Resurrection Man (character) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Resurrection Man
Artwork from Resurrection Man #1 (September 2011, DC Comics), art by Fernando Dagnino.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Resurrection Man #1 (May 1997)
Created by	Andy Lanning Dan Abnett Jackson Guice
In-story information
Alter ego	Mitchell "Mitch" Shelley
Team affiliations	Forgotten Heroes Justice Legion Alpha Justice League
Abilities	Originally: Reincarnation After tektites: Resurrection, with different additional super-power each time

Mitch Shelley, also called the Resurrection Man, is a character from DC Comics stories. He was created by Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett, and Jackson Guice and first appeared in Resurrection Man #1 in 1997. Mitch doesn't see himself as a superhero. However, he often helps people by protecting them from criminals and super-villains.

Mitch Shelley has a very special ability. Because of tiny, advanced technology in his blood, he cannot be killed permanently. No matter how he dies or how badly he is hurt, he always comes back to life completely healed. Each time he resurrects, he also gains a different new super-power. The power he had before disappears. Sometimes, his body even changes when he comes back to life. For example, he once came back as a living shadow. Another time, his body changed into a woman's form.

Mitch Shelley has connections to other immortal DC characters, like Vandal Savage and the Immortal Man. In a future storyline called DC One Million, Mitch Shelley is still alive far in the future. He works with a superhero team called Justice Legion A. In this future, he has a special "Resurrector" device that helps him control his resurrection power.

How Resurrection Man Was Created

The idea for Resurrection Man came from comic book writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, along with artist Butch Guice. They first thought of the idea in the early 1990s. They wanted to create a hero who gained a new superpower every time he came back to life. This was more exciting than just being immortal.

When they moved to DC Comics, they suggested the character. The editors liked the idea. They decided Mitch Shelley would be a hero who didn't want to be a hero. He wouldn't wear a costume or join famous teams like the Justice League. To make him mysterious, Mitch was introduced as someone who had lost his memory. He didn't know how he got his powers or where he came from.

Mitch Shelley's first comic, Resurrection Man #1, came out in 1997. The series followed Mitch as he traveled across America. He had many adventures while trying to find out about his past. He was chased by a group called "the Lab" and bounty hunters called the Body Doubles. The first Resurrection Man series was liked by many readers. It ended in 1999 after 27 issues. Even though some questions were answered, some mysteries remained. For example, it was hinted that Mitch had fought evil many times throughout history by coming back to life and remembering his past lives. After the series ended, Mitch Shelley only appeared in other DC Comics stories sometimes.

In 2011, DC Comics started many new superhero series. This was called the New 52 reboot. The writers were asked to bring back Resurrection Man. The new series started in September 2011. This new version was not a direct follow-up to the old stories. Instead, it rebooted the character. He was again an amnesiac searching for his origins. He was chased by the Lab, the US government, and even an angel. The new series ended after 13 issues because it did not sell well enough.

Mitch Shelley's Story

Original Story

In the original story, Mitch Shelley grew up in South Carolina. He was raised by his father, Preston Shelley. Mitch also had a kind housekeeper named Conchita. As a child, Mitch had dreams and visions. It was like he could remember things from other people's lives. Conchita thought this meant Mitch was remembering past lives.

Later, Mitch became a lawyer. He worked with some people who did illegal things. He later decided he didn't want to be involved with them anymore. He gathered proof to give to the FBI. In return, he would enter a program to protect him. However, people he trusted tried to harm him. A gas explosion destroyed his office while he was inside.

Amazingly, Mitch survived. He had lost his memory and was confused. Months later, a secret group called "the Lab" captured him. Mitch and other people were used as test subjects by the Lab's director, Hooker. Hooker wanted to become immortal. He used tiny robots called "tektites" that could heal the body. All the test subjects were given tektites and then killed. But only Mitch Shelley (called "sample 268") came back to life.

Hooker took some of Mitch's blood and injected it into himself. Hooker became unable to die, but he couldn't heal from injuries. He became very angry and attacked the Lab. This allowed Mitch to escape. Mitch was still confused and had no memory. He soon found he could fly. Hooker also escaped and chased Mitch.

Two years later, Mitch was killed while trying to protect people. He came back to life. His flight power was gone, and he had a new power. The shock of coming back to life brought back some memories. He learned from a newspaper that he was Mitchell "Mitch" Shelley, a lawyer thought to be dead. Mitch was chased by the Body Doubles. He started to investigate what happened to him. As he traveled, he helped others. More memories returned with each death and resurrection.

Mitch learned that the people he trusted had tried to harm him. He worked with an investigator named Kim Rebecki. Mitch then met Hooker again. This meeting brought back more memories. Mitch learned about his past and how he was betrayed. He made sure the people who tried to harm him were caught.

While investigating his past, Mitch and Kim became close. They found the Lab and learned about the tektite experiments. Hooker attacked, causing the Lab's power source to become unstable. Mitch and Hooker were caught in a huge explosion. Mitch survived for weeks as a living shadow before getting his body back. Hooker became a living skull.

After this, Mitch started having visions of past lives again. He remembered being a boy in Ancient Egypt, a knight who met a demon, and a soldier in World War I. With each memory, he also remembered dying. Later, he met Lament, who said she was an angel who had seen Mitch die many times but could never take his soul.

Mitch then teamed up with the Phantom Stranger, a very old mystic. The Phantom Stranger told Mitch they had fought together in many past lives. He said Mitch's soul was reborn each time he died. The Phantom Stranger was surprised Mitch could now literally resurrect instead of just being reborn. He also said Mitch used to have one superpower in his past lives. This might be why he gets powers now. The Phantom Stranger warned Mitch that his life had a big purpose. He reminded Mitch that he had been an enemy to the immortal villain Vandal Savage many times.

Mitch briefly joined the Justice League. He worked with Superman and Batman. But he decided that being a superhero was too much for him. He left the team. Mitch later joined the Forgotten Heroes. This team was formed to fight Vandal Savage. Savage and the Immortal Man got their powers from a special meteorite. This meteorite gave Savage his agelessness. It allowed the Immortal Man to die and then instantly reappear in a new body with all his memories. A hero named Cave Carson explained that the meteorite exposed them to tektites. Savage then funded the Lab. He hoped they could copy the tektites in his body. These copied tektites were injected into Mitch. This gave him his resurrection power and slowly brought back his memories.

Mitch, Savage, the Immortal Man, and the Forgotten Heroes fought a creature that came with another tektite meteorite. To save the world, the Immortal Man combined his tektite power with the creature's. This destroyed them both and fixed reality. After the battle, Mitch decided to stop adventuring for a while to be with Kim Rebecki.

New 52 Story

In the New 52 timeline, Mitch Shelley's story is different. In this version, Mitch Shelley is born in the late 20th century. He has no memories of past lives. He wanders America, gaining different powers each time he dies. He meets an angel named Suriel, who believes Mitch's soul should go to the afterlife. Mitch is also chased by the Body Doubles, hired by Hooker. A private investigator named Kim Rebecki also chases him. She was hired by Amanda Waller, who leads a group called the Suicide Squad. Kim first thinks Mitch is a villain, but her mind changes after meeting him.

Eventually, Mitch Shelley is captured by Hooker. Hooker explains that he, Mitch, and the Body Doubles all have powers from tektites. But the tektites affected them differently. Hooker became immortal but couldn't heal. The Body Doubles became super strong. The director of the Lab then reveals he is the real, original Mitch Shelley. This original Shelley is a cold and selfish scientist.

Five years earlier, the original Shelley experimented on injured soldiers. He was trying to perfect his "tektite solution." He lost his arm in an attack and got a tektite injection. Instead of reattaching his arm, the tektites grew a new one. The lost arm was burned, but it later grew into a copy of Mitch Shelley. This copy had no memories and a different personality. This copy is the Resurrection Man, who gets a new superpower each time he dies. When the original Shelley learned about the copy, he and Hooker decided to get the Resurrection Man back.

The Resurrection Man is shocked to learn he is a copy of a cruel person. He believes the tektites brought him to life to make up for the bad things the original Shelley did. During their fight, forces from Heaven and Hell come for Mitch Shelley's soul. The angel Suriel takes the soul of the original Mitch Shelley. A demon takes the Resurrection Man and Kim Rebecki to safety. The demon says that the Resurrection Man's soul gets stronger with each resurrection. After the demon leaves, the Resurrection Man and Kim think about their future.

Powers

In the original story, Mitch Shelley had lived many lives throughout history. He would die and then be reborn later. In each new life, he could remember his past lives. This made him the same person living through different times. It's not known how he got this ability. The Phantom Stranger hinted that in each life, Mitch had one superpower. This might be why he gets a different power each time he comes back to life now.

In his current life, Mitch Shelley was injected with tiny "tektites." These are based on the same microscopic technology that gives Vandal Savage his immortality. The tektites reacted to Mitch's unique nature. They gave him the power to come back to life completely healed from any death. He can even come back from being burned to ashes. Plus, he gets a different new superpower each time he resurrects. When he dies again, this power will be replaced by another. The time it takes Mitch to come back to life can change. It might take moments, minutes, or hours.

Mitch usually has only one superpower at a time. But sometimes, that single power can be used in many ways. There seems to be no limit to what power Mitch might get. His temporary powers have included changing his skin color or having X-ray vision. He has also been able to control energy or matter. Some characters thought that the power Mitch gets is often a way for his body to protect itself based on how he died before. For example, after dying in a fire, Mitch came back with fire powers and couldn't be burned. After being destroyed in a nuclear blast, Mitch came back as a living shadow. This shadow body couldn't be hurt unless it was in bright light. Mitch himself cannot control what new power he gets.

Because of the tektites in his blood, Mitch Shelley can sense and be sensed by others who have tektites. Their technology reacts when they get closer. His "tektite field" can also interact with another person's tektite field. This can make their powers stronger or cause problems.

In the DC One Million storyline, Mitch Shelley was seen in the 853rd century. He had not aged. In this future, Mitch had a device called a Resurrector. It could instantly kill him. This allowed him to choose what new power he would have after he came back to life. The Resurrector also let him keep powers like superhuman strength and flight all the time.

In the New 52 version, Resurrection Man's powers come only from tektites. He never lived past lives in this story.

See also

In Spanish: Hombre Resurrección para niños