What's Good For One . . .

Just read the CBR report on the DC Brightest Day Panel which was entertaining on the whole but one thing leapt out which I thought I'd just throw out here:

The topic of characters NOT brought back to life in "Blackest Night" went across the panel and the crowd, and Sattler asked if there was anyone fans were hoping would be brought back "other than Ralph and Sue Dibny and Ted Kord." Several fans noted Damage and one asked for Aztek. When it came to the Blue Beetle, [James] Robinson said that it was because he died a dramatic heroes death and because people liked Jaime Reyes so much, they decided it was best to leave it be. "I love Ted Kord too, but to resurrect that character would be a terrible thing."

Now I happen to agree that the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle is a great character - shame his ongoing series didn't run as long as I'd like but it was cool and he's still getting a little bit of exposure in Teen Titans and the upcoming Justice League: Generation Lost.

But the line about deciding to leave Ted Kord as one of the dead because of the heroic nature of his death . . . that doesn't really wash.

Here's the last part of that quote again but with a couple of names changed:

When it came to the Flash, [James] Robinson said that it was because he died a dramatic heroes death and because people liked Wally West so much, they decided it was best to leave it be. "I love Barry Allen too, but to resurrect that character would be a terrible thing."

That doesn't really work, does it? I'm loathe to get in to rating how heroic one character's death was compared to another, but Allen died in Crisis on Infinite Earths for the sake of the entire Multiverse! It doesn't get more dramatic than that and yet, despite people liking Wally West so much, Allen gets to come back.

I'm not complaining about which character has or hasn't returned, just the ridiculous, contradictory reasoning behind leaving one character dead and allowing another to return.

Do what you need to do, DC, but is it too much to ask for consistency?