Superheroes On The Cross

Probably because of their noble and sacrificing nature, comic book creators are always tempted to link superheroes to the greatest Hero of all. Hence, the superheroes have been seen in many crucifix positions. Crucifixion, of course, existed before Jesus, but because of His famous execution, it can't be helped but to associate it with him. After all, Lenny Bruce said that if Jesus had been executed in modern times, kids would be wearing little electric chairs around their neck. And transformative figures tend to change our perceptions of things. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that John Brown would make the gallows as glorious as the cross. Not the best prediction.

One writer who really has a fixation on the cross is Grant Morrison. This blog demonstrates how he's used the motif over and over.

So, on with crux of my argument.....

Starting with the Angel. In a crossover called "Mutant Massacre", the Angel and his teammates X-Factors were trying to prevent the mass slaughter of a mutant community called the Morlocks.  During battle, the Angel's wings were pinned to the wall.

Well, next up: Captain America. Well, not really. It was another man named Roscoe who assumed the role of Cap when the real Cap lost his faith in America briefly and became the superhero known as Nomad. Long story. Anyway, Roscoe was murdered by the Red Skull.  On the cover, he was hung right side up, but in the comic itself he's upside down. I wonder if Nomad and the Falcon hung him right side up later to make it look more noble. I know, I'm sick....

Next up is Green Lantern. I think this only happened on the cover and not within the comic itself. Fortunately they only tied his arms and didn't pierce his flesh.  I suppose it should also be include that Green Lantern and Green Arrow also encountered an activist who was tied, crucifixion style, to the wing of an airplane. The activist had long hair and a beard, was "crucified" with two others and died at dawn. Yeah, very subtle.

Now, Quasar, a cosmic superhero with powerful wristbands. A supervillain called the Maelstrom wanted them, so he cut Quasar's hands (don't worry, they grew back!) off to get them and then crucified Quasar through his stumps. Maelstrom then  had one of his servants whip Quasar 39 times. Fortunately, Quasar showed off how tough he was by only saying "one" over and over when he was asked to count.

In an alternate reality, Spider-Man was captured by Kulan Gath, an evil wizard from Conan the Barbarian's era and crucified in revenge for a previous defeat. Spider-Man broke the cross and freed himself but died shortly thereafter. Since this is an alternate reality, this didn't result in any long reprecussions.



Not a scene from a comic book, but from Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League. Twice, the supervillain Darkseid captured Superman and immobolized him in a crucifix position. The first time, it played very heavy in the episode with Darkseid tempting Superman on a mountain. He later refers to him as the people of Earth's savior. The second time, no allegory was played up. It was just for Darkseid to immobilize Superman.

On an X-shaped cross (of course), Wolverine was crucified by a group of cyborgs called the Reavers. Thanks to his superhuman healing factor, Wolverine was able to survive the experience.


Finally, the cover of Fantastic Four #280. The cover purely symbolic. Nothing like the event on the cover occur within.