The criteria for died in comic book parlance is nothing more than they flatlined at some point as any fan knows, you can see somebody die, but if you don't see a body? They'll be back. Sometimes even if you do see a body, in fact. So Spider-Man falling foul of another C-list villain seeking deadly revenge, and flatlining, totally counts as a death. One of the more recent demises the web head has suffered, the Web Of Death storyline lived up to its name by the third part where he realises he's slowly dying because of irradiated blood, meaning that news of Mary Jane being pregnant isn't quite as joyful as it should be. Then he fights Doctor Octopus. Turns out Octavius is offering to help cure Spidey, but he's too late. Well, sort of. Spider-Man makes his final arrangements and pops his clogs it's a bit like that episode of The Simpsons where Homer thinks he's going to die and Doc Ock comes across him after all and, against all odds, saves his life.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
