Are They Going To Kill Batman?

Rumor has it that as part of the Final Crisis miniseries and the events spinning out of it, DC Comics will be killing Batman some time this year. Of course, at this point, it is just a rumor.

My own preference would be for DC (and Marvel for that matter) to concentrate less on killing off their icons (or turning them into Satan-bartering man-children) and more on creating interesting and exciting characters.

Who can name an interesting, meaningful, fully-involved in continuity hero created in the past three years by either of the majors? (note: Blue Beetle doesn't count; he's a new face under a mask that's been around for years.) Even better; can anyone name a character that meets the criteria above who currently appears in their own solo title?

I guess I sometimes get worried that all Marvel and DC are doing is acting as stewards for characters and ideas created before most of their staffs and readers were born. Sure, legacy is a great story element (DC excels at that aspect of superhero fiction), and traumatic change can revitalize a stagnant character (Marvel's preferred method, it seems), but familiarity breeds contempt and changes sprung from every corner devalue change as a storytelling tool.

From a selfish standpoint I'd like to be able to say twenty years from now "Yeah, I've been following 'Top Hero's Name Here' for as long as they've been around." Of course, once I shot my mouth off, the publisher would, in quick succession, make the character a killer, de-age them and reveal their hermaphroditism (who says it's not a word?) all in an attempt to appeal to 'newer readers'.

That being said, Grant Morrison (the writer of the Batman ongoing and Final Crisis) is really good at his job. I'm sure the story he's got in store will kick enough ass that I can deal with any change it brings about. I'm not railing so much at this particular change (although I can see why someone would), but more at the artistic culture holding sway in the medium I love. I appreciate blockbuster events and unexpected twists that change the four-color world and its inhabitants, but I also appreciate character study and exploration. I'd like some of both, please.

Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman

I have to say, my expectations going in to Soon I Will Be Invincible were pretty high. As a comic collector of 18 years, I know what I like, and more importantly, what I don't about the genre. Austin Grossman fulfilled and then exceeded my expectations, much to my surprise and enjoyment. The pitch-perfect evocation of time-tested comic book archetypes in a novel setting was feat enough to win my praise, but Grossman took the opportunity to explore the concepts further, fleshing out what most would see as stereotypes on first glance. In letting the villainous Dr. Impossible tell his own story to the reader, Soon I Will Be Invincible portrays the character as the underdog (albeit a maniacally fiendish and amazingly intelligent one) who just won't quit. Sure, most comic heroes have that quality in spades (it seems to come with the spandex); but when was the last time you got the sense that the villain worked harder to prevail?

This book knocks some conventional comic book ideas on their ears, while preserving the spirit of the four-color adventures that only the bravest will admit to reading. For those still in the dark about just what comic books can be, this novel should be a wake-up call that there is a new mythology for those who care to study it, and it's been around for close to seventy years. Austin Grossman joins the ranks of Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek and Grant Morrison as explorers, preservers (and when needed, challengers) of the traditions of the comic story. If Soon I Will Be Invincible is the vanguard of superhero fiction, I think the genre is off to a great start.

Comic book novel? Yes. Full of strange people, strange powers, strange ideas? Yes. The treatment that some of fiction's most-underrated concepts and creators sorely deserve? By all means.