Source: dccomics.com

4. Deadman

Boston Brand was a death-defying circus aerialist. Then he stopped being able to defy death. Because someone shot him. And he died.

In fact, he was murdered, by a mysterious man with a hook for a hand. His spirit was then introduced to Rama Kushna, a Hindu god who gave him the power to posses any human being, a power he used to solve crimes. He bounced around for a while, always trying to find who killed him, which he eventually did. After all that time, he came back to life!!!!! Oh I’m sorry, let me start over, his body came back to life!!!!!!! As a Black Lantern murder zombie. Who was trying to murder a lot of people.

So Boston had to fight himself to keep others safe. At the end of the event, he was one of a small group of heroes and villains brought back from the dead. For real this time. He came back and spent a lot of time trying to figure out the purpose of the widespread resurrection. He eventually did, but was killed in the process.

But he had completed a long and fulfilling character arc and—NEW 52 REBOOT! LOL JK ABOUT ALL THOSE ARCS, BECAUSE THEY DO NOT MATTER NOW THAT WE ARE STARTING FROM SCRATCH. So yeah, Boston’s back to being a ghost trying to solve his own murder. It’s fine. It’s a start.