http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComicBookTropes [tvtropes.org]
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Webcomics [tvtropes.org]
It's easy to waste a couple of hours there.
TropeSite
What is this about?: This "Wiki" is a catalogue of the tricks of the trade for writing fiction. We dip into the cauldron of story and place it in front of you to read.
This can include cliches, but that's really not the point. If you are just tired of hearing a permutation on one of the Stock Phrases, go to that entry and record your displeasure.
Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. If a trope gets used too much, then it becomes cliched. The word cliche means stereotyped and trite. In other words, dull and uninteresting.
It's fascinating, and snarky! Check out this entry under X-Men
TV Tropes
First Law Of Resurrection
"If the creator wants to bring back a dead character, that character will come back."
It doesn't matter how Deader Than Dead or Killed Off For Real that character is, they'll find a way to return. Much handwaving may be required in order to explain it (when they don't leave it unexplained entirely), but anything is possible. If the explanation for it is especially poor, this may lead to a Jump The Shark moment.
Especially popular in comics where Death Is Cheap and famous recurring villains are common. If some writer decides to make a bold move and actually kill one of the bad guys, it's almost guaranteed some other writer will bring him back a few years down the road (see Contractual Immortality).
