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Official Site: D.C Comics

The Resurrection Man is a fictional character, a superhero whose adventures were published by DC Comics from 1997 to 1999 in a serialized comic book of the same name, created by Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett and Jackson Guice.

Born in Viceroy, South Carolina, Mitchell "Mitch" Shelley became a lawyer who found himself an unwilling test subject for experimentation in nanotechnology, involving specialized devices nicknamed "tektites" by an organization known only as "the Lab". The experiments rendered Shelley initially amnesiac for several months, and effectively immortal albeit with a twist: he could still be killed, but the death would last a matter of seconds, perhaps minutes at most due to the tektites; their presence in Shelley's body would inevitably revive him, and with a different superhuman power after each "resurrection". A comment by the Phantom Stranger in RM #18 about having worked with Shelly in previous lifetimes suggests that there is more to his powers than just the tektites. However, the series never expanded on this point.

Shelley's travels in search of the truth of his identity and his newfound powers would take him across the United States, leading him into an ongoing feud with assorted adversaries including Vandal Savage, the Body Doubles and others, as well as alliances and friendship with various members of the Justice League (although he did not feel comfortable acting in a traditional superhero role). At least one alternate future has established Shelley's survival and longterm League membership into the 853rd Century. By then he had developed a device, the Resurrector, attached to his wrist, that could kill him in a way that allowed him to select specific powers (as opposed to the "Luck of the draw" system his normal deaths went by). Vandal Savage was able to use this device against him, reprogramming the Resurrector to constantly kill Shelley, never giving him the chance to resurrect, until the Martian Manhunter destroyed the device's infestation. However, Shelly later returned alive in the subsequent DC One Million 80-Page Giant #1,000,000 (1999).

Resurrection Man's power works a little differently from a traditional superhero's. Whenever he is killed, he returns to life with a new power (or "gift" as he often refers to it) that correlates in some way to his death. These range from minor, almost dismissive abilities, such as the changing of his skin color and making pyrotechnic butterflies, to the extraordinary, such as the ability to transform into a Hulk-like monster with a bullet-proof hide. He can become more powerful than any single member of the Justice League if he "resurrects" right.

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