10 Popular Comic Book Characters Who Have Completely Vanished

10. Shade The Changing Man

Shade the Changing Man was created by the legendary Steve Ditko in 1977. Rac Shad was a fugitive from the planet Meta and used a stolen “M-Vest” to defend himself. The vest has a force field, flight capabilities and projected a grotesque image of Shade. Framed for treason and sentenced to death, Shade spent some time on Earth trying to clear his name, but the series ended before he could achieve that goal.

Writer Peter Milligan reimagined the concept as Shade took over the body of Troy Grenzer, a serial killer, and became embroiled in the life of Kathy George, a woman whose parents Grenzer had killed. This Shade’s M-Vest changed reality in the area around him. Shade fought the American Scream, another Changing Man who was driven insane after being deeply immersed in training about American culture. Shade was killed several times, taking over new bodies.

After the end of the 70-issue Vertigo series, there was a brief flirtation with trying to bring Shade into the mainstream. Shade was a founding member of the Justice League Dark but retired after he lost his M Vest. That was the last significant sighting of Shade. The Milligan work put such a strong stamp on the character that it gives the feeling that he said everything that needs to be said about the character and that scares most creators away.