10 Most Heartbreaking Moments In Justice League History
Even the Justice League have faced their fair share of trauma and heartbreak.
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00:00 So the Justice League, to many, are the gold standard when it comes to superhero teams.
00:04 In fact, when it comes to pop culture significance, they are probably the benchmark for any kind
00:09 of team-up. They are the ultimate collection of elites, an unstoppable force for good that
00:15 no evil could ever bend. Except, of course, all the times that evil totally has corrupted
00:19 and broken them, but that's not the point.
00:21 So let's take a look at them today. I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these
00:24 are the 10 most heartbreaking moments in Justice League history.
00:28 10. Red Tornado Loses His True Self
00:32 During Infinity Crisis, Red Tornado, or his body at least, was destroyed during a mission
00:36 in space. After the pieces of his former mechanical self do return to Earth, they're repaired
00:41 and looked after by Kathy Sutton. Unfortunately, unlike previous times, Tornado's soul does
00:46 not return to the body once it's repaired.
00:48 Then it's revealed that Solomon Grundy of all people was behind this. He, along with
00:52 Professor Ivo, wanted to steal Tornado's body and fuse it with a number of special
00:56 components so as to create the ultimate vessel for housing Grundy's soul. In the end, the
01:01 Justice League is able to overcome the bad guys, of course, and Zatanna undoes the spell
01:05 that's keeping Tornado away from his mechanical body.
01:08 However, that's when the real tragedy strikes. Because, after re-inhabiting his old form,
01:13 Red Tornado is no longer who he used to be. His consciousness appeared to have been altered,
01:18 and he no longer cares about his friends and family, and even his powers become erratic.
01:22 To see a character that had been one of the shining examples of how kindness and heroism
01:26 are always a choice and can come from anyone become a cold, heartless being was absolutely
01:31 heart-shattering.
01:32 9. Nightwing's Death. Kinda.
01:36 The highly anticipated follow-up to Trinity War, Forever Evil saw the Justice League battle
01:41 it out with the crime syndicate from Earth-3, led by their Alfred Pennyworth. As the storyline
01:46 proceeds, it's revealed that the bad guys held Nightwing as their prisoner, and the
01:50 climax sees Batman, together with Lex, Luthor, and others arrive at the watchtower where
01:55 the syndicate has been camped. They find Dick placed in a murder machine, which in turn
01:59 served as the trigger switch for a bomb. The only way to prevent it from detonating was
02:03 if Grayson's heart were to stop.
02:05 Despite Batman's best efforts, Luthor is able to prevent the Dark Knight from saving
02:09 his original protege, leaving the once-boy wonder to die in order to save everyone else.
02:14 Now, yes, this eventually gets overturned as Lex himself revives Dick, but the emotional
02:19 trauma and impossibly high-stakes nature of this moment still makes it intensely emotional.
02:24 8. Martian Manhunter is Killed
02:27 During Final Crisis, John Jones, aka Martian Manhunter, who had been captured before while
02:32 undercover, is brought before the Secret Society of Supervillains. There, the newcomer Libra
02:37 - in reality under instructions from the Human Flame - stabs him with a special staff in
02:41 order to establish his villainous worth, the strike proving enough to slay the mighty Martian.
02:47 Before leaving the material world, he takes up his true form one last time, and even manages
02:51 to communicate with the Justice League, passing on the knowledge of his people so that it
02:55 doesn't die with him. Afterwards, the League arranges a funeral on Mars, one truly befitting
03:00 their friend, with Superman himself sharing a final tribute to their fallen comrade.
03:05 7. Sue Dibny's Murder
03:08 Sue Dibny's death remains one of the most tragic and critically panned in all of comics.
03:13 The wife of Elongated Man, aka Ralph Dibny, Sue enjoyed a lovely marriage with her husband,
03:18 and even served on the Justice League herself. During the Identity Crisis arc, while Ralph
03:22 is away on a mission, Sue is mysteriously murdered in her own room. Ralph comes home
03:27 to make the heartbreaking discovery, with burn marks the only clues relating to the
03:31 cause of death. This kicks off a full-blown murder mystery, with the entire League determined
03:35 to find the killer. In reality, though, this was all about the cruel nature of her passing,
03:40 and the taste that it left in our mouths. Subsequently, the storyline has also been
03:44 bashed by sections of the fanbase, with many calling out DC for simply using one character's
03:48 death as a means of furthering the persona of another, i.e. Ralph. But even beyond that,
03:54 it is still a heart-wrenching moment then, and most definitely now.
03:57 6. Superman Burns Out Shazam's Eyes
04:00 The Injustice games and their tie-in comics were DC at its most violent. While superheroes
04:06 losing sight of the line between right and wrong is surprisingly common, very rarely
04:09 does it lead to this level of brutality. It's worth prefacing this by explaining that the
04:14 premise of Injustice is that the Joker has managed to trick Superman into killing his
04:17 wife and their unborn child. Normally, this would drive any man to true despair. However,
04:23 when said man is also the Man of Steel, the potential after-effects can be catastrophic.
04:28 Following the killings, the Man of Steel completely flies off the handle and decides it's time
04:32 to change the world by force. Sensing that Clark was heading towards establishing a totalitarian
04:37 regime over the Earth, Shazam squares up to his once-brother-in-arms, and Superman's
04:41 response is to burn his eyes out with his heat vision. It was a direction-setting moment
04:46 for how the rest of the story would go, and boy oh boy did it deliver on that and then
04:51 some.
04:52 5. The Atom Walks Away From Jean Loring
04:55 Identity Crisis was without a doubt one of the most emotionally stunning comics ever.
05:00 Even aside from the central tragedy surrounding Sue Dibney's murder, there were a number
05:04 of other revelations and moments that made readers wince, and none perhaps more so than
05:08 this one right here. Right at the end, the heroes are able to deduce that Atom, i.e.
05:13 Ray Palmer's ex-wife Jean Loring, is the one behind Sue's death. The truth turns
05:17 out to be more disturbing than anyone had predicted, as Sue wasn't killed as part
05:20 of some grand supervillain plan designed at targeting the League, it was orchestrated
05:25 by Loring to get Ray to come back to her. It was incredibly convoluted, and meant that
05:29 Sue's death was even sadder than initially felt, because she didn't die for some great
05:33 plot, she died for absolutely no reason at all thanks to Loring's misguided quest for
05:38 love. Atom then proceeds to bring his former spouse crashing down to reality, describing
05:42 her as insane and leaving her to be carted off to Arkham. A depressing affair all around.
05:48 4. Supergirl's Sacrifice
05:50 Crisis on Infinite Earths did not lack for brutality and sacrifices, one of the most
05:56 prominent of which was the death of Supergirl, aka Superman's dear cousin, at the hands
06:00 of the Anti-Monitor. The heroes were of course fighting to save the multiverse from annihilation,
06:04 and during the culmination of this iconic arc, Kara was forced to do battle with the
06:08 evil cosmic entity in order to try and save her friends, ultimately resulting in them
06:13 watching her die. In terms of storyline, this was the perfect sacrifice that helped with
06:17 the continuity clean-up that was the main point behind Crisis. In terms of tugging on
06:22 our heartstrings, though, this exerted way more strain than many of us could bear.
06:26 3. Batman Receives a Letter from His Father
06:28 The Flashpoint comics had absolutely everything you would want from a good superhero story.
06:34 Heroes battling their past demons, people having to redeem themselves, and the good
06:37 guys overcoming insurmountable odds. But the best, and saddest part, was saved for last.
06:43 Right at the end, after the alternate universe Thomas Wayne is able to get Barry to run back
06:47 in time to change everything, he also gives the Scarlet Speedster a letter. The letter
06:52 is addressed to his son Bruce, who in this timeline was killed in the alleyway instead
06:56 of his parents. After straining every fibre of his speed force being, Flash is able to
07:01 put the world back to the way it was, kind of. And then he went to visit Batman. Barry
07:06 gives Bruce the letter, where Thomas tells his son how much he loved him, how much he
07:10 wished he could be there to see him, and how happy he was with the kind of man and the
07:14 kind of hero that Bruce became. It's not uncommon to shed a tear at this moment.
07:18 2. The Fight Against The Black Lantern Zombies
07:21 Blackest Night was a refreshing yet brutal update to the Green Lantern mythos, and gave
07:26 us one of the biggest friends turning into foe storylines in comic book history. The
07:30 premise focused on a mysterious presence that is awakened after two Green Lanterns interact
07:35 with the Black Central Power Battery. Then, an ominous group of asteroids appear, which
07:39 release a massive number of Black Lantern rings into the universe. The Guardians see
07:44 this, but they can't act, because they're attacked by the evil Scar. The rings arrive
07:48 and flood a crypt of deceased lanterns, reanimating them as bloodthirsty zombies. Powered, of
07:54 course, by the Black Rings. Inevitably, the fight reaches Earth, where the rings start
07:58 reviving dead superheroes, as the army of zombie lanterns continues to expand. Eventually,
08:03 the League and pretty much every other superhero must unite to stand even the remotest of chance.
08:08 While the universal level stakes were nothing uncommon, the sight of these heroes having
08:12 to battle the demonised version of their friends, whose losses they once mourned, was equal
08:16 parts jarring and heartbreaking.
08:18 1. The Death of Barry Allen
08:21 Crisis on Infinite Earths is seen by many as the single greatest DC crossover event
08:25 in history. Sure, these days DC seems to do a continuity reboot every other Sunday, but
08:30 back then this was a never-before-seen kind of grand storyline. And to this day, it holds
08:35 a place of its own in the pantheon of iconic comic book arcs. The central figure in this
08:40 crossover was, of course, the Anti-Monitor, determined to destroy all matter universes
08:44 and become the sole ruler of a new anti-matter universe/universe kind of thing. Standing
08:49 in his way is his counterpart, the Monitor, joined by a collection of the greatest heroes
08:54 from across the multiverse. After leading a successful attack on the Anti-Monitor's
08:58 base, the heroes manage to bring about a temporary end to the battle. However, the big bad Anti-Monitor
09:02 uses this time to create a new body and find himself a new weapon, the Anti-Matter Cannon.
09:08 Just as he is about to use it to destroy the remaining Earths, in swoops Barry Allen, aka
09:12 the Flash, aka the Scarlet Speedster.
09:15 Faced with impossible odds, Barry has no choice but to sacrifice himself in the process of
09:20 stopping the Anti-Monitor's plan. But what makes his death so significant is that, unlike
09:24 most comic book demises, which typically last less time than the expiry date of sliced bread,
09:29 this one actually stuck. Barry was gone from the DC continuity for 23 whole years. For
09:35 the sheer weight of the moment and the subsequent consequences, this was perhaps the most heartbreaking
09:40 moment in Justice League history.
09:41 And there we go my friends, those were the 10 most heartbreaking moments in Justice League
09:45 history. I hope that you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought about
09:48 it down in the comments section below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow
09:52 me over on Twitter @RetroJWithA0 or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice where I do all
09:56 of my streaming outside of work and it'd be great to see you over there my friends.
09:59 As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
10:03 to you soon. Bye.