# Has there ever been a comic character properly killed off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417 "2010-07-03T12:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/41 "2010-07-06T17:50:47Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So… does ANYBODY in comics die of “old age”? > > The closest I can come up with is “The Death of Captain Marvel”. Jim Steranko did a brilliant job of showing a hero facing … cancer. > > And losing. > > Long, protracted, painful death with a crowd of heroes around his hospital bed. I liked how they had all the greatest minds in the Marvel universe, working together to cure cancer to save Captain Marvel. It was great, because it raised two excellent questions. 1) Why didn’t they ever try to do this before he got cancer? and 2) Why did they stop trying after he died? Seriously. It’s cancer. It’s killed more people than Dr. Doom, Kingpin, and Magneto combined. Short of the occasional invasion by Galactus, shouldn’t this be Reed Richards’ primary job? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/42 "2010-07-06T17:59:38Z")
I think Batman had a heart attack, but after Clark winked at Robin, everything was okay. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/43 "2010-07-06T18:24:14Z")
> [@](#): > > So… does ANYBODY in comics die of “old age”? Didn’t The Sandman die of old age in the series _Kingdom Come_? Not sure that counts, though. I really came in here to mention the one you did – the death of Captain Marvel. Sue Storm’s father got killed off in Fantastic Four back in the 1960s. So did The Hate Monger. for all I know they got resurrected along the line (I know someone wearing the HM costume shows up later, but it’s not the original guy), but if so, I hadn’t heard about it. And the original Proty died, along with 1/3 of Triplicate Girl. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/44 "2010-07-06T18:31:59Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Nice. I read his wikipedia entry. In the original X-men, Xavier’s death was retconned to be Mimic…an example of the infamous Double-Dirty-Body-Double-Non-Death. Actually that was Changeling not Mimic. Morph from the Age of Apocalypse is actually believed to be Changeling from that timeline. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/45 "2010-07-06T18:38:36Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > The fact that there **was** an (seriously ill-advised IMO) alternative reality Uncle Ben counts as being brought back for me. > > Just like Gwen Stacy’s clones, identical cousin Jill or identical secret daughter counts as bringing back Gwen do. Even Captain Stacy had an identical brother who was pretty much the same but with a goatee. > > Some writers just can’t help themselves… Peter Parker’s parents have been brought to life in flashback stories, but never in “current” reality, if I’m not mistaken. Did DC’s Monitor stay dead? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/46 "2010-07-06T19:54:44Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > I think Batman had a heart attack, but after Clark winked at Robin, everything was okay. Huh? Is there a reference I’m not getting? I would think Batman would have a heart attack _after_ seeing Clark wink at Robin… I know I would… and would immediately send it to [Superdickery.com](http://Superdickery.com). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/47 "2010-07-06T19:54:51Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So… does ANYBODY in comics die of “old age”? > > The closest I can come up with is “The Death of Captain Marvel”. Jim Steranko did a brilliant job of showing a hero facing … cancer. > > And losing. > > Long, protracted, painful death with a crowd of heroes around his hospital bed. > > Anyone else die of Natural Causes? I don’t know if Cap’s cancer can really count as “natural causes” when he got it from a supervillain exposing him to nerve gas. He also apparently doesn’t count as dead for this topic, because there’ve been alternate versions and ghosts and what not (not to mention that Skrull that had his soul implanted or whatever). > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Peter Parker’s parents have been brought to life in flashback stories, but never in “current” reality, if I’m not mistaken. They were brought back for a while, then turned out the be clones or imposters or something. IIRC, the Green Goblin was behind it. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/48 "2010-07-06T20:03:27Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Huh? Is there a reference I’m not getting? It’s from the ending of Frank Miller’s _Dark Knight Returns_. Batman fakes his own death, goes to the trouble of being buried and everything, only to have his plan undone by a certain Kryptonian’s super-hearing. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/49 "2010-07-06T20:25:43Z")
Geez, those Kryptonians are _so_ annoying! Are you with me, folks? All the super-hearing and super-ventriliquism and super-whatever…super coupon-redemption, maybe… _Ooh, look at me, I was raised under a red sun. I can hover._ Well, stop it. It’s weird. Don’t you have a secret identity that needs to type up a newspaper story? Leave us earthlings alone. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/50 "2010-07-06T21:32:18Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I don’t know if Cap’s cancer can really count as “natural causes” when he got it from a supervillain exposing him to nerve gas. > > He also apparently doesn’t count as dead for this topic, because there’ve been alternate versions and ghosts and what not (not to mention that Skrull that had his soul implanted or whatever). > > They were brought back for a while, then turned out the be clones or imposters or something. IIRC, the Green Goblin was behind it. not GG, the Chameleon. They were actualy LMD (life model decoys). I forget what the purpose was, but it was part of the unhinging of Spiderman leading up to the Clone fiasco. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/51 "2010-07-06T21:43:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > The closest I can come up with is “The Death of Captain Marvel”. Jim Steranko did a brilliant job of showing a hero facing … cancer. I hate\* to nitpick, but because this is one of my favorite stories by one of my favorite writers (though he’s been slipping in his latest works), I feel the need to correct you. It was Jim _Starlin_. \*Alright, you got me, dislike ---
**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:** [July 6, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/52 "2010-07-06T22:38:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So… does ANYBODY in comics die of “old age”? > > The closest I can come up with is “The Death of Captain Marvel”. Jim Steranko did a brilliant job of showing a hero facing … cancer. > > And losing. > > Long, protracted, painful death with a crowd of heroes around his hospital bed. > > Anyone else die of Natural Causes? Jeff “The Patriot” Mace likewise quietly died in bed of cancer – and unlike Marvel, he had no powers, sure as he got the disease naturally long after he’d quit adventuring; in his prime, he was a crusading reporter with enough sheer damn athleticism to pick up a bulletproof shield and double for Captain America (!) when the big guy went missing near the end of WWII – but after saving a young Jack Kennedy from getting replaced by an impostor, our hero eventually retired and got old and got sick and, well, died. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/53 "2010-07-06T23:01:16Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > The fact that there **was** an (seriously ill-advised IMO) alternative reality Uncle Ben counts as being brought back for me. > > Just like Gwen Stacy’s clones, identical cousin Jill or identical secret daughter counts as bringing back Gwen do. Even Captain Stacy had an identical brother who was pretty much the same but with a goatee. Captain Jean DeWolff was also a major Spider-Man character to die, and I don’t think they ever brought back an incarnation of her in some way… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417/54 "2010-07-06T23:13:41Z")
Digs beat to Captain marvel, that was my first thought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-character-properly-killed-off/545417.md?page=2)