History AnyoneCanDie / ComicBooks

* Peter Milligan and Mike Allred's ''[[ComicBook/XForce X-Force/X-Statix]]'' took a pretty lethal approach to its cast, killing off all but the two newest members of the titular team in the first issue and continuing to bump off regulars with regularity. It's stated that the team's membership has a very high turnover rate, and that before the series began the roster had been killed and replaced several times. The series partially serves to explore the idea that if superheroes were real, most of them wouldn't live very long.

* Marvel Comics' ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'', a book about a group of six characters from alternate universes who are pulled into MORE alternate universes to save them from being "broken" and thus eventually return home, is known for being quite lacking in Comic Book Death, especially for a series with all these alternate universes running around.
** Although it doesn't have a lot of deaths Exiles does have a number of key ones. The most notable is likely Sunfire. Sunfire (this version being a Japanese lesbian instead of formal guy in the main verse) is killed by team leader Mimic when he neglects to tell the team that he was infected with the Brood (chest burster aliens), Sunfire was killed off despite the fact that she was one of the more popular characters.
** An even sadder version would probably be Thunderbird; a version of John Proudstar who underwent Apocalypse's Four Horsemen Treatment (he became War). Thunderbird becomes permanently brain damaged (until its reversed when the comic starts to suck) and becomes a vegetable after punching through Galactus's armor and setting off a device that causes a full powered Galactus to run away from Earth. To understand how insanely badass this was, in the main Marvel Universe it usually takes divine intervention to stop Galactus, and usually he's half starved with barely a tenth of his full power. The version Thunderbird takes out was scary enough to cause a planet full of skrull to run away
** Or how's about the real kicker, Mimic? One of the few remaining original Exiles members and lover to other mainstay Blink, Mimic was possessed by the serial killer Proteus and killed just as it looked like his team members had figured out a way to save him. It was with a whimper that he died, literally, rather than the expected bang, which just made the death even crueler.

** The mega-crossover ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' in 2008-2009 basically exists to brutally kill massive numbers of characters for the shock value. The ComicBook/UltimateXMen were hit the hardest, with only five members surviving. How much of it is ComicBookDeath remains to be seen.

** [[spoiler:Subverted in Laura's case as of ''Rising Action''. While Laura metaphorically dies after becoming Persephone, [[DeathFakedForYou it isn't her body that her parents find Ananke burning]]. Inanna is actually killed, but it's Ananke, not Baphomet, who kills him. In ''Commercial Suicide'' Ananke kills Tara at [[ICannotSelfTerminate Tara's request, and in ''Rising Action'', Persephone kills Ananke.]]

** [[spoiler:Subverted in Laura's case as of Rising Action. While Laura metaphorically dies after becoming Persephone, it isn't her body that her parents find Ananke burning. Inanna is actually killed, but it's Ananke, not Baphomet, who kills him. In ''Commercial Suicide'' Ananke kills Tara at Tara's request, and in ''Rising Action'', Persephone kills Ananke.]]

* A comedic example: Marvel's ''ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers''. Er, ''ComicBook/XMen''. Er, ''{{Champions}}''. OK, ''Initiative''. Their big day in the sun, the 4-issue miniseries ''GLA Misassembled'', featured as the gimmick that one member would die each issue. This doesn't count Mr Immortal, of course.

* Luci, who was often billed as almost a {{Deuteragonist}} along with Laura, dies in issue #5 of ''ComicBook/TheWickedAndTheDivine''.

* It's not uncommon for ''SinCity'' stories to end up with dead protagonists despite the [[PosthumousNarration narration]]. Considering the series is in AnachronicOrder, readers can always expect to see the characters again even if they have died previously. For instance, Marv died in the very first story of the series and yet he has had many appearances since.

** The deaths come thick and fast, and surprisingly some A-list characters perish without any more comment than mooks. In ''Convergence #3'' [[spoiler:the pre-''Flashpoint'' Joker]] is killed in as dramatic a fashion as the reader might expect, but only a few pages earlier [[spoiler:the pre-Flashpoint Riddler is blown up with a group of relatively minor Batman villains without any indication he might be more of a 'celebrity' than any of them]].

** The deaths come thick and fast, and surprisingly some A-list characters perish without any more comment than mooks. In ''Convergence #3'' [[spoiler:the pre-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} Joker]] is killed in as dramatic a fashion as the reader might expect, but only a few pages earlier [[spoiler:the pre-Flashpoint Riddler is blown up with a group of relatively minor Batman villains without any indication he might be more of a 'celebrity' than any of them]].

* While arguably not as bad as Ultimate can be-the main character has yet to die-the main 616 ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics can be still be pretty bad about this. Uncle Ben may have been an example of DeathByOriginStory and [[ILetGwenStacyDie Gwen bit the dust to give Peter even more to angst about]], Kraven The Hunter, The Green Goblin, Jean DeWolfe, Captain Stacy, Mary Jane, Aunt May, Madame Webb, [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Mattie Franklin]], Nick from the Bugle, The Hobbgoblin, Ned Leeds, Ben Reily, Harry Osborn etc. didn't know what hit them. Granted a lot of those guys failed to stay dead, but they managed a lot longer than most. (The exceptions to the long death thing being MJ-whom even the writers thought killing off was a mistake and only did it [[ExecutiveMeddling because they were forced to]] and Aunt May because they needed a cop out at the end of ComicBook/TheCloneSaga regarding the fate of [[ComicBook/SpiderGirl baby May Day]] and the "May's still alive" line being about Anut May instead was the best they could come up with. Mattie, Madame Webb, and the Hobgoblin haven't been dead long enough for us to see if it'll stick).

* Erik Larson's ''TheSavageDragon'' has killed off MOST of its cast more than once.

** The IDW Publishing mini-series ''ComicBook/TransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' was built around an Anyone Can Die attitude - the Wreckers being an elite Autobot suicide squad, whose previous incarnations tended to suffer heavy losses. Authors James Roberts and Nick Roche promised that the mini would live up to the tradition - and made good on that promise. As of issue 4, four of the initial eleven Autobots were dead (along with three major Decepticons), and the final issues and prose story brought even more carnage.

* ''{{Powers}}'' does this really well. Not only does powers get killed left and right, on panel and off, regardless of how established the characters are - that's sort of the premise - but it goes for civilians as well. And the Pope. And the main characters. Once Kutter gets his head ripped off you really start worrying for the leading pair.
* This is a large part of the premise of DCComics' aptly named ''SuicideSquad'', about a black ops group composed of expendable {{Boxed Crook}}s and B-list heroes sent on frequently lethal missions.
** In the animated film ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham,'' no less than three members of the squad meet [[YourHeadAsplode very gory deaths]] and another is strongly implied to be killed in an explosion.

* In ''WonderWoman'', Steve Trevor was killed off, after being a major character for about 30 years, as part of a complete revamp of the character in the early seventies.

* Par for the course in ''NikolaiDante'', so much so that fans objected to the ''lack'' of deaths in the "Prisoner of the Tzar" and "An Army of Thieves and Whores" arcs.

* This was used ''extremely'' sparingly in ''ElfQuest'', starting with One-Eye's complicated and drawn-out death, followed by Kureel in the second long arc. Later examples in the backstory include Crescent (which gets referred to ''very'' often), Rillfisher (already alluded to in the main arcs as a trope example), and Thiro (whose death triggered an important moment in the relationship between Leetah and Rayek). Then the Shards war happened, and death suddenly became a whole lot cheaper.

* DC and Marvel kill characters all the time. The measure of a good death is how notable the character is and how long it sticks. To that end, the series most faithful to this trope was CrisisOnInfiniteEarths. It destroys an infinite number of earths, some with important characters, but its most notable for killing Supergirl (which stuck for 18 years) and Flash (Barry Allen stayed dead for 23 years.) After this, you have one earth and most of its old continuity was thrown out (for about 20 years.)

* Vertigo's ''TheLosers'' series.

** In the animated film ''WesternAnimation/AssaultOnArkham,'' no less than three members of the squad meet [[YourHeadAsplode very gory deaths]] and another is strongly implied to be killed in an explosion.

* The deaths come thick and fast in ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'', and surprisingly some A-list characters perish without any more comment than mooks. In ''Convergence #3'' the pre-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} Joker is killed in as dramatic a fashion as the reader might expect, but only a few pages earlier the pre-Flashpoint Riddler is blown up with a group of relatively minor Batman villains without any indication he might be more of a 'celebrity' than any of them.

* Peter Milligan and Mike Allred's ''[[{{X-Force}} X-Force/X-Statix]]'' took a pretty lethal approach to its cast, killing off all but the two newest members of the titular team in the first issue and continuing to bump off regulars with regularity. It's stated that the team's membership has a very high turnover rate, and that before the series began the roster had been killed and replaced several times. The series partially serves to explore the idea that if superheroes were real, most of them wouldn't live very long.

* A comedic example: Marvel's ''ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers''. Er, ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}''. Er, ''{{Champions}}''. OK, ''Initiative''. Their big day in the sun, the 4-issue miniseries ''GLA Misassembled'', featured as the gimmick that one member would die each issue. This doesn't count Mr Immortal, of course.

* In ''UltimateMarvel,'' there was their mega-crossover ''{{Ultimatum}}'' in 2008-2009, which basically exists to brutally kill massive numbers of characters for the shock value. The {{Ultimate X-Men}} were hit the hardest, with only five members surviving. How much of it is ComicBookDeath remains to be seen.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'' in general. They killed off '''''[[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Spider-Man]]''''' and replaced him with a new one.