This week's Poll Position puts you in the position of one Mr. Grim of the Reaper family. We've all been through various super-hero deaths over the years, from the Barry Allen Flash to Supergirl to Superman and most recently Captain America. It's become a staple of the genre, but we the readers never get to say who gets the axe.
Well, now you do!
Discussion after the jump.
If you're going to off a major, beloved character, I say you ought to get something for it. Like, eliminating a major threat. Getting gunned down on the steps of the courthouse is for losers, I want me some "Supergirl prevents the destruction of the multiverses" action here, so I tried to pick the worst of the worst of each character's rogues gallery.
- Batman and the Joker: Batman has long struggled with the decision of whether or not to kill the Joker. So many lives have been lost to the Clown Prince, it's hard to justify not doing the deed. So if you're going to have to kill off Batman anyway, you could do a lot worse than ridding the world of this mass murderer at the same time. None of the other villains Batman has faced have the same psychotic, effective ability to murder, and while criminal organizations tend to self-heal, the Joker is a singular, unique entity of evil. Eliminating him would be a true help to the world.
- Daredevil and Kingpin: On the one hand, The Kingpin's the major architect of crime in New York City. On the other hand, if he's eliminated, one of his lieutenants would probably just step into the role and things would proceed apace. Or you could cause a major mafia war, with attending body count. All in all, I don't think this is a good trade.
- The entire Fantastic Four and Galactus: If this means no more FF movies, sign me up. Hell, throw Herby the Robot from the cartoon series in, and you can have them all for free. Seriously, Galactus kills billions and billions, is the price of four lives -- even exceptional ones -- really that high a price to pay?
- The entire Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps: Take out the universe's premier police force in exchange for its premier evil organization? Tough call. That's a lot of lives lost, either way.
- Professor Xavier and Magneto: Remove the greatest enemy of Xavier's dream of a united human and mutant world, and do you really need the Professor any longer?
- Superman and Darkseid: Darkseid is seriously, relentlessly evil. Billions suffer under his rule every day. If you could alleviate that kind of horror, wouldn't one Kryptonian be a small price? Certainly it's a much more compelling choice than a random destruction engine like last time Supes died.
- Thor and Loki: I wouldn't take this trade, because while Loki's a trickster and malevolent overall, he's also occasionally helped save the universe. That's got to give a god some leeway, you dig?
So looking at that list, I'd probably have to go with the Fantastic Four and Galactus. Given the current Marvel mythology, I don't think Galactus can actually be killed, but setting that aside, countless trillions of sentient lives would be saved by eliminating him, entire worlds and cultures able to thrive and survive that otherwise would have been wiped out. It's hard to stack the FF against that in the cosmic balance.
Which would you choose?
