5 Heroes who died and stayed dead

Marvel's Book of the Dead

Presenting 5 heroes who died and stayed dead. Today is November 1 or Día de los Inocentes ("Day of the Innocents"); Tomorrow is November 2 AKA Día de los Muertos the "Day of the Dead"

So it only seemed right to do a review of dead comic-book super-heroes.

Unfortunately while the list of dead throughout the comic book world seems to be quite a long list, most of the really good dead people keep coming back to life (And DC keeps rebooting its universe so eveyrone keeps coming back to life). We wanted to include Jean Grey for example - given that she's been dead since 2004, but we know that Marvel will bring her back one day - hell they've written a future where she returned.

So we really had to dig deep to find some really good dead bodies for this article.

Please do take the time to remember friends, family and other loved ones in your life who have gone ahead. And do remember to value the friends, family and loved ones who are with you today.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

The legal Captain Marvel

1) Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell of the Kree Empire was created by  Stan Lee and Gene Colan in 1967. Captain Marvel was born out of controversy. The original Captain Marvel is Billy Batson, a product of Fawcett City Comics. Unfortunately they were sued by National Comics - which would become DC comics - because Fawcett City Comics' Captain Marvel looked a lot like Superman.

Fawcett went under and DC would eventually buy up the rights for Captain Marvel, but not before Marvel filed for a trademark  for the name Captain Marvel (With a likeness nowhere near Superman's). DC was forced to use the name Shazam when they used the character in 1972 and are still using it today.

Which probably Marvel doesn't really care that Mar-Vell died of cancer in 1982. They don't really need him. They just like the fact that they slid one past DC and DC can't use the name.



2) Snake Eyes - Created and killed by Larry Hama. Snake Eyes was the GI Joe Commando who could literally do anything he wanted... because he was a ninja. He's like Batman, only without a cape, the gadgets, the fortune or the nice looking face.

He's basically the guy who made going to battle with a sword and an UZI seem cool.

And he did for several years. Snake Eyes defied the odds, cut through the COBRA ranks, and always seemed to make it home in time to be with his main squeeze Scarlet.

Til Larry Hama killed him.

His death was severely criticized by fans for two reasons: Snake Eyes goes out like a suicide bomber (Spearing Serpentor - who survives), and; Snake Eyes is immediately replaced by his apprentice Throwdown, who put on Snake Eyes' discarded mask to put out the flames that were eating his head.

Definitely up there with WTF.

A year later, Snake Eyes has yet to return from the grave - to our  knowledge.

Such a waste Hama

3) Ted Kord - the Blue Beetle. Apparently DC has plans for the Blue Beetle which is why despite the fact that the protagonists of Arrow robbed Kord Industries, Ted Kord has yet to make an appearance on that show. The Blue Beetle is not to be confused with that Hispanic kid with a scarab stuck to his back who uses the same name and hangs around with the Teen Titans.

Steve Ditko created Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle in 1966. The man with 192 IQ doesn't have any real powers and instead fashioned himself to be a more approachable gadget-armed Batman. His best friend was that annoying time traveler Booster Gold. A friendship that would prove to be quite important later on.

That's going to leave a mark

In 2005 during the Infinite Crisis event, he was shot in the head by Maximilian Lord after he refused to join him. Lord went on to control Superman, which resulted in Wonder Woman snapping his neck.

Following the events of Brightest Day, Max Lord is resurrected and he makes everyone forget that he killed Blue Beetle - making them believe he took his own life instead. Everyone does forget, except for his dear friend Booster Gold, who then sets off on a mad quest to prove that Max Lord killed his best friend. He succeeds.

Ted lives again thanks to DC's maddening drive to keep rebooting it's universe. But he did not return as the hero - rather as a older man - so to us THE Blue Beetle is still dead.


4) Goliath. Dr Bill Foster was created by Stan Lee ad Don Heck all the way back in 1966. He was hired as a lab assistant to help Hank Pym - who was stuck at being 10 feet tall then Giant Man. Bill helped Giant Man find a cure for his height problem and stayed on as his assistant after.

Ooops

He became the "Black Goliath" in the pages of Power Man in 1975. He had a 5 issue comic book in 1976. In 1979 he assumed the mantle of "Giant Man"  when he joined Project Pegasus. It's in the defense of Project Pegasus that he contracts radiation poisoning. A blood transfusion from Spider-Woman saves his life, but removes her own immunity to radiation, and takes away Foster's growth ability.

He is next seen in the employ of the High Evolutionary in the Savage Land. Upon learning that the High Evolutionary was planning to release a genetic bomb, Foster calls for help from the West Coast Avengers. He reveals that he has again taken a growth serum because now he has cancer and the additional mass keeps him cancer free - this cancer disappears from his backstory later on.

Foster retires and joins the Center for Disease Control but returns to active duty as Goliath to help Spider-man. His timing is bad though as he also soon decides to join Captain America's team in the first Marvel Civil War.

Where he dies at the hands of Ragnarok (Thor's clone), causing major shifts in both sides of the Civil War and showing the whole world what happens when heroes fight each other.

He remains dead.

NOT the proper way to light up

5) The Comedian. Created in 1986 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the Comedia was born Eddie Blake in 1918. The Comedian rose to prominence for the brutal and violent tactics he employed against local mob bosses. Unfortunately he comes with an attitude to match. Following a photo-taking session for the Minutemen, the Comedian tried to rape the original Silk Spectre (Burlesque Dancer Sally "Jupiter" Juspeczyk). He was stopped by the just as brutal masked vigilante Hooded Justice - but not after first implying that Hooded Justice gets turned on by beating people up. Sally Jupiter was convinced by her agent not to press charges as it would affect the image of the group, and the Comedian was expelled from the group.

Eddie's career of violence continued into WWII, where he was nearly court-martial-ed for shooting Japanese POWs on a dare.

A few years after the war he runs into Sally Jupiter once again and they have an affair. Unbeknownst to him the affair produced a daughter, Laurie Juspecyzk, the second Silk Spectre.

Anyway, he's here on this list because he was portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan who most recently traumatized fans of The Walking Dead throughout the world by bashing in first Abraham's and then Glenn's heads in. If watching him get shot and killed in DC's Batman Vs Superman Dawn of Justice just doesn't make you feel better - and you don't want to sit through that God-awful movie - pop in a copy of Watchmen instead and watch him get the crap beaten out of him before he's thrown to his death out of a window.