# Any major comic book characters who haven't died? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613 "2010-12-10T01:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/21 "2010-12-10T17:19:55Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > …Cass was briefly killed… The casually matter-of-fact use of this locution made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/22 "2010-12-10T17:22:33Z")
There’s an awesome funeral scene somewhere in the second collection of Top Ten, a comic book about a police force in a city full of superheroes that takes the piss out of a lot of comic-book tropes. I might look it up tonight so I can properly transcribe the funeral oration; I won’t try to do it from memory. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/23 "2010-12-10T17:28:23Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > Kitty may not have ‘died’, but the last I heard, she was permanently phased into a giant planet-killer bullet, and heading out into open space. May as well be dead (of course that was a while back, so who knows - maybe that was her previously unknown clone ‘Katty’, and the _real_ Kitty’s just been on a ski holiday in Aspen for the last couple of years). According to Wikipedia, [she’s back](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Pryde#Return). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/24 "2010-12-10T17:40:19Z")
I’m pretty sure the entire Marvel universe has been replaced with clones, with the exception of Impossible Man, of course. But, I may have missed an issue where they explained that it was all a dream. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/25 "2010-12-10T20:40:10Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > I’m pretty sure he’s died besides this one, but in one Golden or Silver Age comic, which I could find the issue for, he was put to the chair, officially declared died, and then revived by one of his henchmen. Because, apparently they then had to declare his former crimes null and void. I knew a prisoner who actually tried something similar. It wasn’t an execution but his heart had stopped during an operation. He then sued to be released from prison. He said that he had been sentenced to life in prison and his life had ended when his heart stopped even though it was subsequently restarted. He argued that he had therefore completed his sentence and should be released. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/26 "2010-12-10T20:47:12Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > None of the Marvel Family have died I was going to dispute this, then I remembered that _Kingdom Come_ is an alternate-universe. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/27 "2010-12-10T21:00:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I knew a prisoner who actually tried something similar. It wasn’t an execution but his heart had stopped during an operation. He then sued to be released from prison. He said that he had been sentenced to life in prison and his life had ended when his heart stopped even though it was subsequently restarted. He argued that he had therefore completed his sentence and should be released. Did it work? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/28 "2010-12-10T21:10:40Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Did it work? No, I believe it was decided that that his “death” hadn’t met the legal standards for being pronounced dead. But on a less official note, I’ve heard a counteroffer was made. State policy at the time mandated an autopsy be performed on any prisoner who died while in custody. If he would agree to submit to the autopsy, the state would agree to release him afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/29 "2010-12-10T21:52:08Z")
Hulk and Wolverine haven’t died, have they? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/30 "2010-12-10T22:03:41Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > Kitty may not have ‘died’, but the last I heard, she was permanently phased into a giant planet-killer bullet, and heading out into open space. May as well be dead (of course that was a while back, so who knows - maybe that was her previously unknown clone ‘Katty’, and the _real_ Kitty’s just been on a ski holiday in Aspen for the last couple of years). Like I said, she came close. She has been brought back from that IIRC. (Not like I read X-Men anymore, but that’s what I hear.) ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/31 "2010-12-10T22:10:45Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > I’m pretty sure he’s died besides this one, but in one Golden or Silver Age comic, which I could find the issue for, he was put to the chair, officially declared died, and then revived by one of his henchmen. Because, apparently they then had to declare his former crimes null and void. Well, he died in _Dark Knight Returns_, too, but that’s an alternate timeline, I suppose. Then there’s also **Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker** in which Tim Drake kills the Joker, but not before the Joker implants a chip in Tim that can transform him into a clone of the Joker by remote control. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/32 "2010-12-10T23:08:57Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Hulk and Wolverine haven’t died, have they? I searched online and found a comic book [forum](http://www.comicvine.com/hulk/29-2267/hulks-deathwho-can-kill-him/92-525830/) where it’s claimed that the Hulk has been killed by the Red Hulk, the Abomination, Cable and Storm, and Deadpool. And there was apparently a time when Wolverine was killed but it turned out it was actually a Skrull impersonating Wolverine ([cite](http://www.mutanthigh.com/death.html)). ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/33 "2010-12-10T23:14:29Z")
Tintin and Asterix never died, but then I don’t know if you can say they are alive and well, since in both cases, the creator (or creators in the case of Asterix) have died. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/34 "2010-12-10T23:56:08Z")
Death of the Endless 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Amazing_Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/35 "2010-12-11T00:21:08Z")
Most manga characters haven´t. Manga characters who die tend to stay dead. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/36 "2010-12-11T03:37:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > I’m pretty sure the entire Marvel universe has been replaced with clones, with the exception of Impossible Man, of course. DOCTOR STRANGE #12-#13. Everyone except Doctor Strange dies, but then Eternity is prevailed upon to make a new Earth complete with duplicates of everyone (except, of course, Doctor Strange, who proceeds to spend rather a lot of the ensuing issues musing that these aren’t really the people he knew). > [@](#): > > But, I may have missed an issue where they explained that it was all a dream. Someone eventually claimed that several issues later in the same title, but without actually providing any evidence; a foe started explaining that It Was All Just A Hoax while explicitly trying to mess with Doc’s head during a fight. Problem is, said explanation (a) utterly failed to distract, which means it (b) got cut short when Doc followed up counterspell after counterspell of the other guy’s magic to simply land a solid left hook for the win. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/37 "2010-12-11T07:22:54Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Hulk and Wolverine haven’t died, have they? Wolverine, Elektra, and Northstar were all killed and resurrected by The Hand in Millar’s “Enemy of the State” storyline. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/38 "2010-12-11T11:31:47Z")
Does Simon Garth count? And, if so, which way? ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/39 "2010-12-11T11:59:20Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Tintin and Asterix never died, but then I don’t know if you can say they are alive and well, since in both cases, the creator (or creators in the case of Asterix) have died. Uderzo is alive and well, and has been pumping out Asterix stories ever since Goscinny died, sadly. But the OP has American comics on his mind, the laws of European (and especially French Belgium) comics are quite different. They dont have to churn things out every month or so, and they’re far less taylorized. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613/40 "2010-12-11T16:18:16Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Death of the Endless 😃 Not true. She becomes mortal for one day every century, which always finishes with her death. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-major-comic-book-characters-who-havent-died/563613.md?page=3)