Warning: spoilers for Dark Crisis #2 are ahead!
In comic books, death rarely feels like a permanent thing, a sentiment that DC Comics' latest event, Dark Crisis, has already shown to be the case. Following what appeared to be the demise of a major character in Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere's Dark Crisis #1, the event's second issue reveals that one of the event's first casualties never really died in the first place.
Dark Crisis is centered around its heroes fighting Pariah and his Dark Army, a collection of DC villains controlled by an all-knowing evil power known as the Great Darkness. The Justice League has already fallen, and the first issue of the limited series shows the world in disarray as a number of supervillains launch their own attacks in the League's absence. Deathstroke, also led by Pariah, launched an attack on Titans Tower, culminating in him shooting Beast Boy in the head.
Dark Crisis #2, written by Joshua Williamson with art by Daniel Sampere, is titled Fall of the Titans. The issue picks up with Deathstroke's assault on Titans Tower, as he carries in the limp and misshapen body of Beast Boy. Deathstroke, however, reveals that Beast Boy's nature as a shapeshifter made him question where the Titan's organs would lie, wondering if his brain would even be in his head. As it turns out, Beast Boy survived the headshot, undoing the apparent death at the end of the first issue.
Comics have a long history of going back on character deaths, with Batman and Superman among a great many others both notably surviving or being resurrected from their own apparent demises during major events. Of course, most of the dead Justice League members are expected to return by the event's end, with several of them such as Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman continuing to have ongoing series through Dark Crisis. Even so, there is almost something comedic about the speed with which a major character supposedly died and was revealed to be alive within the first two issues of this event. In total, only 8 pages of the main book elapse between the headshot and Deathstroke's reveal that Beast Boy is, indeed, still alive. Still, with his body knocked out of shape by the bullet, the totality of Beast Boy's injury and its lasting effects remains to be seen.
Beast Boy's "death" puts a clever twist on the trope of major character deaths being used to shock readers in events, as it makes sense that a shapeshifter could feasibly survive a bullet to the head. Even though the ramifications of Deathstroke's headshot remain to be seen, Beast Boy fans can rejoice in knowing that one of the most popular Teen Titans became the first "dead" hero to return in Dark Crisis.
Dark Crisis #2 is available from DC Comics now.