15 Comic Book Characters Who Should've Stayed Dead

15. Superman

It's true that Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday in the famous "Death of Superman" storyline is one of those death-and-resurrection storylines that virtually everyone knew would happen, so that's not the subject matter here.

No, we're referring to Superman's miraculous recovery from the deadly Kryptonian ailment known as Virus X.

A living virus that, much like Superman, grew more powerful under Earth's living conditions, Virus X is fatal to all Kryptonians within 30 days (and in some storylines, highly contagious and fatal to Earth creatures as well). When Superman contracted the virus in a 1968 storyline, he was launched into space on a funeral spaceship after the appropriate pomp and circumstance.

It really hampers a heroic storyline when the hero survives due to dumb luck instead of their own cleverness and guile, and this storyline is no exception. Superman survived the always-fatal Virus X after accidentally being exposed to incredibly rare White Kryptonite (that was thrown at his funeral ship by several Bizarro supermen as the ship passed).

With goofy storylines and resolutions like this, Superman deserved to stay dead.