Now first off as far as financially bringing back Barry Alan, Supergirl, Jason Todd, Hal Jordan as Green Lantern and Barbara Gordon as Batgirl have made DC a lot of money and produced some great stories. So in that regard hard to argue they made a mistake and given the Flash TV show it would not be as good for sales if Barry Allen was in the show but new fans it created picked up Wally West comic books.
But narrative I think that it has hurt DC to undo so many of those things.
Yes, the thing about comic book characters never staying dead has been mostly true for pretty much all their lives. I mean how many people really thought Superman would stay dead or Batman would never heal? (OK they dragged out Knightfall, etc so much I started to believe Jean Paul Valley was sticking around briefly, but I was young and naive.)
But even then the stakes never seemed completely the illusion they do now. For a time it was at a point where Barbara Gordon was paralized and The Oracle, Wally West Was the Flash, Jason Todd was dead, Hal Jordan was insane and Kyle Rayner was the only Green Lantern, and while only the audience knew Supergirl had been phased from peoples memory her sacrifice forgotten by everyone.
At that time the stakes seemed real. No matter how many others came back Jason Todd was still dead, Wally West was a reminder of the price Barry Allen paid, Hal Jordan showed that anyone could become corrupt if they hit a low enough point in the battle against such overwhelming odds, and Oracleâs life was still changed forever. The stakes were still real even if most got a âdo overâ not all did and anyone could be the next one to not get the second chance most did.
But one by one over time all of it was undone and while the stories themselves were good now when a superhero is killed off they pretty much have to admit it isnât permanent while having characters morn their deaths.
Maybe I am just biased because the post-crisis almost in itâs entirety was when my comic collecting was at itâs highest, so as good as comics were before and after that time, that is still the DCU I always think of when thinking of DC Comics. But I think in editors zeal to bring back their childhood favorites as well as money counters ability to make more money (not that that isnât their job), they took away some of the peril aspect Super Heroes face to the point the danger has never seemed as big since then.
Is it just me?