Highlights
- Superman, despite his strength, faced ultimate defeat in 'The Death of Superman' storyline, sacrificing himself to defeat Doomsday.
- Hal Jordan, as Green Lantern, sacrificed himself by flying into the sun in 'The Final Night' to save it from the Sun-Eater.
- Terra, originally a villain, became heroic by sacrificing herself to save her former teammates in 'Tales of The Teen Titans Annual #3'.
Superheroes defy death on the regular, with some coming closer to it than others. Without a load of kryptonite or some magic debuffs, Superman is as bulletproof as his ‘Man of Steel’ moniker suggests. Whereas Batman is a gunshot, stab wound, gas attack, flash flood, etc., away from meeting his maker - theoretically, anyway. His ‘prep time’ often leaves no stone unturned.
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However, no matter how powerful a hero is, writers have found a way to kill them off. Some deaths have been unceremonious, depressing, and even gross, while others have been grand, dramatic, and even fitting or redemptive. If a superhero must die, they may as well go out as a superhero, which is what happened with these iconic DC hero deaths.
8 Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Flies Directly Into The Sun In Order To Save It
- Dies in: The Final Night #4
- Writer: Karl Kesel.
- Artists: Stuart Immonen, Jose Marzan Jr.
- Colorist: Lee Loughbridge.
Hal Jordan may have been the original ‘space cop’ Green Lantern, but traditionally, he wasn’t much in the personality department. Between the imaginative Kyle Rayner, the irascible Guy Gardner, and the stern John Stewart, he was quite bland. DC rectified this in the 1990s by destroying his hometown, which turned him into the villain Parallax and made him one of Kyle Rayner’s new foes.
That changed with The Final Night event series. Put short, to save the Sun from the Sun-Eater, someone has to fly a ship right in the path of it going supernova to contain its blast. Superman agrees to do it. Then, Ferro tries to stop him by stealing the ship, but Parallax steps up to replace both. He flies into the center of the Sun, destroys the Sun-Eater, and dies using his powers to reignite the star.
7 Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
Refuses To Betray His Friends And Chooses To Die
- Dies in: Countdown to Infinite Crisis
- Writers: Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Judd Winick.
- Artists: Ed Benes, Phil Jimenez, Rags Morales, Ivan Reis, Jesus Saiz, Michael Bair.
- Colorist: Moose Baumann.
The Blue Beetle has been around since the 1940s and has come in a variety of forms. Many today are more familiar with Jaime Reyes, a teen hero who makes his Scarab armor play nice instead of going for the lethal option. But before him, there was Ted Kord, who made his own gear and equipment. He was like a more easy-going Batman in that he was rich, smart, and a combat expert, but he often joked around.
This is why few of his fellow heroes took him seriously in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, where he suspected there was more to a kryptonite theft case than met the eye. Tracking down his leads, he discovers his old friend, Maxwell Lord, was using Batman's AI Brother Eye to kill off the world’s metahumans. Beaten by an OMAC, Lord gave him the chance to switch sides, only for Kord to choose death over betraying his friends.
6 Rorschach
Killed By Doctor Manhattan In Order To Maintain Order
- Dies in: Watchmen #12
- Writer: Alan Moore.
- Artist: Dave Gibbons.
- Colorist: John Higgins.
Before DC bought the company, Blue Beetle, Question, Captain Atom, etc., were all originally heroes from Charlton Comics. Author Alan Moore wanted to use them for a superhero-themed murder mystery he had in mind, but he was ultimately rebuffed. If he had, then Ted Kord would’ve had a happier fate in Nite Owl’s place, and the Question would’ve had a worse one if he had taken Rorschach’s place.
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The character is only nominally a hero, being a far-right, violent brute with a strict moral code. There are no shades of gray in his world - just black or white. So, when he discovers the world’s temporary peace relies on keeping Ozymandias’ plot a secret, he can’t accept it. He’ll either tell the world or die trying, with no compromise. With his hand forced, Doctor Manhattan stops him permanently to maintain world peace.
5 Terra
Brings A Building Down On Herself While Attempting To Kill Her Former Teammates
- Dies in: Tales of The Teen Titans Annual #3 - "The Judas Contract"
- Writers: Marv Wolfman, George Perez.
- Artists: George Perez, Dick Giordano.
- Colorist: Adrienne Roy.
Like Rorschach, Terra isn’t strictly a hero. She was actually a narcissistic hitwoman who thought her earth-manipulation powers placed her above ordinary humans. She'd join forces with Deathstroke, where they planned to bring the Titans down from within by having Terra join the team as a double agent. But as far as readers knew, she was a new Titan who developed a bond with Changeling (Beast Boy).
The truth only came out when the Titans were captured and imprisoned in HIVE HQ. Once they broke out, Terra went berserk and tried to kill her old teammates. Despite Changeling’s best efforts to stop her, she ended up bringing the building down on herself. Though she was revealed to be a villain, the Titans gave her a memorial in Titans Tower and kept the truth a secret, cementing her as a hero to those unaware of what really happened.
4 Robin (Jason Todd)
Dies In A Warehouse Explosion Because Of The Joker
- Dies in: Batman #428 - "A Death in the Family"
- Writer: Jim Starlin.
- Artists: Jim Aparo, Mike DeCarlo.
- Colorist: Adrienne Roy.
Casual readers in 1988 might’ve been shocked to discover DC Comics was considering killing off Robin (maybe less so when they learned it wasn’t Dick Grayson). It’s a little unfair on the guy, but Jason Todd’s more rebellious, bratty attitude made him less popular in the role than his predecessor, who had long since switched to being Nightwing.
Inspired by an Eddie Murphy sketch on Saturday Night Live, then-editor Dennis O’Neil left Todd’s fate up to the readers. After the Joker tied Robin up, beat him with a crowbar, and left him in a warehouse set to blow up, readers had to call a 900 number to determine whether Todd died or narrowly survived the subsequent explosion. They voted for his death, which drove Batman to become a darker, more violent figure than before.
3 Supergirl
Hit With A Fatal Energy Blast While Trying To Save Superman
- Dies in: Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
- Writer: Marv Wolfman, Robert Greenberger.
- Artists: George Perez, Dick Giordano, Jerry Ordway.
- Colorist: Tom Ziuko.
The original Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline was a game-changer for DC Comics. It was their first true universal reboot, where the Earths from multiple universes were replaced with one singular planet in one singular continuity. While it eventually splintered back into multiple realities, it was groundbreaking enough for fans to separate the DC Universe’s characters between their pre-Crisis and post-Crisis forms.
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Many heroes and villains died in the event, with Supergirl’s death being one of the most iconic. She fought Crisis’ main villain, the Anti-Monitor, directly to save her cousin Superman. During their fight, she destroys his earth-merging machine, only to take a fatal energy blast to the back. Though left at death’s door, she was able to wreck the Anti-Monitor, destroy his home base, and save the 5 Earths from merging.
2 The Flash (Barry Allen)
Destroys An Anti-Matter Cannon But Dies In The Process
- Dies in: Crisis on Infinite Earths #8
- Writer: Marv Wolfman.
- Artists: George Perez, Jerry Ordway.
- Colorist: Anthony Tollin.
If killing off Supergirl wasn’t enough, the next issue would see ‘The Final Fate of the Flash!’ Just as Ted Kord’s passing opened the way for Jaime Reyes, Barry Allen’s last run as The Flash would lead his sidekick, Wally ‘Kid Flash’ West, to become one of the best speedsters to take up the red costume. Albeit in the new, post-Crisis world.
Recovering from Supergirl’s beatdown, the Anti-Monitor plans to destroy the remaining Earths with a large anti-matter cannon he’s constructing on the planet Qward. Breaking free from the villain’s prison, Barry races around the cannon’s core to turn its anti-matter on itself. He succeeds in destroying the cannon, saving billions of lives, but reduces himself and his red costume to dust in the process.
1 Superman
Defeats Doomsday At The Cost Of His Own Life But Is Later Revived
- Dies in: Superman #75 - "The Death of Superman"
- Writer: Dan Jurgens.
- Artists: Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding.
- Colorist: Glenn Whitmore.
Superman would survive Crisis, though he would spend the subsequent issues mourning his cousin’s death. Little did he know that he’d follow her into the grave six years later in The Death of Superman arc (kind of). Though it wasn’t permanent, it’s arguably the most iconic DC hero death ever. It started off with the Man of Steel trying to keep the Kryptonian monster Doomsday away from Metropolis.
Eventually reaching the city, Superman ultimately puts an end to the beast, but doing so costs him his life. Then, four people claiming to be Superman (Superboy, Steel, Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman) turn up. Lois Lane would eventually find the real deal left powerless in a coma. With Lois and Eradicator’s help, however, he would wake up, regain his powers, and save the day.
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