Resurrection Man (DC Comics)
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The Resurrection Man was a superhero whose adventures were published by DC Comics from 1997 to 1999 in a serialized comic book of the same name, created by Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett and Jackson Guice.
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[edit] Series Overview
The premise of the title character was established thusly over the series' run: Born in Viceroy, South Carolina, Mitchell "Mitch" Shelley became a lawyer who found himself an unwilling test subject for experimentation in nanotechnology, involving specialized devices nicknamed "tektites" by an organization known only as "the Lab". The experiments rendered Shelley initially amnesiac for several months, and effectively immortal albeit with a twist: he could still be killed, but the death would last a matter of seconds, perhaps minutes at most due to the tektites; their presence in Shelley's body would inevitably revive him, and with a different superhuman power after each "resurrection". A comment by the Phantom Stranger in RM #18 about having worked with Shelly in previous lifetimes suggests that there is more to his powers than just the tektites. However, the series never expanded on this point.
Shelley's travels in search of the truth of his identity and his newfound powers would take him across the United States, leading him into an ongoing feud with assorted adversaries including Vandal Savage, the Body Doubles and others, as well as alliances and friendship with various members of the Justice League (although he did not feel comfortable acting in a traditional superhero role). At least one alternate future has established Shelley's survival and longterm League membership into the 853rd Century. By then he had developed a device, attached to his wrist, that could kill him in a way that allowed him to select specific powers (as opposed to the "Luck of the draw" system his normal deaths went by).
[edit] History
Resurrection Man's power works a little differently from a traditional superhero's. Whenever he is killed, he returns to life with a new power (or "gift" as he often refers to it) that correlates in some way to his death. These range from minor, almost dismissive abilities such as the changing of his skin color and making pyrotechnic butterflies to the extraordinary, such as the ability to transform into a Hulk-like monster with a bullet-proof hide. He can become more powerful than any single member of the Justice League, if he "resurrects" right.
Originally a lawyer on the take from the mob in Viceroy, South Carolina (the home of the fictitious soda Soder Cola of Superman comics), he spent the first few issues remembering who he is and what happened to make him the Resurrection Man. The comic starts with Shelley, a drifter with no memory, stumbling across his power (after dying). He fought an incarnation of Amazo and was brought to the attention of the JLA in issue #2. He was pursued early on ( and throughout most of the series ) by the Body Doubles - 2 curvy, fashion-themed female assassins that were hired by a mysterious organization called "the Lab".
This "Lab" did give Shelley his power of resurrecting immediately, but he is also something much more, his origin stretching back far into the past of the DC universe. (If the Phantom Stranger is to be believed, Shelley's gifts have existed in his previous lives, but not changed over the course of a single life.) It is revealed that Shelly has fought Vandal Savage throughout time, from the time of cavemen to the present day, each time attempting to foil Savage's plots before getting killed by Savage in battle.
Mitchell Shelley is some kind of counter-agent to Savage. Something far more powerful than the realm of "normal" DC heroes, he is somewhere in the league of the Phantom Stranger. The Stranger even revealed a long standing friendship ("one of my oldest friends") with Shelley although Shelley has no recollection of this. Cave Carson and the Forgotten Heroes eventually recruited Shelley to thwart Savage, thinking he was the newest incarnation of the Immortal Man. But Shelley, it was revealed, was not the Immortal Man. He is something else, and as of yet, something unrevealed.
Fans of the character find him to be a fantastic take on superheroes and the DC universe in general. The series had a rich supporting cast and memorable villains. It also touched upon all manner of areas of the then rich DC continuity. In the conclusion of his series, Resurrection Man helped face down a threat to the multiverse that defeated the JLA, JSA, Young Justice, the Forgotten Heroes and numerous other assembled DC heroes. This threat, tied to his resurrection powers and the origin of both Vandal Savage and the Immortal Man, was defeated by the real Immortal Man sacrificing his life. Mitch Shelley now wanders the DCU, dying to save people from crime, evil and injustice outside the mainstream.
[edit] Notable Deaths and Resurrections
- Method of death: Unknown
Resurrection: ability to fly
- Method of death: Shot several times in the chest.
Resurrection: able to shoot blasts of compressed air
- Method of death: Explosion of fuel tanker and gas tanks.
Resurrection: generates fire from his hands, can telekinetically control fire
- Method of death: rocket launcher
Resurrection: power to turn into a pyrotelekinetic flaming skeleton
- Method of death: hit by truck
Resurrection: shape-shifting
- Method of death: nuclear blast
Resurrection: as a living shadow
- Method of death: pain overload via experimentation
Resurrection: as a woman
[edit] Elseworlds
During the run of Resurrection Man Abnett and Lanning also wrote an Elseworlds graphic novel, The Superman Monster, which retold the story of Frankenstein as a Superman story. This featured an actual "resurrection man" (i.e. a body-snatcher) who was drawn to closely resemble Mitch Shelley.
