A Brief History Of Fridging In Marvel Comics

Since before Gwen Stacy died, Marvel's been killing women to help their characters seek revenge and grow. The toxic trope has a long history in comics

Comic book deaths can be heroic or brutal but they are not always final. If the storyline demands it or the timing is right, characters regularly come back to life. As Professor X of the X-Men pointed out, "There are no pearly gates, but instead revolving doors." Although he was talking about Krakoan resurrection at the time, this has been true for popular Marvel Comics characters for decades. However, fridging is the most heinous form of death in comic books, and often its most permanent. Treated as tragic deaths, fridgings provide the motivation to break heroes out of their shells and grow as characters. In reality, though, they perpetuate a storytelling trope that enables the victimization of female romantic interests.

Writer Gail Simone coined the term "Women in Refrigerators" as a reference to the shocking fate of Kyle Rayner's girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, at the hands of the supervillain Major Force in Green Lantern #54 (by Ron Marz, Steve Carr, Romeo Tanghal, Steve Mattsson and Albert DeGuzman). From then on, the term "Fridging" denoted the grim fate of any female character whose death's sole purpose is to give the protagonist a sense of moral responsibility or motive for change. Marvel Comics is as guilty of indulging in this trope as any media conglomerate. In fact, across the company's illustrious history, they did a lot to create and firmly establish this toxic trope.

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Before the House of Ideas became known as Marvel Comics, it operated under the name Timely Comics, where it introduced characters like the Human Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. In the Golden Age of comics, fridging was not an endemic problem since the medium was still in its formative days, and writers were experimenting with a variety of new storylines. At the same time, comic book creators were predominantly men, and women were often pushed to the sidelines, in stories and reality, and in superhero tales they mostly played the part of Damsel in Distress. Fridging goes back to the Silver Age when Nick Fury lost his fiancé Pamela Hawley to German bombers in a 1965 issue of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. Predictably, he went on a rampage and killed General Von Krummpt in the next issue, dedicating the deed to his dead lady love.

Fridging made its way into Marvel Comics at the start of the Bronze Age by killing Janice Cord, Tony Stark's girlfriend. In Iron Man #22 (by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Joe Gaudioso and Jean Izzo), the Armored Avenger was embroiled in a three-way fight with the Soviet villains Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man. Janice was caught in the crossfire, and died in Iron Man's arms, oblivious to his real identity. Enraged, Tony destroyed Titanium Man's allies, later visiting Janice's grave to grieve. Just a year after this incident, Namor's betrothed Dorma died at the hands of Llyra Morris when she tried to steal the throne of Atlantis. As is customary, Namor screamed an exasperated "NOOOO!" in the following issue, and hit rock bottom for a while, abdicating his throne and leaving Atlantis for good. In the long run, Dorma's death was basically a speed bump in Namor's life, and he soon returned to rule Atlantis on and off for decades.

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Deep into the Bronze Age, fridging became a trend in Marvel Comics. However, one death, in particular, was so shocking that it left a permanent emotional scar on Marvel's biggest hero and became one of the most talked about instances of fridging in Marvel's history. The infamous death of Gwen Stacy happened in the 1973 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (by Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, John Romita Sr., Dave Hunt and Art Simek). In that story, Norman Osborn relapsed into his Green Goblin persona and identified Peter as his true enemy. He kidnapped Gwen to lure Spider-Man to the George Washington Bridge, where Spider-Man almost saved her when the Goblin knocked her off the side. While Gwen's death was an important moment in pop culture, it established a terrible precedent in comics and Marvel Comics specifically. Losing their true loves became the test of the heroes' characters.

In the following years, the numbers only went up. From Betty Dean diving in front of a sonic driller and dying saving Namor's life to Bullseye killing Elektra in Daredevil #181 (by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Joe Rosen), leaving a devastated Matt clinging to her grave, the Bronze Age racked up quite the body count. Surprisingly, almost all fridged characters in this era and since have returned to the land of the living in some capacity, starting with the X-Men. Jean Grey's death in Uncanny X-Men #137 (by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Glynis Wein and Tom Orzechowski) inspired the heroic mutant team, especially Cyclops and Wolverine, to grow into their roles. But Marvel retconned her death as the Phoenix Force assuming Jean's form, and she was able to return a few years later. The same goes for Moira MacTaggert. Cable took her death hard and left the X-Men as a result. Moira did not stay dead for long, however, and gained a weird form of mutant time travel/reincarnation.

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Marvel Comics has entered the Modern Age with new possibilities. Female superheroes regularly take center stage in their own solo outings. They are capable and powerful heroes in their own right now. However, even fan-favorite female heroes like Ms. Marvel still get shoved into refrigerators. When villains kill female characters, writers see it as an easy way of letting tough men reveal their inner complexities and vulnerabilities. For example, Wolverine once fell in love with Mariko Yashida, the daughter of a crimelord and later the leader of Clan Yashida. When the Hand challenged her authority, Wolverine barged in to protect his beloved but ultimately failed to save her from a poisoned knife. Logan's immortality made him impervious to injuries but not pain. Mariko's death made the Berserker feel vulnerable for a long time, making it a crucial part of his mythos.

Mockingbird's death in 1993's now infamous issue of West Coast Avengers #100 (by Roy Thomas, David Ross, Tim Dzon, Bob Sharen and Steve Dutro) played on the same emotions, leaving not only her husband, Hawkeye, but also her team, the West Coast Avengers, bereft. Soon after her demise, they disbanded, taking with them only memories. Although known for his brashness, Clint became more brooding and nostalgic about the past around this time. Fridging is treated as part of the male hero's journey and forces the female victims out of the spotlight. Marvel managed to retcon this particular event, sacrificing a Skrull agent to keep Mockingbird alive. However, even then, her death affected others' lives more than hers. This persistent theme of taking away the significance of a woman's life and death was established long before Sharon Carter's death in the Bronze Age. Again, in that story, the main focus remained on Captain America's descent into depression as he decided to stop being a soldier and take up painting. The story gave Steve a moment to ponder his life's journey, but not much came out of it in the end.

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Fed up with the representation of women in stories, other authors have come up with ways to check for a work's relevance. From the Bechdel Test, which provides a template for giving women meaningful roles in stories, to the Landau Test, which prevents a female character from becoming a so-called nuisance for her male counterpart, they are intended to make sure women retain their own identities in stories. Recently, Jane Foster's journey as Thor and her battle with cancer centered on the female superhero's journey, even if it ended in her death. It was about overcoming both physical and mental struggles and growing as a character instead of turning her into the motivation for Thor Odinson's character growth. That said, fridging hasn't disappeared from Marvel Comics. From Black Widow's death in 2017's Secret Empire, prompting Miles Morales to beat Hydra Captain America, to Janet Van Dyne being turned into a living bomb by the Skrulls in Secret Invasion, pushing her teammates to avenge her, the tragic legacy still continues.

2023 hasn't bucked this trend. Maria Hill's death in the latest Disney+ show, Secret Invasion, once again showed that the fridge is one of the easiest ways to establish high stakes in a story. The trope has lost all its shock value at this point, robbing it of whatever utility it once had. The fact that Hill's death came hot on the heels of the recent death of Ms. Marvel on the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #26 (by Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marcio Menyz and Joe Caramagna) only made things worse. Marvel may have had their own reasons to let Kamala die and be reborn (as a mutant) but as long as they pretend male heroes are the only focus on their stories, women will remain comics' designated victims

Sayantan is a comic book fan based in India who loves good storytelling more than anything else. His power to bore people to death with Kaiju lore is only rivaled by his love for books and movies. He has a master's degree in Energy Tech and loves to watch soccer. You can take a gander at his artworks here: @kenichikyuro