Marvel Comics History: The Fallen

Let's take a moment of silence to mourn those fallen in Marvel Comics history…

These brave souls have died for their various causes, and we miss them dearly. Some of them even stayed dead! So far…

This is not a comprehensive list by any means, but there are some deaths in Marvel Comics history that are worth mentioning.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Just recently good ol' Cap fell to a bullet on the courthouse steps. He was brought in on charges of fighting the Registration Act in the aftermath of Civil War. An obsessed follower of the Act shot Captain America, Steve Rogers point blank and he died on the steps in Captain America #25 (vol. 5). This wasn't the first time Cap "died" of course, though. As everyone knows, he was thought dead for many years, but was found frozen in a block of ice. They say he's really dead this time, but everyone knows there are only three characters that stay dead: Bucky, Uncle Ben and Jason Todd. So far we've seen two of them back in the land of the living, so…

JEAN GREY

This woman has died more times that one can recall. The most prolific of her deaths was during the Dark Phoenix Saga, of course, when the Phoenix Force had taken over her body. She naturally returned. And then died again. And then returned. And died. And so on and so forth. Apparently she is really dead this time, and Scott Summers has finally moved on… with Emma Frost!

HAWKEYE

Another Avenger member that died and came back a couple of times. He died during Avengers Disassemble when the Scarlet Witch had used the chaos magic to alter reality. When it all fell apart Hawkeye was found among the living again, but changed within.

UNCLE BEN

Probably the most meaningful death in Marvel Comics history, Ben Parker lost his life and gave Peter Parker, his nephew, Spider-Man, purpose.

X-STATIX

There has never been so much death in one book. First, in X-Force, the entire team was killed. With a new name and a new team the killings began again. One by one, members were killed off in the greatest parody of comic book deaths ever seen.

COBRA COMMANDER

Okay, so he's not part of the regular Marvel Universe continuity, but when Marvel had the G.I. Joe license they killed Cobra Commander off and even went to the bother of burying him. However, issue #100 saw the familiar hooded figure gracing the cover with the words "I'm Back!". It was a very impacting reveal and issue, and a very cool time to be a G.I. Joe fan!

This is just a small sampling of the many deaths in Marvel Comics history. There are other quite notable ones, and plenty of not so notable ones littering the walls and halls of the Marvel Universe. Death and comics, comics and death. One has to wonder when Uncle Ben will come strolling down Main Street…

Author Bio

Follow the exploits of rockers DEMON TWEAK and the racing clan HARD DRIVING HEROES, as they battle the evil trickster Loki at classic comic book. Also read articles on your favorite classic comic book heroes written by our resident historian VIRGIL THE STORYTELLER.