The Top 10 Superhero Deaths of All-Time OR The Resurrection of Timmy

POSTED BY , 13 March 2007

It seems that everyone in the so-called “real-world” has been all a-flutter about the death of Captain America. After all, when someone dies, it’s a big deal, right? Especially when that person is a hero who has been in the public eye for more than half a century.

Thus, someone suggested to me, late last week, that for my second blog that I list the top ten super-hero deaths of all-time. But that presents a problem.

First, a story:

Timmy was a high-spirited Golden Retriever who belonged to my brother and sister-in-law’s family. He was about ten years old, had a big house and lots of kids to frolic with.

Sadly, as with any pet, the time came when Timmy simply became too sick to go on. The family dropped him off at the vet for overnight treatment and later received the phone call: Timmy had not made it.

At times like that, smart parents like my brother and sister-in-law take the opportunity to teach their children about life and death. My niece and nephews took the news hard. They went to bed tearfully, only barely comprehending that they would never see their beloved pet again.

Until, of course, the next morning, when a call came from the vet that Timmy was, after all, okay and was ready to come home.

In the words of many a famous comic character: “What th-?”

And so, the next day, the kids came home to find the miraculous resurrected canine happy and ready to greet them.

One can only imagine what their young minds took away from this particular lesson on life and death.

Although Timmy eventually did pass away not long after, it made me think about the differences between death in the real world and the fictional world. Mark Twain talked about exaggerated rumors and all that.

In real life, except in the rare cases of certain canines and, many believe, spiritual icons, very few return bodily from the dead. At least to my knowledge.

But in the realm of comic books, it is even rarer to find a dead character who has not been resurrected eventually.

Even Captain America’s sidekick, Bucky, was long thought dead – over fifty years - until Ed Brubaker (the very man who wrote Cap’s death) brought him back.

So it’s hard for me to get all mournful and bent out of shape when one of my favorite characters gets put to death. Like my niece and nephews were with Timmy, I keep thinking: he’ll be back soon, right?

Thus, making a list of the top ten dead super-heroes is a little problematic when you consider that MOST of those characters have long since returned.

For what it’s worth, then, here’s my list, compiled without research and off the top of my head – in no particular order – of the top ten super-heroes deaths.

• SUPERMAN: Okay – I put this first. Superman is still my favorite super-hero and when he died, DC Comics changed the rules. It was the first fictional super-hero death that actually got mainstream attention and many people who were not familiar with how comic books work thought he would never return. What this story did, though, was highlight for many people what they thought of a character who had simply become part of the woodwork – and his return over a year later helped put him back on top where he belonged.



• THE FLASH: When Barry Allen died, it was, once again, something that had NEVER been done. To take a character who had his own book and had been part of the DC Universe for over thirty years, killing him off heroically – and then NOT undoing it (at least as of this writing) was simply ground-breaking.



• PHOENIX: The first death of Phoenix (who as far as we knew at the time was Jean Grey/Marvel Girl) in X-Men 137 was, quite simply, magnificent. No one had ever truly done an epic tragedy in comic books and followed through with the inevitable outcome – the death of the hero. The nature of episodic fiction, however, dictated that this death had to be undone, redone, revisited, repurposed ad naseum. As of this writing, I’m not even certain myself – Is Jean Grey alive or dead or what?



• HAWKEYE: I hated when Hawkeye died. I mean, I was glad to see him again in She-Hulk and House of M, but I’m still not certain as to whether he’s still dead or not.



• SUPERGIRL: The death of Kara Zor-El in Infinite Crises back in 1986 left such a gap in the DC Universe, that- by my count-she had to be replaced by maybe a half-dozen blonde super-heroines who looked or sounded like Supergirl one way or another. Eventually, DC returned Kara to the DCU, but to my mind, this is still a different character than the one who we watched grow up and sacrifice herself to save the universe way back when.



• GREEN ARROW: Wait a minute – Green Arrow died?



• BUCKY: As stated earlier, Bucky’s death, retconned in around 1964, had resonance throughout Captain America’s career from the time he was taken off ice. The loss of Cap’s young partner added a sense of tragedy to all his adventures and added a layer of pathos to the character. Until, y’know, Bucky got better.



• ROBIN: The death of Jason Todd was, to my mind, one of the most cynical storylines in the history of comics. Granted, it was well-written and well-drawn, but having a 900 number where fans could call in to decide on his fate – while a great marketing ploy – still left an odd aftertaste. Of course now that Jason is all better and grown up, all is forgiven, right?



• CAPTAIN MARVEL: How cool is it that Cap died of cancer? Not that cancer is ever cool, but the fact that he died of a disease and not in battle made this one of the more thoughtful stories, done by the master, Jim Starlin. And to my knowledge, Captain Marvel has never been revived… what? Oh. Never mind.



• FERRO LAD: Hey, guys – I’m showing my age – but when the Legion of Super-Heroes killed off the tragically deformed but majorly heroic Ferro Lad back in the late 60’s, it hit-hard. A few issues later, the “ghost of Ferro Lad” sparked a chill that went right up my spine. If you haven’t read this one, get yourself a LEGION ARCHIVES and do so.

That’s my list. And each has shown up, one way or another, later on.

Timmy, to my knowledge, has not returned again.

Again – no research, so if I missed a favorite, please write in and tell us. What’s YOUR list?

Talk to ya soon,

David

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