IIRC they were told to get rid of the characters, but putting them into limbo or killing them was Yost's call and they picked "Put them on an exploding bus".
The thing is, despite all that I think Kyle & Yost aren't bad at characterization. They have lots of neat little moments (like that one above) but they never really develop them.
Also, Skottie Young (That's his name right) who did some of the art at the end was AWESOME.