# Superheros who are dead, and still active Superheroes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240 "2014-01-20T01:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/21 "2014-01-20T13:33:17Z")
For the longest time, DC ran a comic where Jeb Stuart’s ghost helped fight the Nazis during WWII; you could argue that he wasn’t a superhero, but it’s awkward to find yourself starting a sentence with _sure, he was a comic-book character who used superhuman powers to battle villains and help law-abiding citizens, but…_ ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/22 "2014-01-20T15:51:23Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Punisher was briefly dead and turned into an angel. This…is best not remembered. Interesting theology there :dubious: Anybody with even the slightest grasp of Christian ethics knows that, absent a major repentance, The Punisher’s afterlife is likely to be a rather warm one… ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/23 "2014-01-20T16:14:10Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > For the longest time, DC ran a comic where Jeb Stuart’s ghost helped fight the Nazis during WWII; you could argue that he wasn’t a superhero, but it’s awkward to find yourself starting a sentence with _sure, he was a comic-book character who used superhuman powers to battle villains and help law-abiding citizens, but…_ And he fought the Jerries in a haunted tank to boot. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/24 "2014-01-20T17:06:06Z")
For the longest time, the Phantom Stranger had no origin story; he’d just appear like a stage magician to offer the Justice League a little help, and then slip away when no one was looking, or whatever, such that some characters were convinced he didn’t even _have_ powers; the readers knew better, but didn’t know specifics. After decades of that, he finally got an origin story: as the one good man in a city like Sodom or Gomorrah, he cried out for God to spare his people and tearfully committed suicide; denied heaven and hell, the guy was tasked with saving his family and his neighbors as the ultimate stranger: forgotten by them, forgotten even by _himself,_ forever wandering the world as The Do-Gooder Who Ain’t From Around Here. Of course, whether this was his _actual_ origin was left ambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/25 "2014-01-20T19:36:30Z")
Casper the Friendly Ghost. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/26 "2014-01-20T21:27:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Casper the Friendly Ghost. Didn’t Cecil talk about Casper’s origens? IIRC, the official line was that Casper was born a ghost. No, it doesn’t make any sense, but it means they didn’t have to write a story about a child dying. Me, I always assumed that a school burned down, and that was why there was an entire classroom full of child ghosts, plus a teacher. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/27 "2014-01-20T21:35:05Z")
Outside of Judge Dredd (both movie versions) - do we have any zombie superheros? thats what the world needs now - a zombie superhero. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/28 "2014-01-20T21:54:00Z")
Jesus Christ? ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/29 "2014-01-20T21:58:13Z")
Didn’t the Spectre (DC, Golden Age) have to be murdered in his origin? ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/30 "2014-01-20T22:09:11Z")
Well, there was that time Spiderman mutated into a giant spider, was killed, then gave birth to himself, does that count? This is a discussion about comic books, after all. Alive vs. dead is not necessarily a binary choice. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/31 "2014-01-20T22:18:41Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Outside of Judge Dredd (both movie versions) - do we have any zombie superheros? thats what the world needs now - a zombie superhero. Sure, there’s Marvel Comic’s Simon Garth a.k.a. [The Zombie](http://marvel.wikia.com/Simon_Garth_%28Earth-616%29). Would Swamp Thing or Man-Thing count as dead characters? Both of them started out as normal ordinary humans who got murdered in swamp settings and then had their souls imbued into swamp ground. So, they could technically both be considered undead. Man-Thing especially could be classified as a zombie since he (it?) is pretty mindless. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/32 "2014-01-20T22:31:50Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Jubilee died twice? That’s harsh. For a mutant? That’s actually way below average. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/33 "2014-01-20T23:00:55Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Sure, there’s Marvel Comic’s Simon Garth a.k.a. [The Zombie](http://marvel.wikia.com/Simon_Garth_%28Earth-616%29). And DC comics has [Frankenstein.](http://www.writeups.org/img/inset/Frankenstein_GM_h.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/34 "2014-01-21T01:01:01Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Sure, there’s Marvel Comic’s Simon Garth a.k.a. [The Zombie](http://marvel.wikia.com/Simon_Garth_%28Earth-616%29). > > Would Swamp Thing or Man-Thing count as dead characters? Both of them started out as normal ordinary humans who got murdered in swamp settings and then had their souls imbued into swamp ground. So, they could technically both be considered undead. Man-Thing especially could be classified as a zombie since he (it?) is pretty mindless. Interesting - the amulet controller controls him - I was thinking more of a general ‘mindless’ zombie that is not controlled by someone - the chase scenes would write themselves. > [@Miller](#): > > And DC comics has [Frankenstein.](http://www.writeups.org/img/inset/Frankenstein_GM_h.jpg) I don’t consider frankenstein a zombie in the classic sense - since he has been ‘brought back to life’ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/35 "2014-01-21T01:07:47Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Would Swamp Thing or Man-Thing count as dead characters? Both of them started out as normal ordinary humans who got murdered in swamp settings and then had their souls imbued into swamp ground. So, they could technically both be considered undead. Man-Thing especially could be classified as a zombie since he (it?) is pretty mindless. Swamp Thing definitely, but he didn’t find it out until Alan Moore started writing the strip. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/36 "2014-01-21T01:31:03Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Jubilee, Baron Blood, Blade, Jubilee, Lilith (heroic vampires) Baron Blood heroic? Wasn’t he a Nazi? Or is that a different Baron Blood? Wow, Punisher’s got a lot of best forgotten crap. Like that time he turned black for a few issues (and no it wasn’t a colorist’s mistake, it was an actual storyline, and no, it was not a replacement Punisher, Frank Castle literally changed his skin for a while). And I thought the deal with Swamp Thing’s big revelation was that he WASN’T actually the dead guy, he just had his memories and thought he was him or something like that. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/37 "2014-01-21T01:33:25Z")
> [@simster](#): > > I don’t consider frankenstein a zombie in the classic sense - since he has been ‘brought back to life’ I agree with you, actually, but I’ve seen a lot of other people categorize Frankenstein monsters as a sub-category of “zombie,” so I thought I’d throw it out. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/38 "2014-01-21T01:49:45Z")
There’s the Black Terror, one of the obscure heroes Alan Moore revived for _Terra Obscura_. The Terror is killed battling an alien, but has his consciousness downloaded into the supercomputer in his secret lair, so he can continue fighting crime from beyond the grave. The same comic featured the Fighting Spirit, a legacy hero who’s aided by the ghost of her father, the Fighting Yank; the Green Ghost, who was a crime fighting occultist before he became a crime fighting spirit; and Mystico, a reanimated Egyptian mummy (later, a supervillain). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/39 "2014-01-21T02:18:30Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Baron Blood heroic? Wasn’t he a Nazi? Or is that a different Baron Blood? This is a different Baron Blood (albeit one who wears the same costume). It’s Dr. Strange’s brother. I don’t think he’s made a lot of appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240/40 "2014-01-21T02:55:59Z")
Kid Eternity, published by Quality during thr Golden Age and now a DC property. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheros-who-are-dead-and-still-active-superheroes/679240.md?page=3)