Source: comicvine.gamespot.com
2. Barry Allen
(The Flash/Justice League of America, DC Comics)
One of the greatest deaths of all time. Hands down, no contest.
I love Barry Allen a ton, and regularly go back to those old Flash books whenever I'm stressed, but Barry couldn't live forever. During DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, a being known as the Anti-Monitor was hellbent on destroying the entire multiverse.
After Supergirl gave her life to deal him a crippling blow, he returned for one last-ditch plan. Barry was the only one who could stop him, and he literally ran himself to death in order to destroy the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter cannon. This sacrifice was the high point of the (admittedly muddled) Crisis, and made Barry the martyred saint of the DC Universe.
Honestly, as much as I've loved the stories they've told since Barry’s resurrection, he was much more valuable to the DC Universe as a symbol. A death that reshaped his character into a legend, that would be a good death.
Source: collider.com
1. Superman
(Superman/Justice League of America, DC Comics)
I mean, duh.
Look, there were plenty of deaths that were better executed, lasted longer, or were more personally affecting, but none of them impacted comics and the popular consciousness as much as the Death of Superman. The nineties one, not the Silver Age one in which Lex Luthor cured cancer. In the story, a monster known as Doomsday showed up in Metropolis, beat the piss out of the Justice League, and got in a fight with Superman.
They punched each other really hard a whole bunch, and Superman died. That was it.
Look, there wasn’t a whole lot TO the death of Superman, but it was important. It kicked off the huge speculator boom, drove the nineties, and remains in every quarter-bin to this day. I'm honestly shocked that I don't own a copy yet. I'll make sure to wait for a sealed copy with the arm band; might have to pay a whole fifty cents for it.
Superman's death played out as the first huge-scale superhero death. When the Flash died, the news didn't cover it. No one sold newspapers off Bucky kicking the bucket. But The Death of Superman set the standard for comic book deaths going forward. Revolutionary.
And there you go, a super list of as many comic book deaths as I could possibly come up with. I tried to touch on comics from all different eras, publishers, and genres, but I'm sure I left out some great ones, so let me know in the comments what your favorites are.
