First superhero to die

The first comic book superhero to be killed off in the line of duty was The Comet, aka John Dickering, drawn by Jack Cole (USA) for Pep Comics (MLJ Magazines Inc., USA), a crime-fighting vigilante who first appeared in January 1940 and was shot and killed by the henchmen of nemesis Big Boy Malone 17 issues later in July 1941. The Comet was a surprisingly vengeful and bloodthirsty superhero, particularly by the standards of the Golden Era of comic books, content to kill the bad guys rather than hand them over to the police. The character has since been reinvented and rebooted several times, and played a major role as part of the Mighty Crusaders team of superheroes.