He's back

In Batman #638, Judd Winick did the unthinkable - he's brought Jason Todd back to life. This shouldn't really have been surprising, considering that DC has been bringing everyone back to life recently. Hal Jordan is back as Green Lantern, and so is Supergirl (albeit with a new name). We also learn that Donna Troy is coming back in June, so each major DC superhero will have a full team of sidekicks. Not sure what the point of this was since DC cleared Gotham of all Batman's sidekicks in a single stroke during the War Games crossover - Orpheus and Spoiler were killed, and Batgirl, Robin and Oracle moved out.

This is actually unusual for DC. At Marvel, they've been doing this for a while now. The writers have got together to defy editorial diktats and are bringing pretty much everyone back to life. The list of recently-resurrected character includes - Colossus, Psylocke, Magneto, Jean Grey and Havok. Its only a matter of time before Bucky and Uncle Ben resurface.

What's wrong with characters coming back? After all, comics do require a willing suspension of disbelief. But the problem is that a death of a major character is supposed to be a major plot point. Readers are losing interest now that they've figured out that nobody stays dead anymore, so why bother - they'll be back. Even the recent death of Hawkeye is being greeted with scepticism.

Finally the rule remains - if there's no body, he's alive. If there is a body, its 50/50.