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As comic characters continue to run wild in the Image Comics series Crossover, one fan-favorite real-life creator dies by a familiar murder weapon.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Crossover #9, on sale now from Image Comics.
If there’s one thing clear about the Image Comics series Crossover, it’s that no real-world comic book creator is safe. After hundreds of comic book characters suddenly crashed into Denver in a city-destroying battle, many real-life comic creators were deemed responsible for the carnage and hunted by those who zealously targeted the comic book community. Everyone from Brian K. Vaughan to Chip Zdarsky has been menaced by sinister figures pursuing comic book creators, with the government working with Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim from Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s Powers to learn more about the murderous culprits. And in the latest issue of Crossover, another comic creator turns up dead from a weapon he has long been associated with: Scott Snyder.
The comic book creator killer has stayed one step ahead of the authorities for some time, leading to the government’s recruitment of Walker and Pilgrim to stop any additional murders after Vaughan’s tragic demise. Walker and Pilgrim are further motivated when they realize that the death of their creators may bear dark omens for the characters they created, with both fictional detectives quickly moving to ensure Bendis and Oeming stay safe from the comic book creator serial killer. However, as the crimefighters reach a crime scene in a dark alley by a movie theater, they discover that Snyder has become the latest real-world murder victim, with a Batarang-like weapon discovered at the murder scene by the authorities in Crossover #9 by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe and John J. Hill.
In a way, Snyder’s fate mirrors that of Thomas and Martha Wayne, with all three murdered in an alley near a movie theater showing The Mask of Zorro. Given that Snyder became one of comics’ biggest writers with one of the most critically acclaimed runs on Batman of all-time — often paired with superstar artist and longtime collaborator Greg Capullo — this tragedy is all part of a coordinated effort against the comic book creators. It also raises the question of what Snyder’s murder has caused to all of his original creations like American Vampire‘s Skinner Sweet and his newly launched line of creator-owned titles through his publishing imprint Best Jackett Press.
Snyder’s murder and the inclusion of an apparent Batarang are not the only times that DC properties have been referenced since the start of Crossover. The series’ opening issue featured a child’s drawing of Superman’s iconic emblem, which did not name the Man of Steel directly. Similarly, the Batarang has not yet been named as such by Walker or Pilgrim. In terms of its depiction, the Batarang is also slightly different than most other iterations of the shuriken, with longer, more jagged ears at the center, potentially differentiating it noticeably for licensing reasons.
Just as with Vaughan’s off-panel murder at the start of the series, the death of Scott Snyder is all in good fun between him and Crossover‘s creative team, with Snyder and Cates not only friends but teaching the occasional comic book class together. Instead, Snyder’s murder reminds Crossover‘s heroes of the bloody stakes to the mystery they’re investigating, while providing another big wink to the readers as the real-world and larger comic worlds collide, leaving plenty of shocking casualties in their wake.
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