[rez]

The Kree/Skrull one that is.

Remembering when Marvel killed of Captain Marvel to a cancerlike disease way back when in a silverage 25center.

Seems ending the character could have been done so much better going out in a blaze of glory after building up a several issue storyline involving a host of other characters then dropping the bombshell death in the finish.

Don't understand what was going on in the Bullpen at that time. Maybe they were wanting to convey a familiar connection as almost everyone has had a family member or knows someone that has passed on from the disease.

Have there been many mainstay SuperHeroes that died a valiant death in battle?

[Yoc]

Well the first to die was MLJ's The Comet in Pep17.  A classic.
The non-death that choked me up was X-Men 137 but as we all know Phoenix's death has never taken.  Still it was a wonderful issue.

I thought the Death of Capt. Marvel (which also seems to have been recently undone by Marvel - or is he a Skrull?) was really well done.  We all know of people who have fallen to the disease and how cancer knows no limits.  I felt CM's death was easily as heroic as and slug fest with Thanos.

-Yoc

[John C]

Have there been many mainstay SuperHeroes that died a valiant death in battle?

That's almost self-defeating as a question, isn't it?  If a hero is popular enough to die a valiant death, then it's making too much money to be outright disposable.  And even if they are, then the death is undone.

That said, the deaths weren't particularly interesting (and nobody cared at the time, because nobody was reading their books), but Crisis killed off the Flash and Supergirl in actual action scenes.  There was that whole "Death of Superman" thing that somehow convinced people that it was a permanent change.

Heh.  And then there's the Spectre.  He died valiantly in his very first story!

[OtherEric]

There have been several members of the Legion of Superheroes that died and stayed dead; but how important you view them may vary.

[darkmark]

Like hell Supergirl's death wasn't particularly interesting.  I based my whole fanfic career on refuting that.

[John C]

Like hell Supergirl's death wasn't particularly interesting.  I based my whole fanfic career on refuting that.

Heh.  While I'll grant you that there's story potential to be mined in the idea, Wolfman didn't do it, and the most interesting thing about the entire incident was the Perez cover.

I mean, they (heroes who don't kill, by the way) had to kill the Anti-Monitor, what, six times?  And two of them take The Ultimate Sacrifice(TM) along the way?  Doesn't work for me.  In the hands of a writer with a better understanding of escalation and emotion, maybe, but Wolfman hasn't ever really had much range beyond depression and angst.

Crisis was a fun ride at the time, but I don't think it's aged particularly well, and the drama just doesn't work.  But it'd make a great springboard into real stories, which sounds like what you've done.

(I wouldn't know--I've used your reference materials time and time again over the years, and your writing has been recommended to me on numerous occasions by very bright people, but I've just never gotten around to it.)

[rez]

There have been several members of the Legion of Superheroes that died and stayed dead; but how important you view them may vary.

Heh, I can recall reading about the death of Ferro Lad who was my fav legionnaire and couldn't believe what happened in that issue.

To this day I remember that small panel showing FerroLad flying in and carrying the bomb to the heart of that thing.

Still can't believe it and that is why I am the way I am today.

[phabox]

I'll never forget the look on Ferro Lad's face when he decided to go out in a blaze of glory  !!!

-Nigel

[phabox]

I still think that one of the most gripping 'Hero Deaths' was Menthor's in Thunder Agents_007 and apart from a female imposter taking over his ID ( or maybe it was the other way around) he really did STAY dead.

-Nigel

[narfstar]

Comet was brought back as a very different character in the SA. Invisible Kid's death surprised me and I kept expecting him to come back. I think Ferro Lad was introduced to die because his powers were so limited. His was one of the more acceptible deaths. Yes very heroic and well done.

[BountyHunter]

I thought the Death of Capt. Marvel (which also seems to have been recently undone by Marvel - or is he a Skrull?) was really well done. 
-Yoc

The Captain Marvel that came back during Civil war was indeed a Skrull.

[DOC]

What about Earth-2's Batman or doesn't that count with Crisis and all. Kal-L dies at the hands of Prime. Some JSA members are gone due to Zero Hour. Didn't Red Bee die in an issue of All Star Squadron?

[darkmark]

He did indeed.  Baron Blitzkrieg broke his back.  And several other Earth-X heroes died as well in that story arc.

[Yoc]

Right!  I loved that issue. 
The Baron may have looked like a reject from the Mardi Gras parade but he was one Nasty Customer that issue! 

[John C]

Blitzkreig was designed in the '70s, so you have to make some allowances.  Nobody was dressing right back then.  If you think of the Baron as the sort of Nazi that might've shown up on "Three's Company," that'll probably help.

(Coming this fall:  Don Knotts is...the Red Bee.)

Somewhere, I remember an artist with a really nice redesign of the armor, but it was a fan thing and nothing like it caught on at DC.  Ah, well.

I do remember the story clearly, though.  It was quite a bit of fun, though I can't remember being particularly concerned about the Red Bee's demise, even at my tender young age.

It's really hard to take the heroes seriously when they say things like "how can we ever hope to prevail when the Red Bee has fallen despite his...uhm...trained bee and...err...those sheer poofy sleeves?"  What's worse is that they'll still do this today!  The main heroes get more powerful while the nobodies are props and cannon fodder.  (Watch out, Superman--they've already killed a bunch of unpowered '90s heroes nobody remembers, and now they're coming for you!)

[Yoc]

"Everyone knows the guy in the red tunic is going to buy it Jim."
"Think of the money it saves on buying more than one of them Bones."