In super hero comics it's not unknown for a someone to die, then a few issues later get better.
But who holds the record for being dead for the longest time (real world time) and coming back?
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Sign up to join this communityIn super hero comics it's not unknown for a someone to die, then a few issues later get better.
But who holds the record for being dead for the longest time (real world time) and coming back?
There may be a longer one, especially amongst the golden age heroes (specifically DC's, as I'm not as up to speed on them). I would say it is probably
James "Bucky" Barnes, 40 years, 10 months: revealed as dead in Avengers #4 (March 1964); revealed as alive in Captain America v5 #1 (January 2005)
Granted, it was retconned so that he never actually died in the first place, but I don't think that should discredit this. For all intents and purposes, he was dead as dead and intended to stay dead until Ed Brubaker had a story idea. His death was considered so permanent that he was one of three characters included in a popular phrase about comic book death:
A common expression regarding comic book death was once "The only people who stay dead in comics, are Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben." referring to the seminal importance of those character's deaths to Captain America, Batman, and Spider-Man respectively. However, after the former two were brought back in 2005, the phrase was changed to only recognize Uncle Ben.
Off the top of my head, Barry Allen, the 2nd Flash is my first guess. He died in 1985 during Crisis on Infinite Earths, and returned in 2008 in Final Crisis, which is 23 years. He narrowly beats out Jason Todd (1988-2005).
I'd wonder if any Marvel folk stayed dead for a long time before returning, but don't know that universe well enough.
To my knowledge the longest dead character was Barry Allen (The Flash), he originally died 1985 and stayed dead for about 23 years, until 2008.
He was killed in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and then was brought back to life during "Final Crisis".
I am not sure if this qualifies but I'd vote for the Original Human Torch
According to the Marvel Continuity it was deactivated (it is an android, after all, so being "dead" is a bit difficult to define) shortly after WWII and "came back to life" in The Avengers #133-135 (May–June 1975). This already contrived story arc was muddled again and again later, but I still think that 30 years is pretty impressive.