Comic book death
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- This article is about the deaths of characters in comic books. For the personification of death in comic books, see Death (comics).
Comic book death is a neologism used somewhat ironically in the comic book fan community to refer to the killing off and subsequent return of a long-running character. [citation needed] This irony addresses the fact that while death is a serious subject, a comic book death is rarely taken seriously and is not believed to be permanent or meaningful.
Marvel Comics supposedly engages in this gimmick more frequently than other publishers, a tendency that has been addressed directly in the X-Men books ("Mutant heaven has no pearly gates, only revolving doors" - X-Factor #70). In contrast, one famous aspect of the younger Ultimate Marvel universe is the relative lack of this device, as stories are planned to be explicitly tied together or stand-alone in advance.
Some comic book writers have killed off characters to gather publicity or to create dramatic tension. In other instances, a writer kills off a character that he/she did not particularly care for, but upon leaving the title, another writer who liked this character brings them back. 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.
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[edit] 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, and was later retconned not to have been a death at all). 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, but brought back to life in Captain America vol. 5), Batman's second Robin, (died in 1989, has since returned) and Spider-Man's uncle (dead since 1962), respectively. Ironically, both Todd and Bucky returned from the dead in 2005, and an Uncle Ben from a timeline where he never died recently entered mainstream continuity in the recent issues of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. 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.
Common retcons include:
- An explosion didn't kill the character, they were merely buried in rubble/flung to safety/transported to another dimension (Spider-Man villain Hammerhead once survived a nuclear explosion in this way).
- The person who died was a clone, impostor, or shapeshifter (Dark Phoenix being the most well-known example).
- The character really did die, but was resurrected, either intentionally (e.g., Green Arrow) or unintentionally (e.g., Jason Todd) by some cosmic or magical being.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Characters who have experienced a comic book death
[edit] DC Comics
| Character | Died in | Returned in | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allen, Iris West | Flash (1st series) #275 (July 1979) | Flash (1st series) #350 (October 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) | |
| Chance, Christopher | Human Target: Final Cut (original graphic novel) (2002) | Human Target (2nd series) #1 (August 2003) | |
| The Chief | Doom Patrol (1st series) #121 (September-October 1968) | Doom Patrol (2nd series) #15 (October 1988) | |
| Doom Patrol (2nd series) #57 (June 1992) | Doom Patrol (2nd series) #66 (March 1992) | ||
| The Creeper | Eclipso #13 (1993) | The Creeper #1 (1997) | |
| Christine Custer | Preacher #9 (December 1995) | Preacher #41 (September 1998) - as "Jodie" | |
| Jesse Custer | Preacher #37 (May 1998) | Preacher #39 (July 1998) | |
| Preacher #65 (September 2000) | Preacher #66 (October 2000) | ||
| Eradicator | Action Comics #687 (June 1993) | Action Comics #693 (November 1993) | |
| Firestorm II (Ronnie Raymond) | Identity Crisis #5 (December 2004) | Firestorm (3rd series) #9 (March 2005) | |
| The First of the Fallen | Hellblazer #83 (November 1994) | Hellblazer #95 (November 1995) | |
| 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) | |
| Kilowog | Green Lantern (3rd series) #50 | Green Lantern (3rd series) #169 | |
| Luthor, Lex | Action Comics #660 | Action Comics #671 | |
| Action Comics #701 | Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1 | ||
| Metamorpho | Outsiders #27 (January 1988) | Invasion #3 (1988) | |
| JLA #2 (January 1997) | JLA/JSA Secret Files #1 (January 2003 | ||
| Tulip O'Hare | Preacher #10 (January 1996) | Preacher #11 (February 1996) | |
| Alfred Pennyworth | Detective Comics #328 (1964) | Detective Comics #356 (1966) | |
| Superman | Superman (2nd series) #75 (January 1993), in the Death of Superman | Adventures of Superman #500, Action Comics #687 | |
| Supergirl | Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (October 1985) | Superman/Batman #8 (2004) | |
| The Second of the Fallen | Hellblazer #81 (September 1994) | Hellblazer #222 (July 2006) | |
| The Third of the Fallen | Hellblazer #81 (September 1994) | Hellblazer #222 (July 2006) | |
| 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) | |
| Jonathan and Martha Kent | Superman (volume 1) #1 | The Man of Steel #1 |
- Captain Atom's powers include being teleported through time and space as a result of death.
[edit] Marvel Comics
| Character | Died in | Returned in |
|---|---|---|
| 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 (November 2004), though he was not identified as such until Captain America (vol. 5) #6 (May 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 Apocalypse: 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) |
| 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) |
| Franklin "Foggy" Nelson | Daredevil (vol. 2) #82 (February 2006) | Daredevil (vol. 2) #87 (July 2006) |
| 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 |
| 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 (vol. 2) #345 (July 1988) | Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #347 (September 1988) |
| Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #440 (April 1996) | Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #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 (vol. 2) #400 (December 1992) | Incredible Hulk (vol. 3) #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 (vol. 1) #150 (February 2004) | Excalibur (vol. 3) #1 (July 2004) | |
| Marrow | Uncanny X-Men #325 (October 1995) | Storm (limited series) #4 (May 1996) |
| Megatron | The Transformers #25 | The Transformers #56 |
| Mimic | Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #161 (March 1973) | Marvel Comics Presents #59 (September 1990) |
| Mister Fantastic | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #387 (April 1994) | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #407 (December 1995) |
| MODOK | Captain America (vol. 1) #313 (January 1986) | (temporarily) Iron Man (vol. 1) #205, (in full) Avengers (vol. 1) #387 |
| Moondragon | Defenders (vol. 1) #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 (vol. 1) #100 (March 1994) | X-Factor (vol. 1) #105 (August 1994) |
| Nighthawk | Defenders (vol. 1) #102 | Nighthawk #1 |
| Odin | Thor (vol. 1) #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 (vol. 1) #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 (vol. 3) #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 (vol. 1) #26 (June 1970) | Nova (vol. 3) #4 (August 1999) |
| Red Skull | Captain America (vol. 1) #300 (December 1984) | Captain America (vol. 1) #350 (February 1989) |
| Captain America (vol. 5) #1 (November 2004) | revealed in Captain America (vol. 5) #14 (February 2006) | |
| Ben Reilly
(Spider-Man clone/Scarlet Spider) | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #149 (October 1975) | Web of Spider-Man #114 (July 1994), face unrevealed
- Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 1) #216 (September 1994), revealed as the Spider-Man clone |
| Valeria Richards | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #267 (June 1984), Susan Richards has a miscarriage | Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #15 (August 1999), returns as Valeria Von Doom
- Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #53 (May 2002), Susan's miscarriage reversed by Franklin - Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #54 (June 2002), born as Valeria Richards |
| Thunderbolt Ross | Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #330 (April 1987) | Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #398 (October 1992) |
| Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #400 (December 1992) | Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #455 (August 1997) | |
| Sasquatch | Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #23 (June 1985) | Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #44 (March 1987) |
| Sebastian Shaw | X-Factor (vol. 1) #67 (June 1991) | X-Force (vol. 1) #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 (vol. 1) #527 (December 2005) |
| Stick | Daredevil (vol. 1) #189 (December 1989) | Daredevil (vol. 1) #348 (January 1996) |
| Rachel Summers | Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4 (August 1994) | Cable (vol. 2) #82 (August 2000) |
| Super-Skrull | Annihilation: Super Skrull #4 (July 2006) | Annihilation #3 (November 2006) |
| Stryfe | X-Force (vol. 1) #18 (January 1993, at the end of X-Cutioner's Song) | Cable (vol. 2) #6 (December 1993) |
| Terrax | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #260 (November 1983) | New Warriors (vol. 1) #1 (July 1990) |
| Thanos | Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (December 1977) | Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #35 |
| The Thing | Fantastic Four #508 (February 2004) | Fantastic Four #511 (May 2004) |
| Titanium Man | Thor (vol. 1) #358 (August 1985) | Soviet Super Soldiers (November 1992) |
| Warlock | New Mutants #95 (November 1990) | (as Douglock) Excalibur (vol. 1) #78 (June 1994), (Warlock personality restored) Warlock (vol. 4) #1 |
| Adam Warlock | Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (December 1977) | Infinity Gauntlet #2 (August 1991) |
| Mary Jane Watson-Parker | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13 (2000) | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29 (2001) |
| Pete Wisdom | X-Force (vol. 1) #105 (August 2000) | X-Force (vol. 1) #115 (June 2001) |
| Wolverine | Wolverine (vol. 3) #25 (April 2005) | Wolverine (vol. 3) #28 (July 2005) |
| Wonder Man | Avengers (vol. 1) #9 (October 1964) | Avengers (vol. 1) #151 (1976) |
| Force Works #1 (July 1994) | Avengers (vol. 3) #2 (March 1998) |
[edit] Other
- Knuckles the Echidna, in the Archie comic series Sonic the Hedgehog
[edit] 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. However, the term comic book death was not used at the time.
The most well-known continual return of a character is that of Kenny McCormick from South Park, who was killed in virtually every episode the first five seasons of the show.
[edit] See also
[edit] 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
