Every now and then, media blows up with some sensationalist story out of comic books.
"They killed Robin!" "They killed Superman!" "Rawhide Kid is Gay!" "They killed Captain America!" "Wonder Woman and Superman are a couple!" "Batman's Dead!" "Human Torch Dies!" "Green Lantern is Gay!" "Green Lantern's a Muslim!" "Ms. Marvel's a Muslim!"
These things are all true, kind of. Putting aside how ridiculous it is that a comic book character's sexual orientation or faith (Magneto's Jewish! Did you know?!?) would be news, comic book characters die all the time. Many come back, some do not. All the ones listed above have made it back from beyond the grave. Comics are, by their nature, fantastical and sensationalist - that does not mean they don't do anything else, but these are a couple of their fundamental characteristics. Consequently, there are numerous problems with the way these reports hit the media.
The first real thing most fanpeople notice is the inherently touristy nature of these "reports." We want you to appreciate comics, but the occasional news story isn't going to help you do that, and when you only pretend to care once in a great long while, we curse at you from behind this month's issues. It's nice that you go to Avengers movies now and we actually really enjoy explaining stuff and answering questions (up to a point), but imagine this: There's a TV show that's been on for about 65 years. You've been watching it for the last 35, and have spent time watching all the DVDs of the old stuff, too. You absorb all the information about the show, its creators, characters and spin-offs and you get your kids to check all this stuff out, too. During one episode, the show kills off a major character during the culmination of a plot line that's been unfolding for a year, and the world reacts. How do you feel about the reactions of people who don't watch the show? Do their reactions seem to you to lack punch or credibility? The same analogy can be made using fair-weather sports fans who only support and wear the logo when the team is winning and the world is watching. Again, it's kind of cool to have people care about the stuff you care about, but it'd be even nicer if they could calm down. It's like society needs strategically placed fanfolk behind glass that you could break open when these things happen. That could be a career waiting to happen for some guys I know.
Then comes the half-assed analysis of the thing because, you know, Superman and Captain America belong to everyone, even though you fickle punks decided you outgrew them 20 years ago. So the examination begins: Will it be good for Muslims for a superhero to be Muslim? Yeah, probably. It'll probably be good for everyone to diversify any field - hybrid vigor, people. The thing is - what's the story surrounding it, and how is anyone supposed to properly analyze anything without it? When Marvel killed off Cap in 2007 and brought him back in 2009 - that was a pretty overt statement about American politics and the state of "the dream" as it were, but I think Earth 2 Post New 52 gay Green Lantern got more ink. Why is that? Because you're critiquing the act before it's finished and without the context of the surrounding story. You do that with paintings. You fill in a back story for the Mona Lisa, because it's one frame, one image. Pulling a character or an event out of a story for analysis does not compute. You ought to stop it.
Finally, when these stories hit the news, it's invariably only part of the story. By necessity, one could argue, since it takes years in real time usually for these things to play out. When the media gives you your superhero tourism, though, all you get is the one event: Does the general public know/care that Batman was dead, but now he's not? And that Robin is dead, but not the one they think? Do they know he goes through Robins like some people go through shoes? Ultimately, the biggest problem with this is a problem with news reporting in general: It is only ever part of the story, and usually the most sensational part, the part designed to get numbers / hits / listeners / viewers / ad revenue. And it's annoying.
You want to know what happens in comic books? Hit up your local comic book store. Those folks could use the money and support.