DC Comics has been at the forefront of the comic industry since it began; in fact, you can say that they were the forefront of the industry for decades. Over the years, they’ve created stories that have become classics, spurring their characters onto becoming household names. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman didn’t just become popular because they looked cool; they became popular because creators gave them stories that readers couldn’t put down. There are numerous kinds of good stories out there, but some of the most interesting are ones that you wouldn’t figure; instead of building their characters up, they destroy them.
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Most great stories make their characters better, revealing new facets to them. However, stories that destroy their main characters go in a different direction. They break their stars, all so that something new can come and enthrall readers. They show their characters for the humans beings they are, giving their all for the good fight and making the ultimate sacrifice. Other times, these kinds of stories tear their characters apart, breaking them down and revealing the flaws inside of them. Then, of course, there are stories that inadvertently break their main character, mistakes that have cost icons dearly. These five DC Comics stories destroy their main characters, and one of them is the most critically acclaimed comic of all time.
5) Watchmen
Watchmen is comics’ most acclaimed masterpiece. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 12-issue opus was all about destroying its main characters. Nite-Owl II, Silk Spectre II, the Comedian, Rorschach, Ozymandias, and Doctor Manhattan are all presented to readers and over the course of the book, we see each of them get broken down, their illusions about their lives as superheroes rendered meaningless in the light of a coming nuclear holocaust, partly caused by their very existence. The story was one of the first major examples of superhero deconstruction and was praised from almost the word go. It breaks each of its characters, revealing the flaws and neuroses that drive them. By the end, some of them have grown into something new and others get their just desserts, but all of them are changed by the story, their lives destroyed completely (and in at least one case, rebuilt for the better). It completely changed the comic industry.
4) “Emerald Twilight”
The ’90s were a time when DC decided that the best thing to do with their icons was break them down, allowing new characters to step into their roles. Hal Jordan was once a DC icon, but as time went on, he got less and less popular. By the mid ’90s, he was at his lowest ebb, which led to Green Lantern (Vol. 3) #48-50, the story titled “Emerald Twilight”, by Ron Marz and Darryl Banks. Coast City was destroyed by the Cyborg Superman and Mongul and Hal decided that the best thing to do was to ask the Guardians of the Universe to recreate it. They refused, which drove the already distraught Jordan crazy, and in his his mania, he concluded that the only thing left to do was to destroy the entire Corps and take their power. This led him on a rampage that saw the end of the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe. Sinestro was freed from the Central Power Battery to fight him and lost, leading Ganthet to recruiting Kyle Rayner to fight the greatest Lantern of them all gone bad. Jordan became Parallax, a powerful villain whose next scheme would involve trying to recreate the multiverse, leading to years of DC building him back into the legend that he was before.
3) The Flash: Rebirth
Barry Allen was the second Flash, ushering in the Silver Age and becoming one of the most popular characters on the newsstand. However, Allen was a relic of his time and as comics changed in the ’70s, he started to be left behind in the sales race. By the ’80s, he was all but dead as a character, sent to the 30th century to live with Iris, who was revealed to have been sent to the future instead of being killed by Reverse Flash. Crisis on Infinite Earths saw him sacrifice his life to save the multiverse, and he was replaced by his sidekick Wally West. He stayed dead for over 20 years, returning in Final Crisis #2, but would get his major reintroduction to the DC Universe in The Flash: Rebirth, by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. This book was meant to do what Green Lantern: Rebirth did for Hal, but failed miserably. You can tell they were trying to build him up, make him more important as the Flash than Wally was, but it honestly felt like a little too much. The story also copied the structure of the previous Rebirth book, which didn’t help. This was supposed to be the story that made him a superstar again, but all it did was prove a depressing fact – Barry Allen should have stayed dead.
2) “Knightfall”
“Knightfall” did something that no one ever thought possible – broke the bat. Batman had faced off against Bane once before and the villain decided that it was time to destroy the hero. So, he came to Gotham and broke everyone out of Arkham Asylum. The Dark Knight ran himself ragged trying to protect the city and Bane picked his time to strike. He hit Bats when he was at his most exhausted and was able to completely dominate him in battle. It all ended with the villain breaking the Caped Crusader. This led to Azrael, who Batman had helped break through the programming of the Order of St. Dumas, taking his place and defeating Bane. Making Azrael Batman was meant to show readers what would happen when a stereotypical violent ’90s character was made into the Dark Knight. The plan worked; fans didn’t love Jean-Paul Valley as the Caped Crusader and soon Bruce was back (after Dick Grayson took over as Batman for a short time).
1) “Death of Superman”
“Death of Superman” was a blockbuster on a level any one who wasn’t there would understand. Every year, the Superman creators would get together for a creative summit and every year, writer/artist Jerry Ordway would say they should just kill Superman. Everyone would laugh and then they’d come up with other ideas. However, 1992’s summit would see Superman group editor Mike Carlin say, “Okay. Then what?” They came up with this classic story, as well as “Funeral for a Friend”, “World Without a Superman”, “Reign of the Supermen”, and “Return of Superman”. The entire point of this saga was to break the Man of Steel completely and show what made Clark the one true Superman. The battle against Doomsday saw him give his all, ending the threat at the cost of his own life. It’s the ultimate expression of who he is as a hero and has gone down in history as one of the most beloved Superman stories ever.
What’s your favorite DC story that breaks its main character? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
