# Which comic book characters are currently dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727 "2009-07-12T01:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [July 12, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/1 "2009-07-12T01:27:04Z")
Not a fulltime reader so I don’t keep up on these things. But my understanding is that Batman is currently dead and Captain America is now alive again. Correct? What other big characters are currently dead or recently back from the dead? And what does it say about the comic book genre that I can post these questions and every comic book reader knows what I’m talking about? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/2 "2009-07-12T03:32:43Z")
I have not followed DC or Marvel recently but AFAIK Bucky came back to life and now he is the new Captain America… So, after they said that “Bucky was one that will remain dead forever” I have to say that in the DC or Marvel universe is really hard to point at a character that is really, really, dead. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/3 "2009-07-12T03:36:56Z")
Deadman is still dead. Sorta. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/4 "2009-07-12T03:54:15Z")
Is Uncle Ben still dead? If not, who do I have to sell to the devil to fix it? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/5 "2009-07-12T04:35:32Z")
The Comedian, Rorschach, Nite Owl I, Captain Metropolis, Hooded Justice, Dollar Bill and Silhouette. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/6 "2009-07-12T05:09:40Z")
As long as [Squirrel Girl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_girl) is still alive and kicking, all is well with the world. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/7 "2009-07-12T05:43:49Z")
Ralph and Sue Dibney are dead, unfortunately. Poor Ralph and Sue. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/8 "2009-07-12T06:30:57Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Is Uncle Ben still dead? If not, who do I have to sell to the devil to fix it? You know, with everything Marvel has done, I’m pretty sure raising Uncle Ben would be the one sole thing that would ACTUALLY cause dead fans to rise from the grave and tear the houses of the writers down brick by brick. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/9 "2009-07-12T06:59:15Z")
Well, with _Blackest Night_ and the Black Lanterns coming up, ANYONE dead can be brought back again, as that seems to be what the Black Lanterns are about. Also, I seem to remember reading somewhere that (at least in the DC Universe) there’s something wrong with Death, which is why these people keep coming back. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/10 "2009-07-12T12:22:43Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > You know, with everything Marvel has done, I’m pretty sure raising Uncle Ben would be the one sole thing that would ACTUALLY cause dead fans to rise from the grave and tear the houses of the writers down brick by brick. Hmmm… "Dear Mr. Quesada… With all of the resurrections and faked deaths in the comics today, how is it that Petey Parker’s beloved uncle still isn’t with us? I mean, for Spider-Man to have to go on without without his father figure like that—it just reminds us all that he’s not a kid anymore; it makes him seem so _old_. Old, and on the inevitable march towards death…and possibly losing his hair, too." Dance, puppet. _Dance…_ ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/11 "2009-07-12T12:49:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not a fulltime reader so I don’t keep up on these things. But my understanding is that Batman is currently dead and Captain America is now alive again. Correct? Cap’s alive again? _ **I freakin’ knew it!** _ I knew they didn’t have the cajones to keep him dead. Any details? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/12 "2009-07-12T13:01:57Z")
Well apparently, he fell into some freezing waters toward the end of WWII and was kept alive in suspended animation. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/13 "2009-07-12T13:03:47Z")
I meant after his gunshot death at the end of MU’s civil war. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/14 "2009-07-12T13:23:49Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > Cap’s alive again? _ **I freakin’ knew it!** _ I knew they didn’t have the cajones to keep him dead. Any details? He is going back through time, revisiting specific incidents in his own past. They’ve shown him, with modern memories, in WWII. And if they don’t tie this into **Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles** and **1602** , I will be very surprised. Batman, likewise, has been sent back through time and was last seen drawing a bat on a cave wall. He’ll be back. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/15 "2009-07-12T13:43:24Z")
Batman’s dead too? Wow. Temporal Mechanics give me a headache. Well, no one stays dead in comics, I guess. I thought Wonder Man had died, but I recall seeing him alive in a comic a few years ago. I hope it was a flashback, because to be honest I’ve always hated Wonder Man as a character. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/16 "2009-07-12T13:46:28Z")
Jean Grey has been dead for a while. Which is kind of silly, since she’s got a far better excuse for not staying dead than most. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/17 "2009-07-12T13:54:27Z")
The word “dead” doesn’t seem to mean what the writers of comic books think it means, does it? ---
**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:** [July 12, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/18 "2009-07-12T16:07:04Z")
I see Wikipedia has a [list of dead comic book characters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dead_comic_book_characters). Going through it, I see some familiar names: Ant-Man, Aquaman, Big Barda, Blue Beetle, Dazzler (Ultimate version), Elongated Man, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, Nightcrawler (Ultimate version), the Question, Scarlet Witch (Ultimate version), Wasp (both regular and Ultimate versions). I didn’t see some names I expected: didn’t the Scarlet Witch kill Hawkeye and Vision? Or are they alive again? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/19 "2009-07-12T17:07:37Z")
Hawkeye is now Ronin, I believe, and some version of Vision’s been kicking around for a couple years now. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727/20 "2009-07-12T18:47:25Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > I meant after his gunshot death at the end of MU’s civil war. It’s called a joke, son. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-comic-book-characters-are-currently-dead/502727.md?page=2)