NEW YORK–Comics fans are outraged that Marvel has announced the death of superheroine Ms. Marvel in an upcoming Amazing Spider-Man comic book. The outrage is further cemented by the well-known fact that all comic book deaths are permanent and completely irreversible.

Comics, a storytelling medium grounded in realism and believability, are universally known for their stable and consistent continuity. When something happens in a comic book story, readers know it’s always a major decision that will have lasting consequences for the characters. The same is true for character deaths. A character who dies in a comic book is permanently dead, with no sci-fi or fantasy gimmicks available to bring them back as in some shows and movies.

With no way to bring characters back, comic book deaths often lead to the end of publication for the character in question. For instance, no new Superman comics have been published since Superman’s death at the hands of Doomsday in the ’90s. Similarly, once-beloved characters such as Jason Todd, Jean Grey, Elektra, and Bucky have disappeared from the pages of comics forever following their iconic deaths. Given this track record, it’s amazing that the comics have any characters left to write about at all!

“They’re making Ms. Marvel’s death an intentional throwback to Gwen Stacy’s death in Amazing Spider-Man fifty years ago,” lamented comics fan Jerry Waycon. “And Gwen has never returned since then. Not in the form of a clone that led into a whole other elaborate Spider-Man story, and certainly not as an alternate universe version who has become an immensely popular spider-powered hero in her own right.”

“First Gwen, and now Ms. Marvel,” Waycon continued. “They’re killing off great characters at breakneck speed. It’s like emotional whiplash. This is a bridge too far.”

Fans are especially enraged that creators would kill off Ms. Marvel–a Pakistani Muslim heroine and symbol of diversity in the Marvel universe–in Spider-Man’s title, seemingly just to advance his storyline. The outrage might seem a bit misplaced if there was any way to bring characters back to life, since then a major death like this would likely be temporary. But given the fact that character deaths are permanent and irreversible, the outcry is very understandable and completely valid.

Ms. Marvel’s death will take place in Amazing Spider-Man #26, releasing on May 31st. A tribute issue memorializing her will follow in July, after which no Ms. Marvel comics will ever be published again. However, an alternate universe version called Spider-Kamala is expected to debut in 41 years.