One of the most used tropes in superhero comics is raising characters from the dead; the death of the characters offers plenty of drama, but the perpetual serialization of these stories gives the characters functional immortality.
Whether through magic, superscience, or doppelgängers, virtually every superhero and villain has ever cheated death. But that does not mean that all these stories are well written. Here are the ten most ridiculous resurrection stories in comics.
10 the Joker always comes back unexplained
In general, the Joker has such a talent for survival that the writers don’t even bother to explain. This dates back to the character’s first appearance in Batman # 1; he was stabbed and was to be killed, but a last minute edit caused him to miraculously survive the wound.
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This has happened continuously since then; the challenge to death increases the mystique of the villain. The most recent story in which this was explored was Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s “Endgame,” which suggested that the Joker was actually an immortal and inhuman entity that had haunted Gotham throughout the city’s history.
9 the Fantastic Four went to heaven to retrieve the Thing
It was during the “Authorized Action” arc of The Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, Ben Grimm / La Cosa. In the next arc, “Hereafter”, the rest of the team travel to Heaven itself to meet up with Ben.
In an emotional metatextual twist, God turns out to be Jack Kirby. Thus, Kirby brings Ben back to life and heals the scars that Doom made on Reed. Absurd? Yes. So sincere and creative that it’s hard to care? Absolutely.
8 Victor Van Damme’s return was riddled with holes
Ultimate Marvel it tended to be more conservative about resurrections than the main universe; if a character died, it was often over for him. However, there were exceptions, and the most incoherent is that of Doctor Doom from Ultimate. After being banished to the Marvel Zombies universe in Ultimate Fantastic Four, Doom returned without explanation in Ultimate Power, Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum.
In the latter, Doom was killed by Ben Grimm. Only no, because Victor Van Damme is back in Ultimate FF – the doom killed in Ultimatum it was Mary Storm posing as Doom. This is a twist more typical of the classic Marvel universe than of the Ultimate .
7 Alfred was crushed by a rock and then revived as a villain
Due to homophobic attitudes about the coexistence of three men, Alfred Pennyworth was briefly eliminated in issue 328 of Detective Comics , and his place in the world of Batman and Robin was taken by Dick’s aunt, Harriet.
Two years later, at number 356 of Detective Comics , Alfred is revealed to have been revived by mad scientist Brandon Crawford; the revived Alfred, called “The Outsider”, has superpowers, pasty white skin, and evil ambitions. At the end of the story, Alfred returns to normal and this story has hardly been mentioned since.
6 Aunt May passed away, later revealed to be an actor
May Parker’s death in The Amazing Spider-Man # 400 was a heartfelt farewell to her character. Like writer JM DeMatteis’s similar ending for Harry Osborn in Spectacular Spider-Man # 200, this story was undone by an unnecessary resurrection.
The Spider-Man # 97 by Howard Mackie and John Romita Jr. revealed that this Aunt May was an actress, genetically altered to look like the real one, while the real May Parker was a captive of Norman Osborn.
5 Xorn was revealed as Magneto, died, and was later revealed to be a clone
Magneto appears to perish in the Genosha genocide at the beginning of the New X-Men by Grant Morrison. Then, in the series’ penultimate arc, “Planet X,” it is revealed that the mutant “Xorn” was actually Magneto in disguise. Magneto then goes on a rampage, conquering New York City, re-incapacitating Professor X and killing Jean Gray before being killed by Wolverine.
The publisher Marvel was not satisfied with this turn; “Xorn” was now useless, while Magneto’s acts were so heinous that he could no longer be a credible antihero. So it didn’t take long for Marvel to reconfigure history; Morrison’s “Xorn” was a Magneto clone posing as the real Xorn, while the real Magneto was alive all this time in Genosha. Although these retconeos managed to comply with the editorial edict, they are still not very credible.
4 Iron Man turned evil and was replaced by his teenage self
Duringthe story of the Avengers“The Crossing”, it is revealed that Kang the Conqueror long ago brainwashed Tony Stark into betraying the Avengers. After Kang activates his sleeping agent and Stark kills several people, the team recruits a teenage Tony from an alternate timeline.
The original Stark, freed from brainwashing, sacrifices his life, as his counterpart becomes the new Iron Man. Readers recoiled from this story and she has been swept under the rug.
3 The Punisher became an “Avenging Angel”
In 1998, horror writers Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski teamed up with artist Bernie Wrightson for “The Punisher: Purgatory.” In this 4-issue series, Frank is resurrected as a literal Guardian Angel – this reinvention was criticized by fans of The Punisher.
Shortly thereafter, in 2000, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon returned the Punisher to the arena and worldliness in the 12-issue series “Welcome Back, Frank.” Ennis went on to write the “Punisher MAX” series, which has been hailed as the definitive series of Punisher .
2 It turns out that the Jean Gray who became Phoenix and then died was not Jean
Neither Chris Claremont nor John Byrne intended that the “Dark Phoenix Saga” of X-Men It will end with the death of Jean Gray. However, editor Jim Shooter demanded it, as it was the only proper punishment for Jean’s actions. This posed a problem when it was planned to reunite the original five X-Men for “X-Factor.” One idea, arising from the mind of Kurt Busiek, was that the Jean who had emerged as the Phoenix in X-Men # 101 hadn’t been Jean at all, thus absolving Jean of Dark Phoenix’s crimes.
A) Yes, Avengers # 263 (Roger Stern and John Buscema) revealed that the Phoenix Force had created a clone of Jean; it was this clone that had turned evil and died while the real Jean slept in a cocoon at the bottom of the ocean. Claremont objected to this revision, thinking that it undermined the tragedy of “The Dark Phoenix Saga”, but was overruled. Since then, many fans agree with him.
1 Jason Todd crawled out of his grave after Superboy-Prime hit his reality
In the comics, Jason Todd’s resurrection was the result of Superboy-Prime punching holes in space-time; the resulting ripples revived Jason. The resurrected Robin emerged from his grave before being found and trained by Talia Al Ghul.
For obvious reasons, the animated film Batman: Under The Red Hood chose a different and far superior reason for Jason’s return. The film links Ra’s Al Ghul to the events of “A Death in the Family”: it was he who hired the Joker to terrorize Europe, starting a chain of events that led the clown to kill Jason. A repentant Ra’s then attempted to use the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Jason; He succeeded, but the effects of the Pit drove Jason mad.
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