Heroes in Current Continuity That Are Dead

Not every DC hero gets the resurrection treatment, and whether it’s for story reasons or simply because the writers wanted to retire their character, these DC Comics icons have been laid to rest for years in the current continuity, and it’s unknown when or if they will return.

Death is a part of comic continuity, but many expect legends like Batman and Superman to always return. Yet, there are still some heroes, titanic or lesser, that deserve recognition for how they are still dead whereas other heroes have returned to the spotlight.

7 Dogwelder

Died Saving the World by Welding Two Stars Together

• First Appearance: All-Star Section Eight #1 (August, 2015)
• Created by: Garth Ennis, John McCrea
• Appearance of Death: Sixpack and Dogwelder: Hard-Travellin’ Heroz #6 (March, 2017)

Only the mind of Garth Ennis could come up with a character as ludicrous and important as Dogwelder, a character who takes his time and talent to use welding equipment to literally weld dogs to people. It’s an absurd premise and one that is actually used to save Earth.

Dogwelder sacrificed himself by harnessing the power of every Dogwelder before him and was able to weld two colliding stars together with Sirius A and Sirius B. By welding them together, his life was forfeit, but Earth would go on for another day. This noble sacrifice may be forgotten by all except the heroes of Section Eight.

6 Alfred Pennyworth

Killed by Bane After Robin Broke Into Gotham City

• First Appearance: Batman #16 (February, 1943)
• Created by: Don C. Cameron, Bob Kane
• Appearance of Death: Batman #77 (August, 2019)

Alfred Pennyworth was the loyal butler and father figure of Bruce Wayne since his inception, and his loyalty to Gotham City would see his unfortunate demise. Alfred was taken hostage by Bane, and he held true to his promise when he said that if any hero dared to enter the lawless Gotham City, he would execute Alfred.

Damian Wayne’s Robin, being as stubborn as he was, infiltrated Gotham, only to bear witness to the murder of Alfred at Bane’s hands. The loss of Alfred is still felt today, and he’s been dead for over 5 years. Even if he returned temporarily as a zombie, it’s hard to move on.

5 Dr. Manhattan

Erased Himself From Existence After Transferring His Life Force to a New Boy

• First Appearance: Watchmen #1 (September, 1986)
• Created by: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
• Appearance of Death: Doomsday Clock #12 (February, 2020)

Despite not being created for the main DC Universe, Dr. Manhattan would return decades after his initial appearance as the architect of the new DC Universe post-Flashpoint. Dr. Manhattan’s role is not as a god, but as a scientist who is interested in his own experiments of creation. Yet, as all things should be, he finds Superman the most fascinating of all.

Inspired by Superman’s ideals of goodness, Dr. Manhattan stops meddling in the DC Universe and decides to daydream of a perfect life, one that he concludes with his own end by transferring what life he has left into the planet he left – the one with Nite Owl and Silk Specter. What remains of Dr. Manhattan exists in a little boy named Clark, and Dr. Manhattan’s influence could be felt across a multiverse that he tried to repair.

4 Deadman

Shot and Killed by an Assassin During a Daring Stunt

• First Appearance: Strange Adventures #205 (October, 1967)
• Created by: Arnold Drake, Carmine Infantino
• Appearance of Death: Strange Adventures #205 (October, 1967)

Born Boston Brand, this talent would become one of the world’s greatest acrobats who even acted with the talented Flying Graysons. Yet, tragedy caught up to performances, and the illustrious Deadman would be an actual dead man. Yet, revived by the Hindu god Rama Kushna, Boston would never know peace until he found his killer, thus he haunts the Earth as a ghost.

It’s not exactly fair to call Deadman someone who is currently dead in continuity, but he is, technically, dead. Deadman may be an active character in DC Comics, but he’s still dead, a ghost who haunts the Earth to protect the innocence deserving of life.

3 Jonah Hex

Left His Mortal Life Behind in the Old West, Returning as a Zombie Then a Ghost

• First Appearance: Strange Adventures #205 (October, 1967)
• Created by: Arnold Drake, Carmine Infantino
• Appearance of Death: Strange Adventures #205 (October, 1967)

Jonah Hex was a legendary gunslinger from the Old West and was a man who could kill anyone in any town. He deserves to be feared, as he is cold and calculating with a big iron on his hip – but not all heartless. While Jonah killed his imposter, the history books would believe that imposter to be the real Jonah Hex. Yet Jonah’s actual death is unknown.

Jonah was always destined to die. After all, his time is in the past. However, Batman has resurrected Jonah Hex before with a Black Lantern ring and used him to help save the multiverse. In doing so, Jonah’s zombie life would be taken by the Robin King, and his ghost would haunt the gun that did it. That gun ended up in the hands of Jinny Hex, which would then be taken by Batwoman and used to shoot the ghost of Jonah Hex.

2 Giovanni Zatara

Killed by an Ultimate Dark Magical Threat During a Séance

• First Appearance: Action Comic #1 (June, 1938)
• Created by: Fred Guardineer
• Appearance of Death: Justice League Dark #12 (October, 2012)

Zatara was an incredibly powerful magician in the 20th century and one who would eventually have his own powerful magician since Zatanna Zatara was his daughter. Zatanna continues her father’s legacy by becoming a powerful magician of her own – but her father also deserves credit for how he existed back in the earliest days of DC Comics.

Yet, it seems current continuity has been most unkind to the original Zatara, and he died well over a decade ago with no signs of ever coming back. Zatara is mainly reserved as a tragic origin for Zatanna in the modern continuity, and his death came at the hands of a great and unknown magical evil that he and John Constantine attempted to thwart.

1 Doctor Fate

Sacrificed Himself Against the Upside-Down Man

• First Appearance: More Fun Comics #55 (May, 1940)
• Created by: Gardner Fox, Howard Sherman
• Appearance of Death: Justice League Dark #27 (December, 2020)

Kent Nelson was the original Doctor Fate, and even with his retirement he could not in good conscious let injustice befall Earth and the mystics. Being a magical mentor to his great-nephew, Khalid Nassour, Kent Nelson would once again don the Helmet of Fate in a fight against the Upside-Down Man, an Otherkind of all-powerful magic and darkness.

The Upside-Down Man had managed to warp reality around him, but Kent Nelson and Nabu became Doctor Fate to focus everything they could through Kent’s body like a magical missile. Kent was reduced to dust and hasn’t returned since.