The 2017 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Most Tragic TV Death

As 2017 draws to a close, the team at ComicBook.com came together to take a look back at the year [...]

By Nicole Drum

As 2017 draws to a close, the team at ComicBook.com came together to take a look back at the year and nominate our favorite creators, creations, and moments from the year in the worlds of comics, television, movies, and anime to choose those that we felt really ranked as the best of the best for 2017.

When it comes to tragic deaths on television, however, best is kind of an odd term. No one wants to see a beloved character meet their end, no matter how great of television it makes, but it gets even harder to choose which death was the most tragic when, thanks to shows such as The Walking Dead, we find ourselves saying goodbye to too many beloved characters all too frequently. This year's list of nominees leaned heavily towards the AMC series and it's spinoff Fear the Walking Dead while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Legends of Tomorrow also gave us some memorable passings. But there can only be one winner -- or loser, depending on how you want to look at things.

And the winner of Most Tragic TV Death is...

CB-Winner-Golden-Issue-Winner-Comics-Most-Tragic-Death-TV

Martin Stein in Legends of Tomorrow on The CW!

While fans knew going into the season that Victor Garber was planning to leave the series, no one expected that his exit would mean the death of his fan-favorite character, Professor Martin Stein/Firestorm. In fact, we all had ourselves pretty much convinced that Stein would get to ride off into the sunset, as it were, retiring back home to Central City to spend time with his wife, Clarissa, daughter Lily, and brand new baby grandson, Ronnie. And Stein came close. He and Jax Jackson (Franz Drameh) had finally been given the means to separate their superpowers so that they could each lead their own separate lives, but, unfortunately, Nazi invaders from Earth-X showed up.

During the Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Earth-X", Stein and the Legends teamed up with other heroes from the Arrowverse to defeat the Nazis, but while the heroes were ultimately victorious, it came at a high price. Stein was shot by the Nazis, and while Jax was able to keep him alive. his act of selflessness would have resulted in both of them dying. Stein, in his own final, selfless act, asked Jax -- whom he had come to consider his son -- to let him go so that Jax could live. Stein may not have gotten his happy retirement, but in the end, he died saving the life of someone he loved dearly. And fans are still finding themselves teary-eyed at the loss of a beloved character.

We'll be announcing more winners throughout the week, so be sure to check back on ComicBook.com to see if your favorites won. And don't forget to tell us who and what your favorites were on Facebook and @ComicBookNOW on Twitter.

List of Nominees:

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