Marvel’s Apologists Justify the Studio Destroying Classic Heroes

Superhero Hype is defending and sugarcoating the death of the Silver Surfer for the sake of a female replacement, claiming it was all “fitting”, and making matters worse is that this story has a leftist political metaphor for illegal immigration:

Marvel Comics has just killed off one of its most powerful heroes. In many ways, this is unsurprising, given a giveaway title. However, the hero in question, long associated with the Fantastic Four, did die a worthy death.

The death came in the closing pages of Death of the Silver Surfer #5 by Greg Pak, Sumit Kumar, and Tiago Palma. The series has centered around the growing madness of billionaire Dennis Harmon. A tech magnate, Harmon had used his fortune to outright purchase the American agency B.A.N., the Bureau of Alien Neutralization.

Under Harmon’s direction, B.A.N. began trying to forcibly remove all aliens from Earth rather than fighting hostile alien invaders. However, while hating all superhumans, Harmon held a special hostility for the alien hero Norrin Radd. This culminated in him attempting to open a cosmic rift that he hoped would disintegrate the Silver Surfer. However, the rift threatened to devour the whole Earth in the process as the Fantastic Four and Avengers watched helplessly.

What Fantastic Four character was killed off by Marvel?

With a title like “Death of the Silver Surfer,” it was a foregone conclusion that Norrin Radd would meet his end by the series’ close. The only question was just how he would die. Ultimately, Radd died by sacrificing himself to close the rift from the inside. However, with his final act, he bequeathed the Power Cosmic to B.A.N. Agent Kelly Koh.

And this is why they believe the “death” of Norrin, even if it’ll eventually be reversed, is “worthy”? Wow, to think that a metaphor for people like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and problems with illegal immigration would actually and instantly make this whole shoddy direction justified. What they say is something only somebody who never cared for the comics creations would say.

Koh had shared Dennis Harmon’s hatred of aliens and superheroes. However, she lost all faith in the righteousness of her mission when faced with Radd’s endless compassion for his enemies and Harmon’s indifference to random people dying in the pursuit of his vendetta. In the end, she joined with Norrin Raad to save innocent lives. However, the series’ ending makes it clear she is not ready to join forces with the Fantastic Four or Earth’s other heroes.

There is a symmetry in Norrin Radd’s death. Once, he sacrificed all he was to save his home-world of Zenn-La. As the Silver Surfer, he defied Galactus to save Earth and became a cosmic hero. It seems fitting then that he should die defending the world that made him a hero. It is also worthy that his final act was changing a former enemy into a hero that would follow his example.

And I guess all the hostile aliens Radd fought in past tales, not the least being Galactus himself, weren’t worth the effort? Sigh. This is such tommyrot, and the way they talk about aliens already on earth as though they themselves couldn’t possibly have hostile ones among them is insulting to the intellect. One of the respondents in the comments section saw through this awful mess, and said:

It started off decent, but finished terribly. This mini series was definitely trying to get you to sympathize with those that violate our nation’s sovereignty. What a horrible message, a new horrible character, and a horrible ending. I don’t think this took place in the 616 universe, as the Surfer has been appearing in some other comic series. Hopefully this is the last we see of this again or the new character that nobody wants.

Well it’s not that nobody wants the character, but that nobody wants her being forced into roles where she doesn’t stand on her own. That’s the problem with how this newest character with an alliterative name was “created”; she doesn’t stand on her own as a result. Another said:

Ah. Ok. So … the villains are basically caricatures of ICE and Trump.

Brilliant.

We need more Leftist propagandizing in the comics. There isn’t nearly enough.

What it proves is that, under C.B. Cebulski, the far-left rhetoric that was present when Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso were Marvel’s editors never went away. It’s the same situation at DC. Nor do they discourage their writers and artists from engaging in this kind of mishmash. The same people who say AI’s a problem have no interest in preventing heavy-handed political metaphors from being shoved into their comics, and if AI came up with a far-left political tale, they quite likely wouldn’t have a problem with that either, so long as it followed their specific political narratives. Worst, as Superhero Hype’s writer makes clear, he won’t ask them to tone down the politics either, and that’s exactly why these embarrassments will keep going, including the “sacrificial lamb” mentality that’s now resulted in a story where the Silver Surfer’s sent into the afterlife for the sake of a poorly written metaphor.

Originally posted here