Does Not Illustrate: I Let Gwen Stacy Die

The picture doesn't show Gwen Stacy dying, and it doesn't show Peter Parker angsting over her death. It shows her being caught. For anyone not familiar with that story, they'll think that she was saved and it ended there.

Are there any good pictures of "when a hero feels responsible for a loved one's death" that don't involve Spider-Man?

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

Something like this? [1]

No, that is Not An Example, it is more of a semi-permanent motive like Lily Potter for Severus Snape or Aerith for Cloud. Almost always involves wangst.

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

Did you say... wangst? [1]◊

edited 6th Mar '12 8:28:18 PM by pawsplay

That is great. (I think clearly depicting "X is motivated by Y" is a really tall and possibly unrealistic order.)

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

I honestly don't see that that's any better of an illustration of the trope. There's nothing there indicating that he let her die, that he feels that he could have/should have saved her or anything of the like. Or that he's going to Wangst over it, for that matter.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Was going to say "at least she is obviously dead" but that isn't true.

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

It does, however, show that she is dead.

We could panel it with a shot of him turning Sandpeople into the reuben special.

It's not even obvious that's a person*

, let alone a dead person. Was letting a lot of Fan Myopia in, there, knowing the context etc.

edited 6th Mar '12 8:58:02 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

It really doesn't show that she's dead, Paws. It could well be a sleeping or sick teen or child.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

It could be, but the fact that it would be on a page called "I Let Gwen Stacy Die" kinda narrows it down a bit, don't you think?

By that reasoning, the current Spiderman one is fine. It wouldn't be on a page called I Let Gwen Stacy Die if he was succeeding in saving her, would it?

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

@ "not showing the death" you can see a *snap* sound effect if you look closely enough.

Fight smart, not fair.

That's a good point. Maybe a second panel showing his guilty emotions?

Couldn't hurt.

Fight smart, not fair.

@Madrugada Exactly my point.

I'm confused.

Were you disagreeing with the suggestion to pull the Spiderman image as non-illustrative or not?

The post I was replying to with my second post was arguing that even though the Luke picture doesn't make it obvious that whoever he's carrying is dead, the page name does.

Your post in reply to that one of mine reads as though you were disagreeing with me, and were saying that the Luke and Shmi image should be considered valid, because the name of the page it's on indicates that she's dead.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

I read that too but took it differently: that is an invalid complaint, they are equally weak in that facet.

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

As I see it, they each have a different problem. The Gwen Stacy pic shows the death, but it's easy to miss, especially if you don't already know the details of the story. The Anakin and Schmi one shows what looks like a dead body, but if you aren't familiar with the details of the story, it could just be someone in a bag, or something else in a bag, or a dead body who isn't his mother. Either image could be upgraded by adding a second panel that provides the missing context.

I was thinking of something along these lines: [1]◊

edited 8th Mar '12 6:33:43 AM by pawsplay

I'd prefer the Spider-Man one based on Trope Namer status and my own Fan Myopia.

Well I guess it ain't myopia if I acknowledge it, right?

"Did anybody invent this stuff on purpose?" - Phillip Marlowe on tequila, Finger Man by Raymond Chandler.

Can we mock up a version with Spider-Man "I keel you Green Goblin1!!!" as a second panel?

My point was I think the Spidy pic is fine. I remember actually coming to this page, and having the image perfectly clarify the trope for me. I don't think the suggestions are any better, frankly.

I think it needs a tweak. I am familiar with both the comic story and the trope, and I still missed the visual detail of the snap. Plus, that merely shows the death, and the trope specifies that the death has to be motivating. I think a two panel version would be better.