By Popular Demand--The Death Of Billy Batson!!

Sunday I showed a scene from the last issue of Kyle Baker's Plastic Man series, which used the funeral of Billy Batson (non-canonical, I assure you) to make some points about what super-hero comics should be, and how DC seemed to be going astray. (If you didn't read it, please do--Baker really nailed this one).

But you guys are terribly inquisitive, and when I said not to ask about Billy Batson's death, well, that was just like showing kids a delicious dessert and then telling them they can't have it. And so, of course you did ask.

As always, your wishes are my commands. So now we'll examine the non-canonical, Identity-Crisis-and-Infinite-Crisis-and-other-DC-trends-satirizing death of Billy Batson, during The Edwina Crisis.

Plastic Man's girlfriend, Morgan, and adopted daughter Edwina, are dead. [SPOILER ALERT--they get better later. Lazarus Pit.] And, as seemed to be the case in those days, when you die, you become a Spectre...

Meanwhile, down on Earth...

But...

Oops...

And as we saw, they did get a funeral out of it (along with a bit snark about the new role for an old DC villain...)

And at the end of the final issue, we get a look at what would happen when both Billy Batson AND Captain Marvel are "beyond the fourth wall":

Of course, Baker chose Billy Batson because no comic creators could ever abuse the Marvel Family, as they were such a symbol of innocence, and thus he was the perfect vehicle to make such a satirical point.

Oops. 

You know things are bad when DC outdoes your satirical "they would never do this" example...

From Plastic Man #19 & #20 (2006)