One of the most frequently deployed tropes in superhero comics is raising characters from the dead; character death offers boatloads of drama, but the perpetual serialization of these stories grants the characters functional immortality.
Whether through magic, super-science, or doppelgängers, virtually every superhero and villain has cheated death before. That's not to say all these stories were well-written, though. Here are the ten most ridiculous resurrection stories in comics.
10 The Joker Always Comes Back With No Explanation
More generally, the Joker has such a talent for survival that writers often don't even bother with explanations. This goes back to the character's first appearance in Batman #1; he was stabbed and set to be killed off, but a last-minute edit had him miraculously survive the injury.
This has happened continuously since; the death-defiance increases the villain's mystique. The most recent story to explore this was Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's "Endgame," which suggested the Joker was actually an inhuman, immortal entity that had haunted Gotham throughout the city's history.
9 The Fantastic Four Went To Heaven To Get The Thing Back
It was during the "Authoritative Action" arc of Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo's Fantastic Four run, Ben Grimm/The Thing. In the following arc, "Hereafter," the rest of the team journeys to Heaven itself to reunite with Ben.
In a touching, meta-textual turn, God turns out to be Jack Kirby. Kirby thus restores Ben to life and heals scars given to Reed by Doom. Absurd? Yes. So heartfelt and creative that it's hard to care? Absolutely.
8 Victor Van Damme's Return Was Riddled With Holes
Ultimate Marvel tended to be more conservative about resurrections than the mainstream universe; if a character died, oftentimes that was it for them. There were exceptions though, and the most inconsistent one involves Ultimate Doctor Doom. 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 not, because Victor Van Damme returns in Ultimate FF — the Doom killed in Ultimatum was Mary Storm impersonating Doom. This was a twist more at home in the classic Marvel universe rather than the Ultimate one.
7 Alfred Was Crushed By A Boulder Then Revived As A Villain
Due to homophobic attitudes about 3 men living together, Alfred Pennyworth was briefly killed off in Detective Comics #328, and his place in Batman and Robin's world was taken by Dick's Aunt Harriet.
Two years later, in Detective Comics #356, it's revealed Alfred was revived by mad scientist Brandon Crawford; the revived Alfred, named "The Outsider," has superpowers, pasty white skin, and evil ambitions. By the story's end, Alfred is back to normal and this story has been barely mentioned since.
6 Aunt May Passed, Then It's Revealed That Was An Actor
May Parker's death in The Amazing Spider-Man #400 was a heartfelt farewell to her character. Like writer JM DeMatteis' similar finale to Harry Osborn in Spectacular Spider-Man #200, this story was undone by an unneeded resurrection.
Howard Mackie and John Romita Jr.'s Spider-Man #97 revealed this Aunt May was an actress, genetically altered to look like the real thing, while the true May Parker was a captive of Norman Osborn.
5 Xorn Was Revealed As Magneto, Died, Then Was Revealed To Have Been A Clone
Magneto seemingly perishes in the genocide of Genosha in the opening of Grant Morrison's New X-Men. Then, in the run's penultimate arc, "Planet X," it's revealed the mutant "Xorn" was actually Magneto in disguise. Magneto then goes off the deep end, conquering New York City, re-crippling Professor X, and killing Jean Grey before being killed by Wolverine.
Marvel Editorial was dissatisfied by this turn; "Xorn" was now unusable, while Magneto's acts were so heinous he could no longer be a credible anti-hero. Thus, Marvel quickly retconned the story; Morrison's "Xorn" was a Magneto clone impersonating the real Xorn, while the real Magneto was alive all this time in Genosha. While these retcons succeeded in fulfilling the editorial edict, they still strain credibility.
4 Iron Man Turned Evil & Was Replaced By His Teenage Self
During Avengers storyline "The Crossing," it's revealed that Tony Stark had long ago been brainwashed by Kang The Conqueror to betray the Avengers. After Kang activates his sleeper agent and Stark kills several people, the team recruits a teenage Tony from an alternate timeline.
The original Stark, freed of brainwashing, sacrifices his life, while his counterpart becomes the new Iron Man. Readers recoiled from this story and it's been swept under the rug.
3 The Punisher Became An "Avenging Angel"
In 1998, horror writers Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski teamed with artist Bernie Wrightson for "The Punisher: Purgatory." In this 4-issue series, Frank is revived as a literal guardian angel — this reinvention was panned by fans of The Punisher.
Shortly thereafter, in 2000, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon brought the Punisher back to gritty, mundane vigilantism in the 12-issue "Welcome Back, Frank." Ennis went on to write the "Punisher MAX" series which has been hailed as the definitive Punisher run.
2 It Turns Out The Jean Grey Who Became Phoenix Then Died Wasn't Jean
Neither Chris Claremont nor John Byrne intended X-Men's "Dark Phoenix Saga" to end with Jean Grey's death. Editor Jim Shooter, however, demanded it as it was the only suitable punishment for Jean's actions. This presented a problem when plans were made to reunite the original five X-Men for "X-Factor." An idea, sprung from the mind of Kurt Busiek, was that the Jean who'd emerged as the Phoenix in X-Men #101 had not been Jean at all, thereby absolving Jean of the Dark Phoenix's crimes.
Thus Avengers #263 (Roger Stern and John Buscema) revealed the Phoenix Force had created a clone of Jean; it was this clone who'd turned evil and died while the real Jean slept in a cocoon on the ocean floor. Claremont was opposed to this revision, thinking it weakened the tragedy of "The Dark Phoenix Saga," but was overruled. Many fans have since come to agree with him.
1 Jason Todd Crawled Out Of His Grave After Superboy-Prime Punched His Reality
In the comics, Jason Todd's resurrection was the result of Superboy-Prime punching holes through space-time; the resultant ripples reanimated Jason. The revenant Robin then crawled out of his grave before being found and trained by Talia Al Ghul.
For obvious reasons, the animated Batman: Under The Red Hood chose a different, far superior reason for Jason's return. The film ties Ra's Al Ghul into the events of "A Death In The Family" — it was him who hired the Joker to terrorize Europe, starting a chain of events that led to the clown killing Jason. A penitent Ra's then attempted to use the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Jason; he succeeded, but the Pit's effects drove Jason mad.
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