Best death scene in a comic book

Many heroes and villains have met an untimely end. Some have died in battle, others in much more sad and tragic ways. Do you have a particular death scene that moves you or like (I'm not morbid honest ).

The end of War Picture Library no 56, The Crowded Sky, is a favourite...

J'onn J'onzz.

Lucy McGough wrote:J'onn J'onzz.

Yeah, but J'onn came back!

Anyway: for me, Giant Size Avengers #2, featuring the death of the Swordsman. Sword was a fairly minor character, though an Avenger nonetheless, but somehow his was the first death of a fictional character to really affect me (I'd have been eight) and it's stayed with me ever since.

Pretty evocative stuff, Tony; the above b/w artwork is clearly inspired by Kirby but possibly by one of his disciples: who executed these excellent panels. I wonder?

MR X wrote:Pretty evocative stuff, Tony; the above b/w artwork is clearly inspired by Kirby but possibly by one of his disciples: who executed these excellent panels. I wonder?

Art by Dave Cockrum, story by Steve Englehart. A beautiful piece of work.

tony ingram wrote:Yeah, but J'onn came back!

They all come back in the end.

Lucy McGough wrote:

tony ingram wrote:Yeah, but J'onn came back!

They all come back in the end.

It used to be said that the only two characters in comics who were guaranteed to stay dead were Bucky Barnes and Peter Parker's Uncle Ben.

And then Bucky came back.

Even Jason ruddy Todd came back!

Lucy McGough wrote:Even Jason ruddy Todd came back!

I know! And after several thousand Bat-fans voted to kill the little bugger, too! I felt betrayed!

tony ingram wrote:

Lucy McGough wrote:Even Jason ruddy Todd came back!

I know! And after several thousand Bat-fans voted to kill the little bugger, too! I felt betrayed!

What about Batmans parents, that makes three

Hourglass wrote:

tony ingram wrote:

Lucy McGough wrote:Even Jason ruddy Todd came back!

I know! And after several thousand Bat-fans voted to kill the little bugger, too! I felt betrayed!

What about Batmans parents, that makes three

True. And Jore El and Lara, who sent their son to Earth to become Superman: the last son of Krypton.

Except, of course, for the Phantom Zone villains. And Supergirl. And the entire population of Argo City. And the entire population of the Bottle City of Kandor. And Krypto the superdog and Beppo the super monkey...

In fact, I'm not actually sure that Jor El and Lara weren't, in fact, the only people dumb enough to have stayed on Krypton until it blew up...

We've got New Krypton now, haven't we?

Lucy McGough wrote:We've got New Krypton now, haven't we?

Yep. Are you reading the Superman books, then? I'm really quite enjoying the New Krypton saga!

They all come back...except for one which I think you've all missed (Tony will tell me otherwise in a minute): The guy in FF 51 (This Man, This Monster) who stole Ben's powers to beat Reed Richards and then saved Reed in the Negative Zone, before being destroyed himself. I read somewhere he was called 'The Changeling', but it's not mentioned in the issue. This is my all time favourite comic book. The story, and art are second to none. NONE. Coming in between the Galactus Trilogy and the introduction of the Black Panther, it was a quiet little breather as only Jack Kirby could come up with (Okay, Stan's words are good but it's pure vintage Kirby). But - did I say 'breather'? A one issue story dropped right in the middle of staggering FF continuity about a scientist who is the equal of Richards, steals the powers of Richard's best friend, follows him into the Negative Zone, saves the man he hates (after realizing that Reed is a good egg) and then sits on a rock waiting for his fate. Check it out - it's quite possibly the best thing you will ever read in a comic book.

That is actually a terrific story-and you're right Glenn, he's never returned! Unlike this guy, whose eventual return (to me) devalued what I still think is one of the best (if most confusing) death scenes ever, as executed by Jim Starlin...

I've just remembered 'Whatever Happened to the Crimson Avenger' from DC Comics Presents #38. Not only a great death scene for one of comics' earliest superheroes, but probably one of the best stories ever in a DC comic. It's an eight page short which begins with the Crimson musing over how he's a man out of his time (after being rescued from several decades in a time warp a few years before) and feels redundant, and ends with him piloting a bomb laden boat away from a harbour before it blows up, saving the lives of thousands at the cost of his own-though nobody knows he's done it or notes his passing except one little girl...

I did like the way the `Dread Dormammu` checked out in Strange Tales #46. He had a showdown with the bieng `Eternity` and old DD got `smashed` between two onrushing spheres/planets? Though of course he did come back!

The Marvel villian I recall getting `killed` more times than any other was the `Puppet Master` it became a bit of a Joke in fan corcles and Marvel got some pretty sarcy comments from readers circa 1969-70 era if I recall correct!

I believe the Puppet Master is currently dead again.

That's an official classification now, by the way: the most recent editions of Marvel's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe actually list the status of the X-Men's Jean Grey as 'currently dead', a reflection on the number of times she's been resurrected. It's become such a joke that even her husband cracks gags about it in the actual comics!

Yes! Sometimes Marvel shot themselves in the `foot` if no villians die for good, you do lose something!

The problem is, Marvel's editors (and, indeed, DC's to a lesser extent) don't really bother about keeping track of continuity in titles they don't personally handle, anymore. as a result, if a writer forgets a character is dead, or simply isn't aware of it since they didn't read the story in which it happened, nobody catches it and the character just reappears without explanation. it would never have happened when Marvel's unofficial 'continuity cop', Mark Gruenwald, was alive.

tony ingram wrote:

Lucy McGough wrote:Even Jason ruddy Todd came back!

I know! And after several thousand Bat-fans voted to kill the little bugger, too! I felt betrayed!

Why did you hate Todd so?

Because he was one of the single most annoying characters in comics. Not so much the original version in the Doug Moench scripted stories, but the later Todd was just a stereotypical 'bad kid with a heart of gold', and really, even bringing him into the strip seemed pointless since he was just there as a replacement for Dick grayson-who'd been written out because it was felt that kid sidekicks no longer worked! I mean ffs, if they no longer work, why create a new one?

tony ingram wrote:Because he was one of the single most annoying characters in comics. Not so much the original version in the Doug Moench scripted stories, but the later Todd was just a stereotypical 'bad kid with a heart of gold', and really, even bringing him into the strip seemed pointless since he was just there as a replacement for Dick grayson-who'd been written out because it was felt that kid sidekicks no longer worked! I mean ffs, if they no longer work, why create a new one?

So he's the Adric of Batman then lol.

essentially, yes. They actually created two separate endings for the 'death in the Family' storyline and let readers vote by phone on whether he lived or died horribly at the hands of the Joker. The readers voted overwhelmingly in favour of murdering the little sod, and they still brought him back!

But surely his death served a purpose right. Didn't it emotionally scar Batman if I recall. Bringing him back technically undoes all the character development the death causes.

I think the best death recently was of Captain America.

He's back, too...

I know, but even so, it was cool at the time.

Whoever the sniper was that got Cap - he was rubbish. Snipers always go for a head shot. It's a matter of pride...

GBF wrote:Whoever the sniper was that got Cap - he was rubbish. Snipers always go for a head shot. It's a matter of pride...

It was Sharon Carter, Agent 13 of SHIELD. That's women for you, always want to prove they can do the practical jobs, never seem to finish them properly.

You're asking for a head shot

Lucy McGough wrote:You're asking for a head shot

You'd undoubtedly miss, and shoot me in the chest with a gun which unknown to you had been modified to destabilise my personal chronal history and send me hurtling back into my own timestream before returning two years later to take over as head of the U.S's national security.

Based on what happened to Cap.

Sounds like a rip-off of the Omega Sanction.

That explains it then - wasn't she Cap's lover at one time?

Luce - do you mean 'The Eiger Sanction'?

GBF wrote:That explains it then - wasn't she Cap's lover at one time?

Aha! A symbolic penetration! [/Freudian literary analysis]

Lucy McGough wrote:

GBF wrote:That explains it then - wasn't she Cap's lover at one time?

Aha! A symbolic penetration! [/Freudian literary analysis]

Agent 13 not only was Cap's lover, she still is. He seems to have forgiven her for assassinating him.

And if their relationship can survive that, it can survive anything.

So who was the young lady crying over him as he kicked the bucket?

Lucy McGough wrote:And if their relationship can survive that, it can survive anything.

So who was the young lady crying over him as he kicked the bucket?

That was her, though nobody realised she'd fired the shot at the time. She was being mind controlled by Arnim Zola the deranged Nazi scientist.

So it wasn't a symbolic penetration after all

Nothing wrong with a little symbolic penetation. Didn't Jimmy Carter mention something about that in the 70s? and don't tell me you weren't around in the 70s because I bet you've heard of Jesus and it's a while since he was causing trouble...

So - Cap hasn't married that girl and he's been going around with her since 1968? shame on him - no wonder she took a t shot at him. Bet Luce would have shot him YEARS ago...after burning her bra!!!

GBF wrote:So - Cap hasn't married that girl and he's been going around with her since 1968? shame on him - no wonder she took a t shot at him. Bet Luce would have shot him YEARS ago...after burning her bra!!!

Why would Luce burn Agent 13's bra? Anyway, Sharon Carter was dead herself for about twenty five years there, so Cap has an excuse for not getting hitched to her...

GBF wrote:So - Cap hasn't married that girl and he's been going around with her since 1968? shame on him - no wonder she took a t shot at him. Bet Luce would have shot him YEARS ago...after burning her bra!!!

Waste of good lingerie. D'you think I'm made of money?

Lucy McGough wrote:

GBF wrote:So - Cap hasn't married that girl and he's been going around with her since 1968? shame on him - no wonder she took a t shot at him. Bet Luce would have shot him YEARS ago...after burning her bra!!!

Waste of good lingerie. D'you think I'm made of money?

The idealism of the seventies eclipsed by the materialism of the noughties, a sad sight to see...

This is 2010. I don't think this is the noughties any more. Further more, frugality is not the same thing as materialism

Lucy McGough wrote:This is 2010. I don't think this is the noughties any more. Further more, frugality is not the same thing as materialism

Frugality? Is that spelt M.E.A.N?

Yes. Yes, it is. That is why I demand that you buy me an Apple iMac for Christmas.

Lucy McGough wrote:Yes. Yes, it is. That is why I demand that you buy me an Apple iMac for Christmas.

How about I just buy you an apple and a mac. A nice Golden Delicious and a bit of protection if it rains-sound good to you?

See, that would actually be a lot more useful

Lucy McGough wrote:See, that would actually be a lot more useful

You also don't have to plug a raincoat into the mais to get it to work. Unless you have very specialised requirements, of course.