Colossus // artwork by Jon Sommariva (2012)
Colossus & Powerlord Kruun // cover artwork for “Uncanny X-Men #536” // pencils and colors by Terry Dodson, inks by Rachel Dodson (*TerryDodson,2011)
Ultimate Colossus // cover artwork for “Ultimate X-Men #32” // pencils by Adam Kubert, digital painting by Richard Isanove (2003)
Colossus // character design based on “The Age Of Apocalypse” storyline // pencils by Marcus To (~0boywonder0) colors by Teodoro Gonzales (*deffectx) // 2009.
Colossus kills himself to cure the Legacy Virus.
In the Marvel Universe, death is a constant, characters die an heroic death just to be brought back when a writer wants to use them again, most of the Marvel characters have died in some way or another, turned into villians, killed by big threats, it’s almost a cliche in the comic industry, however, sometimes a death comes along and makes a point and stands out, because it serves a propuse and it’s well written.
Colossus name is Peter Rasputin, he is the X-Men’s resident muscle man, but even though this guy can turn his body into armor he is one of the characters that has taken more punishment from life than anybody else in the team, he was separated from his parents when he became an X-man, his sister was turned into a demonic hellspawn, his older brother has tried to destroy the earth (twice) and became a horseman for Apocalypse, his parents where killed by Omega Red and finally when his sister lost her powers she died because of the Legacy Virus (the Marvel Universe AIDS for mutants).
When Henry Macoy (a.k.a The Beast) found a cure, Peter felt some closure, but the cure had a setback: It had to be released the same way the illness started (a mutant inhaled the disease and when he activated his powers released the virus into the whole world) Colossus could not wait for Macoy to find and alternative to release the cure without having to sacrifice a life, he could not wait for somebody else to die from this illness which took the last family he had, so he did what he felt was the only thing he could do: he released the cure using his own body, curing the Legacy Virus, but losing his life in the process.
This happened in Uncanny X-Men #390 published in February of 2001, written by Scott Lobdell and drawn by Salvador Larroca.
