In Marvel and DC comics, do any hero characters die and actually stay dead?

Question

It seems that viturally any character who has died has in a Marvel or DC title has, at some point or another, been regenerated. So now whenever you read about a character "dying", like Jean Gray, you are just left wondering, "hmmm, wonder when they will bring back that character."

So my question: can you name any comic book super hero or heroes who have died and actually stayed consistently dead?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Well, I would say Gwen Stacey, but then that evil doctor/ teacher dude made a clone of her or something. So nope. Face it. If you live in a comic book, YOU CAN NOT DIE!!! Either:
a) your evil twin will have died instead of you
b) you will be cloned and brought back to life
c) aliens will collect your energy/ life matter and use it to channel some sort of apocalyptic force into a solid form
d) you will really only be in a coma and wake up years later
e) your conscious will roam the astral plains and eventually find a body to take over
f) some cult will find your body and do some ritual to bring you back to life

or

g) you were a minor character who died so that blood could be spilled everywhere

Oh, wait! There was that one person who the Joker killed because they were protecting a newborn baby that Joker had stolen to dishearten the survivors of "no man's land" or something. Didn't she die?

Answer 2

the truth is they always come back, no matter how dead they are. Like Robin(Jason Todd), Green Lantern, and Wolverine, all of them have die but they all have come o will come back again. Green Lantern is kind of in a half died half a live state, Jason Todd returned as a villain and Wolverine even though Marvel said that "Wolverine The End" is the end of him; come on you think there going to keep a character like him dead for long. In the end DC and Marvel's industries works around these character, if they killed them completely the fans would lose that character and they would lose that fan. It work different from mangas which usually kills all the main characters in the end. DC and Marvel can't do that because then they would have to create new characters to take there place; and thats something there not good at.

Answer 3

I can't think of many characters that have stayed completely dead, never to return in any form at all. There are some who have stayed dead in continuity, but the writers keep bringing them back indirectly...

Doug Ramsey died, but Douglock was so much like him it was stupid.

Uncle Ben died, but he shows up every Spidey anniversary to impart some wisdom.

Thunderstrike died, but he still came back as a zombie for an issue or two.

Thunderbird died, but his little brother has exactly the same powers! And the same costume!

If you want some examples of people who died and stayed far away from the world of the living, metaphorically or physically, there are a few.

The whole X-Statix team died and was never heard from again.

Lots of the New X-Men have been getting killed off in their book over the past year. Pretty sure they're all gone.

Scott Summer's mom never comes back to haunt anyone.

Most of the Morlocks stayed dead. But Callisto is a FEMALE, for one of the answers above.

Everet from Generation X stayed dead. Incarnations of Blink are still seeing print all the time.

Cyber is still dead, and it's a shame. He was a real nasty villain.

The Ultimate line of books are full of characters who died for good. Heck, they killed off Beast!

EDIT: Oh wait. No one mentioned that Bucky came back, did they? Because he did.

Answer 4

It seems like it's only supporting characters, like Sue Dibney, who get the axe permanently. Of all the low, callous and profit-driven things to do!!!! Ralph (Elongated Man) Dibney wasn't the greatest hero, but he was consistently on the side of the good guys, and he helped to make the world a better place. He deserved a little marital tranquility.

But what did the bigwig editors and pubishers do...? "Oh, his sales are slipping! Instead of hiring better artists and writers, let's inject a little angst into his life...! How can we do that...? I know, let's kill his wife...!" Poor Ralph. Treated as a thing for their amusement.

[If only we could send the Punisher against the Publishers! What would the Spectre do to them for destroying Krypton...? For creating Galactus...????]

But, these days, it seems like even supporting characters might not stay dead. They brought back Ma and Pa Kent! Or, rather, they rebooted things and they haven't died again...

...yet.

I also seem to recall seeing a What If where it was shown that Ben Parker didn't really die. He had to go into hiding because of his secret government work years ago; one of the bad guys he put away had resurfaced and was gunning for him. Ben wasn't told of the cover story that would be provided to make his disappearance seem reasonable. And after the enemy had been defeated, Ben was afraid that if he appeared alive again, the shock would kill his beloved May, and he didn't want Peter to lose his motivation to fight evil as Spider Man!!!! (Yes, Uncle Ben knew and Aunt May didn't.)

Anyhow, if you want, check out the Toonopedia (look for it on line) The author has listed just about every comic book character you can think of and is constantly adding more. He goes into considerable detail to show which ones were killed in their series and which ones just lapsed in publication due to low sales, and which ones were revived and which ones were never revived.

Answer 5

Google helps more, Yahoo! is great for stuff like this, but I rely more on Google for just about everything. And my favourite ever superheroes are Batman and Green Arrow, I personally prefer characters without powers, even though I love the Green Lanterns because their powers are pretty awesome...and even though I love both comics about the same, I do think I'd prefer DC over Marvel, even though I love THOR to bits.

Answer 6

Great answer above Doug Ramsey has indeed satyed dead, but let's not forget Johnathan Kent, Gwen Stacy, Her Dad Capt Stacey,Ben Parker, James Proudstar( Thunderbird), James Mcdonald Hudson( Vindicator)and thus far Ice from Justice League. Thomas and Martha Wayne, Jim CorriganJor El and Lara, Yolanda Montez( Widlcat 2)

Answer 7

Really depends on the popularity of a character, and whether or not the comic company feels they can make a quick buck off of bringing such-and-such character back from the dead.

Jean Grey/Phoenix has been killed SO many times it's not even funny anymore.

Not to mention all the other times every other super hero/villain has been killed only to come back in some ridiculous way.

Answer 8

Marvel-Doug Ramsey(Cypher) and the original Captain Marvel

DC-Barry Allen the Flash and with Ralph Dibney trying to find a way to resurrect Sue so I'm not sure if she will stay dead.

Other than that most characters die and come back all the time.

Answer 9

Uncle Ben and Thomas and Martha Wayne of course must stay dead, but the only hero that died and will never return is Captain America's WWII sidekick Bucky.

Answer 10

Most recently Booster Gold. Here's another one for the Marvel universe, Captain Marvel, not to be confuse with the Shazam D.C. hero. Check out the comic/graphic novel of the death of this defender of the universe, who died of cancer, sad story/ but great story.