Content Warning : This article discourse assault and intimate ravishment .

From the eradication of a whole city to the infamous expiry of Jason Todd , DC Comics never pulled its punches in grant audiences some of the saddest and most tragic moments in comic book history . While many of these minute can stick around out in the minds of readers , some have more of a devastating emotional impact than others .

sports fan voted on which of these second were the most emotionally accuse onRanker , coming up with a fan - sources leaning of the saddest moment in DC Comics .

Collage of Willow and Clash of the Titans

Blackest Night

Death is seldom permanent in comic leger universes , with any number of ways to resurrect those who have been fatally wounded . However , Geoff Johns ’s runBlackest Nighttook the common resurrection narration and turned them on their heads by having revived superheroes jointhe Black Lantern Corpsas zombies .

Thanks to Nekron , a creature who can reanimate the utter , many of fans ' favorite Italian sandwich were kill and resuscitate as Black Lanterns , only to then be pitted against their still - last peer . It ’s one of the biggest electric discharge associated with the Green Lantern Corps and is extremely emotional due to all of the losses , conflict , and resurrections the Justice League and Teen Titans look .

The Death Of Supergirl

DC has always shinny with continuity , and one of the case that was used to manage that bedlam wasCrisis on Infinite Earths , an issue that featured the Anti - Monitor seek to destroy the many Earths within the DC Multiverse . Various heroes and villains worked together to block off the Anti - Monitor , result in one Earth with a undivided continuity .

During one portion of the Crisis , Superman , Supergirl , and Doctor Light present the Anti - Monitor in his universe .   To protect her cousin , Kara Zor - El threw herself into fight with the Anti - Monitor , destroy his solar collector and hurt him . However , she was hit by a blast of anti - matter vigor that wipe out her before she could escape . This result became one of the most iconic in DC ’s history and broke many fans ' heart when it remained permanent .

The Death Of Superman

Many rooter of superheroes rule Superman to be deadening and overtake , but that does n’t mean they prefer the humans without him . 1992 bring fansThe Death of Superman , a crossover event in which Superman fought Doomsday and lost . The comic scram a good deal of media attentionbut has remained contentiousas the shocking death did n’t last long .

Even so , it made moving ridge in both the comic and substantial worlds . member of the Justice League , political leadership , and even Lex Luthor had parts in the mourning that followed his death , and many sports fan did the same . It received unprecedented spiritualist care and remains heavily reference in superhero media to this day , stand as a strong argumentation against those who find Superman unimportant .

Superman Stopping A Suicide

Sometimes , the immense mythos of the laughable book world can make the characters seem too detached from the reality of life , as most multitude do n’t have to worry about supervillains and alien invasion . This is specially genuine when it come to Superman , as very few real - world threats stand a fortune against him .

This makes it that much more impactful when the most sinewy superhero in the world is faced with a very material threat he ca n’t easily specify . Superman # 701 features a woman attempting to commit suicide . Rather than just arrest her from jumpstart , Superman listens to her and tries to help . It ’s not a world - save up issue , but it is one of the dependable and most emotional since it ’s so ground in reality .

The Death of Arthur Curry’s Son

DC villains have done some awful thingsto their nemeses , but most do n’t liken to what Black Manta did in Adventure Comics # 452 . Black Manta abduct Arthur Curry Jr. ( AKA Aquababy ) and drive him into an air sleeping accommodation that made him choke to death .

Neither Aquaman nor Aqualad was able-bodied to rescue him in time , which resulted in Aquaman hear to avenge his murdered Word . The very real tragedy of drop off a baby changed Aquaman and result in his divorcement from Mera . This was an unusually dark subject for 1977 and is one of the saddest moments in all Aquaman funnies .

Jonathan Kent’s Death

Superman can economise the world , but there are some thing even he ca n’t stop .   By the former 2000s , Superman had become wearisome , equal to of defeat any foe , so Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely essay out way to humanize him . And there ’s nothing more human than grieving a red you were incapacitated to stop .

InAll - Star Superman , fans flipped through their former issues to find one of the   mostheartbreaking deaths in Superman comics . Superman suffer three minutes in a struggle against Chronovore , and when that prison term was up , he found that he could n’t hear his father ’s heartbeat . During those three minute , Jonathan Kent die from a center attack , and no matter how truehearted Superman fly , he could n’t undo it .

The Paralysis and Implied Rape of Barbara Gordon

The Joker ’s hypothesis on sprightliness is that one bad day could make any man a villain , and he prove that possibility on Commissioner Gordon by fool Barbara Gordon and photographing her naked and bleeding . Barbara go the attack but was paralyze from the waist down , which cause her to pull up stakes behind her clip as Batwoman and become Oracle .

The Killing Jokeis one of the most famous Batman history for this attack , with the cruelty of the Joker going far beyond his standard fare . While neither Jim nor Barbara rent this consequence define them , it left its patsy on DC Comics rooter as one of the most heartrending account ever secern .

The Death and Return of Jason Todd

Batman fan never quite wish Jason Todd ’s Robin as much as his predecessor Dick Grayson , so the writers decided to give audience a say in what his future was . The Joker captured Jason and beat him with a crowbar , with the subject ending on a cliffhanger and a question : Should Robin live or die ?

Fans were able to call in to vote , and their right to vote result in quite theimpactful comic Bible death . Jason Todd was officially killed inBatman#428 , staying dead for 16 years before come back in theUnder the Red Hoodarc . Jason Todd did not return as the eager untested Robin he once was , but as a more violent vigilance man , learn down those he viewed as irredeemable and pushing for Batman to lastly kill the Joker .

The Death of Barry Allen

To simplify DC Comics ' extensive multiversal canon , they created theCrisis on Infinite Earthsarc , which included the destruction of the majority of known universe , culminating in one incorporate Earth . However , an event of this magnitude could n’t reasonably occur without casualties .

As the Antimonitor prepared to practice the Anti - Matter Cannon on the terminal five Earths , Barry Allen create a speed whirl to absorb the vim . While it was successful in saving what stay of the multiverse , it also resulted in one of thebiggest superhero deaths in comic history , as Barry Allen ’s Flash perished , not to return for another 23 years .

Barry Allen Remembering Wally West in DC Universe Rebirth

However , there was just one trouble : Everybody had forgotten him . He became demoralise , and as the Speed Force attempted to pull him back in , he confab his uncle , Barry Allen , to say goodbye . As he was disappearing , Barry was somehow able to remember him and fetch him home , in a potently excited discharge that covered everything Wally had lost and learned in his yr of captivity .

NEXT:10 Lesser - recognize Comic Heroes With Movies In The Works

Comic book art: 1990s X-Men, with Cyclops front and center, surrounded by characters including Storm, Gambit, and more.

thor alongside the marvel god atun

Split image of Jonathan Kent and Jason Todd’s deaths

Green Lantern holds his ring as dark zombies gather behind him in Blackest Night.

Supergirl lays dead in Superman’s arms from Crisis on Infinite Earths

Lois Lane holding Superman’s dead body in the Death of Superman

Superman considers the importance of saving one life in Superman #701

Death of Aquababy

The Death of Jonathan Kent

James Gordon going crazy in The Killing Joke comic

Batman: Death in the Family

Barry Allens Death In Crisis On Infinite Earths

DC Rebirth Barry Remembers Wally

Green Lantern

Superman