10 Superhero Resurrections That Actually Worked

Jason Todd, eat your heart out.

Green Arrow DC Comics Brightest Day
DC Comics

It may be the oldest trope in the book when it comes to comics, but there's no denying that, more or less, everyone enjoys a good old fashioned superhero resurrection. Of course, some have worked better than others, and, while it's possible to argue that constant returns from beyond the grave diminish the emotional weight of a comic book death, it's not as frequent an occurrence as some would imagine.

In fact, the likelihood of a hero and/or villain staying dead for a long period of time is, in actual fact, much higher than either receiving their own veritable rebirth. Poor old Vic Sage (The Question), for instance, is still chilling in Nanda Parbat. And despite subsequent reinterpretations of the character in DC's multiverse, the OG hero is still very much dead, succeeded by Renee Montoya, the second Question.

In this sense, one of the most difficult issues to address with any superhero death is the matter of the character's legacy. More often than not, a replacement is lined-up to replace the recently deceased, and, seeing as how DC is pretty big on that whole legacy thing, character revivals can pose big questions for writers at odds with what to do with their heroes; especially when they’ve gone on to develop their own, equally impressive fanbases.

While we all love to poke fun at the various rebirths and returns of star-studded comic book characters, the nuances of the trope must surely be considered. Particularly so, given how, y'know, writers love using it so much.

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Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.