Every week, we will be examining comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.

This is the first of a series of special Abadoned an' Forsaked editions specifically spotlighting notable overturned comic book deaths. I call it "Death is Not the End." We begin with one of the most outlandish examples, the death (and life) of Norman Osborn!

After fighting Spider-Man for years, Norman "Green Goblin" Osborn finally went one step too far in his battle with Spider-Man when he killed Spider-Man's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #121.

In #122, he and Spider-Man have what appears to be their final battle...





That is why this one stands out. You don't get much deader than that.

The mysterious fellow removes Green Goblin's costume, so the next issue it looks like Spidey killed just plain ol' Nroman Osborn...





And the issue after that, Spidey notes how much that costume removal messed him over...



In Amazing Spider-Man #136, Harry Osborn takes over as Green Goblin (temporarily) and explains that it was HE who removed the costume...



Norman Osborn is dead for years. Not only is he dead, but his death becomes an almost important aspect of the series, especially how the Hobgoblin is introduced as a new villain using Norman Osborn's unused hideouts (and his Goblin serum).

However, in the late 1990s, Norman Osborn's death is abandoned an' forsaked as he returned to reveal that he was behind the Clone Saga, all as a way just to mess with Peter.

In the pages of the one-shot Osborn Journal, we learn how he survived his seeming death...







As far as these things go, that's really not that bad.

Feel free to suggest which notable overturned comic book death you'd like to see me feature by e-mailing me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com (remember, it has to be a clear death and the death has to be specifically overturned as not happening (so no resurrections). Oh, and of course, the death has to be someone whose death was an actual big deal).