Gourt Home::Gourt :: Comic book death
- This article is about the deaths of characters in comic books. For the personification of death in comic books, see Death (comics).
Some comic book writers have killed off characters to gather publicity or to create dramatic tension. More often however, the publishing house intends to permanently kill off a long-running character but fan pressure or creative decisions push the company to resurrect the character. Still other characters remain permanently dead, but are replaced by characters who assume their personas (such as Wally West taking over for Barry Allen as The Flash) so the death does not cause a genuine break in character continuity.
Death isn't the handicap it used to be...
The two most famous comic deaths are arguably the 1980 "death" of Jean Grey in Marvel's Dark Phoenix Saga and that of Superman in DC's highly-publicized 1993 Death of Superman storyline (although of the two, only Jean's was actually intended to be a true, permanent death). Since the Dark Phoenix Saga, comic book deaths have been particularly common in X-Men-related series.
The prominence of comic book deaths has lead to a common piece of comic shop wisdom: "No one in comics stays dead, except Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben," referring to Captain America's sidekick (dead out of continuity since 1964, 1945 in continuity), Batman's second Robin (dead since 1989 and killed-off as a result of a fan poll) and Spider-Man's uncle (dead since 1962), respectively. Ironically, both Todd and Bucky returned from the dead in 2005. Note that sometimes a character can be dead in the mainstream continuity, but alive in an alternate reality, such as the aged Bucky in the Ultimate Marvel universe, or Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy's return in the House of M storyline.
Comic book deaths have been parodied by Peter Milligan in X-Statix, in which all the characters had died by the end of the series, and by Dan Slott in his 2005 miniseries Great Lakes Avengers, in which some characters have lasted only a single issue.
The Simpsons also parodied comic book deaths in the episode "Radioactive Man" in which Bart mentions an issue of Radioactive Man in which the eponymous character and his sidekick Fallout Boy die on every page.
Resurrection as a Metaphor
While many comic "rebirths" occur with little fanfare or convoluted retconning, some writers have taken the opportunity to explore deeper themes when bringing back a character (and indeed, in some cases, the character was only killed in the first place to create the proper circumstances to tell those stories). Many of these stories become almost mythological or epic in nature, mimicking as they do the sorts of tales which have been told by humans since the beginnings of civilization.
As a concept, resurrection is an archetypal metaphor which appears in many places throughout human history, both in religion, literature, and mythology. Many cultures have their own views on and stories about resurrection, and many of these variations have been referenced (or outright adapted) in comics. These include, but are not limited to:
- Jesus Christ - the story of Christ's Crucifixion is perhaps the most well-known resurrection in Western culture, and is rife with elements of personal sacrifice and redemption. The Death of Superman storyline consciously references this, as Superman willingly gives up his life in battle with Doomsday, the discovery of the empty tomb, and his eventual return.
- In Egyptian mythology, the Phoenix was a bird which immolated itself, and, in the process, gave birth to new life - symbolic of the cycle of life, and how life and death are but two halves of the same whole. In the same way, Jean Grey's "death", followed immediately by her rising up once more wreathed in flame, was a deliberate allegory of the phoenix myths (and thus, resulted in her new name).
- In Sumerian mythology, Inanna descended into the underworld, was trapped, and had to choose someone (Dumuzid) to take her place before she could return to the world above. In similar fashion, the conclusion of the Contest of Champions limited series, showed the Grandmaster willingly allowing Death to take him, so that the Collector could be restored to life.
- Similar to the tale of Inanna and Dumuzid, the Greek story of Orpheus is a "near resurrection" story which revolves around the quest of the musician Orpheus to descend into Hades to rescue the soul of his dead wife, Eurydice. This story was referenced in I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League, in which Guy Gardner and Fire attempted to rescue the soul of Ice from Hell. In this story, Fire plays the role of Orpheus, looking back before they had actually escaped, and thus, preventing Ice from actually returning.
Characters who have experienced a comic book death
DC Comics
| Character | Died in | Returned in |
|---|---|---|
| Iris West Allen | Flash #275 (1979) | Flash #350 (1985) |
| Black Mask | Catwoman (2nd series) #16 (April 2003) | Robin #130 (November 2004), part of the War Games Batman crossover |
| Captain Atom | Superman/Batman #6 (January 2004) | Superman/Batman #20 (June 2005) |
| The Creeper | Eclipso #13 (1993) | The Creeper #1 (1997) |
| Doomsday | Superman #75 (1993) | Superman/Doomsday (1994) |
| Eradicator | Action Comics #687 (June 1993) | Action Comics #693 (November 1993) |
| Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) | Identity Crisis #5 (December 2004) | Firestorm (3rd series) #9 (March 2005) |
| Firestorm (Jason Rusch) | Infinite Crisis #4 (March 2006) | Firestorm (3rd series) #22 (April 2006) |
| Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) | Green Arrow #101 (October 1995) | Green Arrow (3rd series) #1 (April 2001) |
| Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) | Final Night #4 (November 1996) | Green Lantern: Rebirth #4 (March 2005) |
| Joker | Batman #1 (Spring 1940) | Numerous occasions (returning after seemingly certain death became a trademark of the Joker) |
| Kilowog | ||
| Lex Luthor | Action Comics #660 | Action Comics #671 |
| Metamorpho | Outsiders #27 (January 1988) | Invasion #3 (1988) |
| JLA #2 (January 1997) | JLA/JSA Secret Files #1 (January 2003) | |
| Resurrection Man | numerous times, comes back immediately after being killed (with a new power every time) | |
| Jason Todd | as Robin - Batman #428 (January 1989) | as the Red Hood - Batman #635 (March 2005), though his face was not seen until Batman #638 (May 2005) |
| Donna Troy | Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3 (August 2003) | DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1 (August 2005) |
| Superman | Superman (2nd series) #75 (January 1993), in the Death of Superman | Adventures of Superman #500, Action Comics #687 |
Marvel Comics
| Character | Died in | Returned in |
|---|---|---|
| Archangel (Warren Worthington III) | X-Factor (vol. 1) #16 (May 1987) | X-Factor (vol. 1) #24 (January 1988) |
| Apocalypse | X-Men (vol. 2) #16 (January 1993) | Uncanny X-Men #335 (August 1996) |
| X-Men: The Search for Cyclops #4 (March 2001) | X-Men (vol. 2) #182 (April 2006) | |
| Aunt May (May Reilly Parker) | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #400 (April 1995) | Peter Parker: Spider-Man (vol. 1) #97 (September 1998) |
| Baron Mordo | Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #87 (March 1996) | Amazing Spider-Man #500 (December 2003) |
| Baron Strucker | Strange Tales (vol. 1) #158 | Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (vol. 2) #21 |
| Bucky | Avengers (vol. 1) #4 (March 1964) | Captain America (vol. 5) #1 (January 2005), though he was not identified as such until Captain America (vol. 5) #6 (June 2005) |
| Cable | X-Force (vol. 1) #18, (January 1993, at the end of X-Cutioner's Song) | Cable (vol. 2) #1 (May 1993) |
| Colossus | Uncanny X-Men #390 (February 2001), to cure the Legacy Virus | Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #4 (October 2004) |
| Cyclops | X-Men (vol. 2) #97 (February 2000), at the end of The Twelve | X-Men: The Search for Cyclops #1 (October 2000) |
| Dazzler | New Excalibur #6 | New Excalibur #7 |
| Deadpool | Deadpool (vol. 3) #69 (September 2002) | Agent X #13 (November 2003) |
| Doctor Doom | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #387 (April 1994) | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #406 (November 1995) |
| Doorman | Great Lakes Avengers #4 (September 2005) | Great Lakes Avengers #4 (September 2005) |
| Dracula | Dr. Strange (vol. 2) #62 | Tomb of Dracula (vol. 3) #1 |
| Tomb of Dracula (vol. 3) #4 | Blade: The Vampire Hunter (vol. 1) #1 | |
| Elektra | Daredevil (vol. 1) #181 (April 1982) | Daredevil (vol. 1) #190 (January 1983) |
| Nick Fury | Double Edge: Omega | Fury/Agent 13 #1 |
| Gamora | Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 | Infinity Gauntlet #1 |
| Gargoyle | Defenders v1 #152 | Solo Avengers #16 |
| Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch) | Spirits of Vengeance #17 | Morbius: The Living Vampire #29 |
| Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #122 (July 1973) | Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 1) #240 (November 1996), face shown in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #418 (December 1996) |
| Jean Grey | X-Men (vol. 1) #137 (September 1980), at the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #286 (January 1986) |
| New X-Men (vol. 1) #150 (February 2004) | temporarily revived for the duration of the X-Men: Phoenix: Endsong miniseries, resurrected then killed twice in the miniseries (2005) | |
| Guardian (James MacDonald Hudson) | Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #12 (July 1984) | Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #88 (September 1990) |
| Agatha Harkness | Vision and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #2 | Avengers West Coast #51 |
| Havok | X-Factor (vol. 1) #149 (September 1998) | Mutant X (vol. 1) #1 (October 1998) |
| Hawkeye | Avengers #502 (November 2004), during Avengers Disassembled | House of M #3 (2005) (alternate reality) |
| Hellcat | Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #14 | Thunderbolts Annual 2000 |
| Human Torch (Jim Hammond) | Fantastic Four Annual #4 (November 1966) | Avengers West Coast #50 |
| Hulk | Incredible Hulk #345 (July 1988) | Incredible Hulk #347 (September 1988) |
| Incredible Hulk #440 (April 1996) | Incredible Hulk #443 (July 1996) | |
| Iron Fist | Power Man and Iron Fist #125 (September 1986) | Namor (vol. 1) #22 (January 1992) |
| Iron Man | Avengers: Timeslide (February 1996) | arguably in Iron Man (vol. 2) #1 (November 1996), definitely in Iron Man (vol. 3) #1 (February 1998) |
| Jackal | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #149 (October 1975) | Jackal that died was a clone; real one returned in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #399 (March 1995) |
| Hannibal King | Nightstalkers #18 (April 1994) | Blade: Crescent City Blues (March 1998) |
| Korvac | Avengers (vol. 1) #178 (December 1978) | Captain America (vol. 3) #1 (January 1998, disguised; May 1999, identity revealed in #17) |
| Steven Lang | X-Men (vol. 1) #100 (August 1976) | Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #316 (September 1994) |
| Leader | Incredible Hulk #400 (December 1992) | Incredible Hulk v2 #75 (in own body; previously revealed to have survived in another body) |
| Madame Masque | Iron Man (vol. 1) #238 (January 1989) | Iron Man (vol. 1) #245 (August 1989) |
| Magneto | X-Men (vol. 2) #3 (December 1991) | X-Force (vol. 1) #25 (August 1993, during the Fatal Attractions crossover) |
| X-Men (vol. 2) #115 (August 2001) | (in disguise) New X-Men Annual 2001, (revealed as Magneto) New X-Men (vol. 1) #146 (October 2003) | |
| New X-Men v1 #150 (February 2004) | Excalibur v3 #1 (July 2004) | |
| Marrow | Uncanny X-Men #325 (October 1995) | Storm v1 #4 (May 1996) |
| Megatron | The Transformers #25 | The Transformers #56 |
| Mimic | Incredible Hulk #161 (March 1973) | Marvel Comics Presents #59 (September 1990) |
| Mister Fantastic | Fantastic Four v1 #387 (April 1994) | Fantastic Four v1 #407 (December 1995) |
| MODOK | Captain America v1 #313 (January 1986) | (temporarily) Iron Man v1 #205, (in full) Avengers v1 #387 |
| Moondragon | Defenders v1 #152 | Solo Avengers #16 |
| Moon Knight | Marc Spector: Moon Knight #60 | Moon Knight: The Resurrection #1 |
| Mr. Sinister | X-Factor (vol. 1) #39 (April 1989) | X-Factor (vol. 1) #75 (January 1992) |
| Multiple Man | X-Factor v1 #100 (March 1994) | X-Factor v1 #105 (August 1994) |
| Nighthawk | Defenders v1 #102 | Nighthawk #1 |
| Odin | Thor v1 #353 (March 1985) | |
| Optimus Prime | The Transformers #24 | The Transformers #40 |
| Pip the Troll | Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (December 1977) | Infinity Gauntlet #1 (July 1991) |
| Professor X | Uncanny X-Men #42 (October 1968) | Uncanny X-Men #65 (February 1970) |
| Proteus | X-Men v1 #128 (December 1979) | Uncanny X-Men Annual #15 (December 1991) |
| Psylocke | X-Treme X-Men #2 (August 2001) | Uncanny X-Men #455 (April 2005) |
| Punisher | The Punisher v3 #18 (1997) | As a supernatural avenger in The Punisher, vol. 4 (1998), as a living character in The Punisher/Wolverine: Revelation #1 (1999) |
| Red Raven | Sub-Mariner v1 #26 (June 1970) | Nova v3 #4 (August 1999) |
| Red Skull | Captain America v1 #300 (December 1984) | Captain America v1 #350 (February 1989) |
| Valeria Richards | Fantastic Four v1 #267 (June 1984), Susan Richards has a miscarriage | Fantastic Four v3 #15 (August 1999), returns as Valeria Von Doom; Susan's miscarriage reversed by Franklin in Fantastic Four v3 #53 (May 2002); born as Valeria Richards in Fantastic Four v3 #54 (June 2002) |
| Thunderbolt Ross | Incredible Hulk #330 (April 1987) | Incredible Hulk #398 (October 1992) |
| Incredible Hulk #400 (December 1992) | Incredible Hulk #455 (August 1997) | |
| Sasquatch | Alpha Flight v1 #23 (June 1985) | Alpha Flight v1 #44 (March 1987) |
| Sebastian Shaw | X-Factor v1 #67 (June 1991) | X-Force v1 #48 (November 1995) |
| Spider-Man | Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 (December 2005), but this served to aid an ongoing evolution of his powers that had recently begun to take place | Amazing Spider-Man #527 (December 2005) |
| Stick | Daredevil v1 #189 (December 1989) | Daredevil v1 #348 (January 1996) |
| Rachel Summers | Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4 (August 1994) | Cable v2 #82 (August 2000) |
| Stryfe | X-Force v1 #18 (January 1993, at the end of X-Cutioner's Song) | Cable v2 #6 (December 1993) |
| Terrax | Fantastic Four v1 #260 (November 1983) | New Warriors v1 #1 (July 1990) |
| Thanos | Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (December 1977) | Silver Surfer v3 #35 |
| Titanium Man | Thor v1 #358 (August 1985) | Soviet Super Soldiers (November 1992) |
| Warlock | New Mutants #95 (November 1990) | (as Douglock) Excalibur v1 #78 (June 1994), (Warlock personality restored) Warlock v4 #1 |
| Adam Warlock | Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (December 1977) | Infinity Gauntlet #2 (August 1991) |
| Mary Jane Watson-Parker | Amazing Spider-Man v2 #13 (2000) | Amazing Spider-Man v2 #29 (2001) |
| Pete Wisdom | X-Force v1 #105 (August 2000) | X-Force v1 #115 (June 2001) |
| Wolverine | Wolverine v3 #25 (April 2005) | Wolverine v3 #28 (July 2005) |
| Wonder Man | Avengers v1 #9 (October 1964) | Avengers v1 #151 (1976) |
| Force Works #1 (July 1994) | Avengers v3 #2 (March 1998) | |
| X-Men (Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Havok, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Madelyne Pryor-Summers) | Uncanny X-Men #227 (March 1988), at the climax of the Fall of the Mutants storyline | Uncanny X-Men #227 (March 1988), resurrected by Roma later in the same issue |
Other
- Arne Anka (faked his death and re-appeared with changed look)
Outside comic books
The return of a character previously thought dead is certainly not limited to comic books. In many slasher films and monster movies, the killer or monster seemingly dies at the end of the film only to return for a sequel. Daytime and prime-time soap operas are notorious for comic book deaths; famously, an entire season of Dallas was retconned into one character's dream so that a character killed in that season could return.
- Sherlock Holmes - The precursor of comic book deaths was the attempt by Arthur Conan Doyle to kill off both Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty (Victorian equivalents of superhero and supervillain) so that he could move on to other writing. But Doyle eventually ceded to pressure to return Holmes.
- Alias (TV series) - The series made fairly regular use of evil twins (or clones), so that main characters could be killed off and reintroduced into the storyline later. (This plot device was also used to explain why certain characters behaved in ways that contradicted later revelations about their intentions, similar to Marvel's use of Doctor Doom's Doombots).
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Both Buffy Summers and Angel have been killed off, only to return again in the next season.
- Dragon Ball Z - The Japanese manga/anime series uses the plot device extensively. Not only has Goku, the series' main character, dies multiple times only to be brought back, but Piccolo, Vegeta, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Kuririn, Chaozu, and others (including, on multiple occasions, the entire population of Earth) are brought back to life as well, always by wishing on the DragonBalls.
- The Guyver- The Guyver dies twice. Both times, the character comes back to life. The first time he dies, his body is disintegrated by the corrosive blood of Enzyme, and is resurrected in full by the Control Metal. The second death of the Guyver comes when his skull is crushed by Enzyme II. The armor goes into a hyper self-defense mode while regenerating the human brain of the host.
- Halloween (film series) - Serial killer Michael Myers suffers what appears to be fatal trauma at the end of each of the Halloween movies, only to return to kill again in the next film in the series. Myers is notable in that, unlike undead slashers such as Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees, he is not presented as explicitly supernatural, and thus his repeated evasion of death cannot simply be explained as the result of supernatural immortality. Myers was intended to be killed off permenantly at the end of Halloween: H20, where he finallly dies on-screen, but producers insisted on a sequel and his death was ret-conned to be a clever ruse on his part.
- MacGyver - McGyver's arch-enemy Murdock repeatedly dies (three explosions, two falls from great heights, being crushed, electrocuted and drowned). The authorities state there is no way Murdock could survive the falling boulders and elevator-shaft plummet; however, MacGyver points out that he's already repeatedly survived impossible situations.
- South Park - Kenny McCormick dies in nearly every episode of the show's first few seasons, only to return unharmed in the next episode with no apparent explanation. Kenny was finally killed off "for real" later in the series, but returned after a couple of seasons. In more recent episodes, Kenny's deaths have become more seldom.
- Stargate SG-1 - Daniel Jackson dies in the 5th season of the series, due to actor Michael Shanks' desire to leave the show, only to be resurrected in the 7th season following Shanks' return as a primary cast member. Daniel Jackson is again killed and resurrected in the 9th season's season finale.
- The Wrath of Khan - Mr. Spock dies at the end, only to be brought back in The Search for Spock.
- Transformers animated series - Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, is killed during the feature film The Movie. He is then brought back (as a sort of zombie) in an episode of the cartoon's third season, only to die again at the end of the episode. Prime is revived for good in the season's final episodes. The character is reputed to have been brought back due to fan pressure.
- Soapdish - Kevin Kline plays an actor whose soap opera character is decapitated to permanently banish the actor after a falling-out with the show's star, played by Sally Field. Twenty years later, backstage politics lead to Kline's character's being brought back, much to the dismay of writer Whoopi Goldberg, who must figure out how to bring the character back.
- The Last Stand, released May 26, 2006 - In addition to Jean Grey's return as the Dark Phoenix, she disintegrates Professor Xavier, and after the credits, it is revealed that he has transferred his mind into another body.
See also
External links
- X-Men: Death Becomes Them A comedy flash movie that makes fun of the comic book deaths in the X-Men comics.
- Shh! It’s a secret! An article that mentions the impermanence of death in particularly Marvel comic books
"Comic book death"