advocate for a second:

When a female super-hero dies, (and it's on the writer and the editor, obviously, to make it count) unless she's killed by a drunk driver or something, her death was a result of the life they chose to lead. Every hero knows there's a chance they might not come back, right?

And I would put Indigo on the list of women who died heroically and with a clear mind. She knew she could survive if she let Brainiac 8 take over again, but she made the choice that her family was more important. I thought it was a great scene, possibly the best scene in that whole arc.

Maybe this is just semantics, I don't know. But I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

[brown_betty]

Hm, good point. I'm inclined not to. To me she was more like Nite-wing, the annoying tag along whose death haunts Dick than anything else.

[some_stars]

on the other hand, she is a female character who was created for the sole purpose of dying so the male character could react. it depends on your methodology, i guess?

[brown_betty]

My methodology is “restrictive definitions so as not to be made nuts!” I mean, I think Harvey Bullock smiled at a nurse coming off shift once, and I kind of suspect she may have been killed in that issue, but damned if I'm going to go hunt it down.