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I read the new My cup of Joe and there are some good stuff in there.  Here is a question that I wanted to share.  After reading it go read the entire blog. 

1. Why is it that the death of a major character used to be such a universe shaking event and now it seems to be used as just a soap opera plot device? Captain America not-withstanding it seems like the characters that were killed off and we actually felt a loss for just end up recycled to the point that we don’t even consider for a minute that anyone will stay dead.
2. When are the X-Men going to be the X-Men again? (you know…protecting a world that fears them and hates them) Right now the brand seems to be either the Sins of Professor Xavier or Adventures in Space. This title used to have cultural relevance and was a good reflection of modern society and now it is just spandex and weird looking heroes or reformed villains or former heroes turned bad.

JQ- Tony, how are things?

1. I’m not quite sure of the actual scope of your question as when I look at the history of comics, nearly every death has been used for soap opera effect.  The only deaths that for the most part stand the test of time, are the deaths that define a character’s origin and reason for being.  The death of Uncle Ben, the death of the Wayne family, Battlin’ Jack Murdock, etc.  But outside of those defining characters, death and resurrection have been a staple of comic book and fantasy storytelling since I can remember, so I don’t know if today is any different than yesteryear.  Knowing that to be the case, what is really important, is not so much the death or the resurrection, but how it’s done, the consequences paid and, at the end of the day, is the story satisfying. Because I hold that as one of my core beliefs, we have several rules in place at Marvel involving character deaths and resurrections that hopefully allow us to police them better and not have them just happen willy nilly.
2. Hmmm, I would have to disagree with you on that one.  I believe the beauty of X-Men is the fact that it’s stayed true to its metaphors while mixing in the high adventure as a welcomed reprise.  What makes the X-Men work so well is the blending of the two.  Not every X-Men story is going to be, nor should it be a heavy hammering on its core metaphor.  While it’s important, only dealing with those issues would eventually become boring.  This last trip to space wasn’t the first time the X-Men took such a journey and I’m sure it won’t be the last.  But, moving forward, there is a new status quo in the world of X-Men as well as a new home and new teams with different missions and with that a renewed look at what it means to be feared and loathed.