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Which is the first comic where we see a superhero killing the villain?

Started by comicwiz,

70 posts in this topic

comicwiz

comicwiz

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Maybe you're talking about one of their red and blue clad soldiers...

 

That could very well be; it seems my memory is failing me confused.gif

 

But I was alsmost certain reading about this, and I also recall reading about this in an article, where it too noted the scene just as I described it. In fact, I believe homage was paid to that very scene in the holywood flick X2: X-Men United, in that scene where Wolvies in the kitchen, and the feds come to swarm the muties.

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Shield

Shield

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WOW! I'm pretty surprised at these responses, especially in light of what I always regarded as the "soft" ages of comics (SA and earlier); I really thought that it wasn't until the 70's that comic publishers starting pushing the envelope on heroes that were brasher, nastier, with a persuasion of foregoing justice, and taking matters into their own hands.

 

 

Wow! You really have this backwards! The golden age was full of violence, beheadings, and gore! Think of all the WWII books, and their depictions of America's enemies at the time (Italians, Germans and Japanese). Think of all those horror books that led to the comic code authority label! There was no political correctness then, my friend!

 

Methinks you need to check out some golden age books. "Soft age" indeed...

 

Here's a splash page from Hangman Comics #3, Summer 1942:

 

hangman03_03.jpg

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seank

seank

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WOW! I'm pretty surprised at these responses, especially in light of what I always regarded as the "soft" ages of comics (SA and earlier); I really thought that it wasn't until the 70's that comic publishers starting pushing the envelope on heroes that were brasher, nastier, with a persuasion of foregoing justice, and taking matters into their own hands.

 

 

Wow! You really have this backwards! The golden age was full of violence, beheadings, and gore! Think of all the WWII books, and their depictions of America's enemies at the time (Italians, Germans and Japanese). Think of all those horror books that led to the comic code authority label! There was no political correctness then, my friend!

 

Methinks you need to check out some golden age books. "Soft age" indeed...

 

Here's a splash page from Hangman Comics #3, Summer 1942:

 

hangman03_03.jpg

 

893whatthe.gif Great splash page!

 

Shield beat me to the punch on stating that the golden age was full of death and dismemberment. It was also full of racial stereotypes, gender stereotypes, headlights, blood, gore, "sex," and a complete lack of anything even remotely politically correct. It was great stuff.

 

Perhaps for the sake of argument we should determine when the first post-code killing by a superhero happened.

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

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Ah, don't forget one of the few inviolate deaths left in the Marvel U. - Gwen's dad, Captain George Stacy. Of course, now that I've said it...hope no one in editorial there was listening.

 

But Cap Stacy wasn't intentionally murdered. Doc Ock smashed a chimney over....and Captain Stacy saved a child from being killed. Unfortunately.....he wasn't so lucky. From that day forward( at least until ASM 121), Gwen blamed Spidey for his death.

 

RIP GwenStacy(bondagecover).jpg

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comicwiz

comicwiz

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Think of all those horror books that led to the comic code authority label! There was no political correctness then, my friend!

 

Sure, the pre-code horror stuff was king at conveying brutality, violence, and dismemberment. Greet splash BTW thumbsup2.gif

 

But I would have to believe that the publishers were somewhat apprehensive about involving a prolific character in their ensemble of heroes in a death scene where their offing a villain, and would rather altogether disassociate themselves from a readership that would frown upon a Batman, or Superman to be noted as "killers."

 

Freaking hilarious that the axis agent on the left of the splash is drooling at the prospect of beheading blondie 27_laughing.gif

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Bronty

Bronty

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And let's not forget Miracleman 15, which, while years later, has to be one of the first instances of the hero actually killing a child 893whatthe.gif -- and graphically - snapped his neck! Definitely no comics code stamp on that book!!

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ArnoldTBlumberg

ArnoldTBlumberg

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Yup, those stories are imprinted on my brain forever. But I wasn't referring in any way to the method or reason for the death. I was simply saying that he remains one of the few dead characters who has never been resurrected. Bucky wasn't directly murdered either but he's still toast...unless you believe Peter David's playful allusion in INCREDIBLE HULK way back when.

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comicwiz

comicwiz

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And let's not forget Miracleman 15, which, while years later, has to be one of the first instances of the hero actually killing a child 893whatthe.gif -- and graphically - snapped his neck! Definitely no comics code stamp on that book!!

 

893whatthe.gif

 

I forgot about that; definitely a groundbreaking scene.

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ArnoldTBlumberg

ArnoldTBlumberg

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This was during his Pantheon story arc, in which the intelligent Hulk worked with a secret organization led by a mysterious old man named Agamemnon. At one point the ancient Aggy shed his old man look for that of a teenaged boy, which he claimed he had done once before around WWII. Several cutesy clues were dropped that Aggy was Bucky back then and faked his death. I think there was even a bit where someone, perhaps Steve Rogers, saw Aggy on the street and recognized him as Bucky.

 

It was rather subtle and meant mainly for fun.

 

Arnold

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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And let's not forget Miracleman 15, which, while years later, has to be one of the first instances of the hero actually killing a child 893whatthe.gif -- and graphically - snapped his neck! Definitely no comics code stamp on that book!!

 

893whatthe.gif

 

I forgot about that; definitely a groundbreaking scene.

 

But wasn't that "off camera" with only a bit of blood hitting MM?

 

Can anyone give a post-Code example of a hero or villain first-degree, with intent, killing someone on camera, no shadow of doubt whether they're DOA?

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Mephisto

Mephisto

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Yeah he seemed to kill at least one person an issue up until sometimes just after Robin's 1st appearance. If you read Tec 38 it appears that Robin may actually kill a thug in that issue. In a few early Tec Batman throws guys off roofs killing them and in Tec 38 Robin knocks a guy off a steal beam of a building being constructed. They never show a panel of the guy landing (But in previous issues when Batman has done it there was a panel of the person with blood coming out of their lifeless body.) when the thugs said they were going to knock Robin off up there it would kill him. 893naughty-thumb.gif

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Bronty

Bronty

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Good call! I just took a look and it turns out the scene is not exactly as I remember!! 893whatthe.gif

 

Kid Miracleman kills most of London if that issue if I recall correctly (which I clearly may not!!). There are impaled carcasses and skulls on almost every page. Here's KM killing the warpsmith "on-camera." KM doesn't fare too well either:

 

352483-mm15splash.jpg

352483-mm15splash.jpg.cad255d03fb9810016ec8bfc4b499c43.jpg

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comicwiz

comicwiz

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Can anyone give a post-Code example of a hero or villain first-degree, with intent, killing someone on camera, no shadow of doubt whether they're DOA?

 

I take it from your question that the Wolvie example in X-men 133 does not qualify. Have we confirmed that the red/blue soldier was not killed in that scene? And how about Miller's limited 4-iss limited series -- any examples of on camera slashing?

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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And how about Miller's limited 4-iss limited series -- any examples of on camera slashing?

 

Nope, he kills the bad dude and his smaller dudettes, but it's all shown off-camera. There are plenty of instances of villains killing on-panel (check the Marvel Bronze Age 893whatthe.gif) but I'm finding it hard to find a hero scene.

 

Wolvie "killed" a ton of people, but they're either off-camera (Savage Land) or ambiguous (Hellfire Club) and Marvel brings the poor saps back.

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Timely

Timely

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Forget about the interiors... if I have time later, I'll go through my Gerber looking for the earliest "Hero Kills Someone on the Cover."

 

352298-killing%20two.jpg

 

Awesome book Rob, you outbid me on this one! Got any more?

 

Timely

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rob_react

rob_react

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Forget about the interiors... if I have time later, I'll go through my Gerber looking for the earliest "Hero Kills Someone on the Cover."

 

 

Awesome book Rob, you outbid me on this one! Got any more?

 

Timely

 

Not mine unfortunately. I just raided the Heritage site because I knew I could find a cover just like that in no time flat.

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Crowzilla

Crowzilla

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Not just Batman punching people over roof's in the early 'Tec's - the Batplane used to have a machine gun mounted on it that he used all the time.

Batman #1 has a great story where where he uses the Machine gun in the batplane to mow down the bad guy. No accidental about it.

 

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