From Immorto to Re-Animage

The uninspired figure you see below was the original look of the Wanderer Immorto.  Aside from his gun (which made him more useful than Dartalg, though less than the better-armed Celebrand) his primary contribution to the team was that he couldn't die (which, apparently, wasn't actually the case since he did die and was later resurrected by Clonus.)  Sadly, the power to not die does not inherently imply the power to win fights.

Immorto in Adventure Comics #375 (DEC 1968)

Now, I'll be the first to admit that the idea of a un-killable superhero sounds good.  That makes it all the more surprising, that despite both DC (with Immorto/Re-Animage) and Marvel (Mr. Immortal) taking a swing at it, no publisher has really been able to construct a compelling character on this basis.

Following his resurrection in Wanderers #1 (JUN 1988), Immorto got a fashion upgrade, moving from the puke-and-poop ensemble pictured above to this fetching red-white-and-blue look.

Obviously, he got a name change as well.  Whether or not Re-Animage is an "upgrade" from Immorto is up for debate.   The new name is weird and definitely didn't implicitly signal the character's powers in the same way his original name did.  On the other hand, following his resurrection, not only was Re-Animage near immortal he could now temporarily share his revivifying power with others--even to the point of resurrect recently the recently deceased!  (I'm guessing this explained the name change.  He could now "re-animate" others; and since his unexplained power seemed so fantastic as to be near magic the "mage" moniker seemed appropriate.)

Another (never quite explained so far as I'm aware) aspect of the revived Wanderers was Steve Dillon's decision to leave Celebrand on the other side of the River Styx.  In Celebrand's absence, Re-Animage took over leadership duties.

Finally--at a later date--Re-Animage got to trade in his cap gun for a more Cable-esque sidearm.  I've never heard or read an explanation for this.  Maybe it was his way of overcompensating for perceived leadership failures? 

(Now I'm envisioning one of the others accessing their inner Lloyd Bentsen to announce:  I knew Celebrand.  Celebrand was a friend of mine; and Re-Animage, you're no Celebrand.)

Next Week:  Psyche and the tale of Wanderers #1