Crimson Countess’ Death Is Even More R-Rated in the Original Comics

Crimson Countess’ death in The Boys live-action T.V. show is grisly, to be sure, but it’s nothing compared to the unadulterated brutality and hatred that went into her murder in the comics, as the original version of this supe’s demise is decidedly more R-rated.

In The Boys season 3, episode 5, Soldier Boy is on a mission to track down the other members of his original crew, as they were the ones who helped him get captured and subsequently experimented on many years earlier. In this episode, Soldier Boy has his sights set on Crimson Countess. When he finds her, Soldier Boy releases a powerful discharge of destructive energy, killing Crimson Countess almost instantaneously, leaving nothing behind of her but a charred skeleton.

The Boys’ Murder Of Crimson Countess Is WAY More Brutal In The Comics

In The Boys #32 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, and Carols Ezquerra, the Boys are in the hospital with the Female after she suffered major injuries from members of the superhero team, Payback. Then, suddenly, one of the hospital walls explodes, only to reveal Payback in full-force coming through the opening. Payback meant to put an end to the Boys right then and there, though they vastly underestimated the Boys’ strength and resourcefulness. While every member of the Boys had their respective supe-challenger to deal with, Butcher’s dog and fellow Boys member Terror latches onto Crimson Countess’ arm, tearing and ripping at her flesh. She manages to throw the dog off her, only to chase Terror into the basement of the hospital, separated from the rest of Payback. It’s at that moment Butcher decides to strike, as he follows her down into the basement and launches a surprise attack against her. Butcher strangled Crimson Countess with his belt, and left her mangled body on the ground for the other surviving members of Payback to find.

While Crimson Countess’ death in the show was more explosive, the comic book depiction of it is grim in a way the show can’t compete with at all. The television series showed Crimson Countess dying in a way that is reminiscent of other epic deaths in superhero media. The reason that’s the case is that The Boys T.V. show mocks superheroes in a culture where they’re beloved, so the spectacle of Crimson Countess’ death was appropriate in order to stay true to the wider parody of the entire series. The Boys comic book series, however, actually hates superheroes, and mocks them in a way that implies it wished superhero culture had never existed in the first place, and that it deserves a gritty, unspectacular end – just like the Crimson Countess.

Because of the meanness and the hatred behind this grisly murder (which matches the tone towards superheroes exhibited by the entire comic book series) it’s fair to say that The Boys’ Crimson Countess death is even more R-rated in the original comics than it was in the T.V. show.