Even the Justice League have faced their fair share of trauma and heartbreak.
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00:00So the Justice League, to many, are the gold standard when it comes to superhero teams.
00:04In fact, when it comes to pop culture significance, they are probably the benchmark for any kind
00:09of team-up. They are the ultimate collection of elites, an unstoppable force for good that
00:15no evil could ever bend. Except, of course, all the times that evil totally has corrupted
00:19and broken them, but that's not the point.
00:21So let's take a look at them today, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these
00:25are the 10 Most Heartbreaking Moments in Justice League History.
00:2910. Red Tornado Loses His True Self
00:32During Infinity Crisis, Red Tornado, or his body at least, was destroyed during a mission
00:37in space. After the pieces of his former mechanical self do return to Earth, they're repaired
00:41and looked after by Kathy Sutton. Unfortunately, unlike previous times, Tornado's soul does
00:46not return to the body once it's repaired. Then it's revealed that Solomon Grundy,
00:50of all people, was behind this. He, along with Professor Ivo, wanted to steal Tornado's
00:55body and fuse it with a number of special components so as to create the ultimate vessel
00:59for housing Grundy's soul. In the end, the Justice League is able to overcome the bad
01:03guys, of course, and Zatanna undoes the spell that's keeping Tornado away from his mechanical
01:07body. However, that's when the real tragedy strikes. Because, after re-inhabiting his
01:12old form, Red Tornado is no longer who he used to be. His consciousness appeared to
01:17have been altered, and he no longer cares about his friends and family, and even his
01:21powers become erratic.
01:22To see a character that had been one of the shining examples of how kindness and heroism
01:27are always a choice and can come from anyone, become a cold, heartless being, was absolutely
01:32heart-shattering.
01:339. Nightwing's Death. Kinda.
01:36The highly-anticipated follow-up to Trinity War, Forever Evil saw the Justice League battle
01:41it out with the crime syndicate from Earth-3, led by their Alfred Pennyworth. As the storyline
01:46proceeds, it's revealed that the bad guys held Nightwing as their prisoner, and the
01:50climax sees Batman, together with Lex, Luthor, and others, arrive at the Watchtower where
01:55the syndicate has been camped. They find Dick placed in a murder machine, which in turn
01:59served as the trigger switch for a bomb. The only way to prevent it from detonating was
02:03if Grayson's heart were to stop.
02:05Despite Batman's best efforts, Luthor is able to prevent the Dark Knight from saving
02:09his original protégé, leaving the once-boy wonder to die in order to save everyone else.
02:14Now, yes, this eventually gets overturned as Lex himself revives Dick, but the emotional
02:19trauma and impossibly high-stakes nature of this moment still makes it intensely emotional.
02:248. Martian Manhunter is Killed.
02:27During Final Crisis, John Jones, aka Martian Manhunter, who had been captured before while
02:32undercover, 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
02:41in order to establish his villainous worth, the strike proving enough to slay the mighty
02:46Martian.
02:47In the material world, he takes up his true form one last time, and even manages to communicate
02:52with the Justice League, passing on the knowledge of his people so that it doesn't die with
02:57him. Afterwards, the League arranges a funeral on Mars, one truly befitting their friend,
03:02with Superman himself sharing a final tribute to their fallen comrade.
03:067. Sue Dibny's Murder
03:08Sue Dibny's death remains one of the most tragic and critically panned in all of comics.
03:13As the wife of Elongated Man, aka Ralph Dibny, Sue enjoyed a lovely marriage with her husband,
03:18and even served on the Justice League herself. During the Identity Crisis arc, while Ralph
03:22is away on a mission, Sue is mysteriously murdered in her own room. Ralph comes home
03:27to make the heartbreaking discovery, with burn marks the only clues relating to the
03:31cause of death. This kicks off a full-blown murder mystery, with the entire League determined
03:36to find the killer. In reality, though, this was all about the cruel nature of her passing,
03:40and the taste it left in our mouths. Subsequently, the storyline has also been bashed by sections
03:45of the fanbase, with many calling out DC for simply using one character's death as a
03:49means of furthering the persona of another, i.e. Ralph. But even beyond that, it is still
03:54a heart-wrenching moment then, and most definitely now.
03:576. Superman Burns Out Shazam's Eyes
04:01The Injustice games and their tie-in comics were DC at its most violent. While superheroes
04:06losing sight of the line between right and wrong is surprisingly common, very rarely
04:10does it lead to this level of brutality. It's worth prefacing this by explaining that the
04:14premise of Injustice is that the Joker has managed to trick Superman into killing his
04:18wife and their unborn child. Normally, this would drive any man to true despair. However,
04:23when said man is also the Man of Steel, the potential after-effects can be catastrophic.
04:28Following the killings, the Man of Steel completely flies off the handle and decides it's time
04:32to change the world by force. Sensing that Clark was heading towards establishing a totalitarian
04:37regime over the Earth, Shazam squares up to his once-brother-in-arms, and Superman's
04:41response is, well, to burn his eyes out with his heat vision. It was a direction-setting
04:46moment for how the rest of the story would go, and boy oh boy did it deliver on that,
04:51and then some.
04:525. The Atom Walks Away From Gene Loring
04:55Identity Crisis was without a doubt one of the most emotionally stunning comics ever.
05:00Even aside from the central tragedy surrounding Sue Dibney's murder, there were a number
05:04of other revelations and moments that made readers wince, and none perhaps more so than
05:08this one right here.
05:09Right at the end, the heroes are able to deduce that Atom, i.e. Ray Palmer's ex-wife Gene
05:14Loring, is the one behind Sue's death. The truth turns out to be more disturbing than
05:18anyone had predicted, as Sue wasn't killed as part of some grand supervillain plan designed
05:23at targeting the League, it was orchestrated by Loring to get Ray to come back to her.
05:27It was incredibly convoluted, and meant that Sue's death was even sadder than initially
05:31felt because she didn't die for some great plot, she died for absolutely no reason at
05:36all thanks to Loring's misguided quest for love.
05:38Atom then proceeds to bring his former spouse crashing down to reality, describing her as
05:43insane and leaving her to be carted off to Arkham. A depressing affair all around.
05:484. Supergirl's Sacrifice
05:51Crisis on Infinite Earths did not lack for brutality and sacrifices, one of the most
05:56prominent of which was the death of Supergirl, aka Superman's dear cousin, at the hands
06:00of the Anti-Monitor. The heroes were of course fighting to save the multiverse from annihilation,
06:05and during the culmination of this iconic arc, Kara was forced to do battle with the
06:09evil cosmic entity in order to try and save her friends, ultimately resulting in them
06:13watching her die. In terms of storyline, this was the perfect sacrifice that helped with
06:18the continuity clean-up that was the main point behind Crisis. In terms of tugging on
06:22our heartstrings though, this exerted way more strain than many of us could bear.
06:263. Batman Receives a Letter from His Father
06:29The Flashpoint comics had absolutely everything you would want from a good superhero story.
06:34Heroes battling their past demons, people having to redeem themselves, and the good
06:38guys overcoming insurmountable odds. But the best, and saddest part, was saved for last.
06:43Right at the end, after the alternate universe Thomas Wayne is able to get Barry to run back
06:47in time to change everything, he also gives the Scarlet Speedster a letter. The letter
06:52is addressed to his son Bruce, who in this timeline was killed in the alleyway instead
06:56of his parents. After straining every fibre of his speed force being, Flash is able to
07:01put the world back to the way it was. Kind of. And then, he went to visit Batman. Barry
07:06gives Bruce the letter, where Thomas tells his son how much he loved him, how much he
07:10wished he could be there to see him, and how happy he was with the kind of man, and the
07:14kind of hero, that Bruce became. It's not uncommon to shed a tear at this moment.
07:192. The Fight Against The Black Lantern Zombies
07:22Blackest Night was a refreshing, yet brutal update to the Green Lantern mythos, and gave
07:27us one of the biggest friends turning into foe storylines in comic book history. The
07:31premise focused on a mysterious presence that is awakened after two Green Lanterns interact
07:35with the Black Central Power Battery. Then, an ominous group of asteroids appear, which
07:39release a massive number of Black Lantern rings into the universe. The Guardians see
07:44this, but they can't act, because they're attacked by the evil Scar. The rings arrive,
07:49and flood a crypt of deceased Lanterns, reanimating them as bloodthirsty zombies. Powered, of
07:54course, by the Black Rings. Inevitably, the fight reaches Earth, where the rings start
07:58reviving dead superheroes, as the army of Zombie Lanterns continues to expand. Eventually,
08:03the League and pretty much every other superhero must unite to stand even the remotest of chance.
08:08While the universal level stakes were nothing uncommon, the sight of these heroes having
08:12to battle the demonised version of their friends, whose losses they once mourned, was equal
08:16parts jarring and heartbreaking.
08:181. The Death of Barry Allen
08:21Crisis on Infinite Earths is seen by many as the single greatest DC crossover event
08:26in history. Sure, these days DC seems to do a continuity reboot every other Sunday, but
08:31back then this was a never-before-seen kind of grand storyline. And to this day, it holds
08:35a place of its own in the pantheon of iconic comic book arcs. The central figure in this
08:40crossover was, of course, the Anti-Monitor, determined to destroy all matter universes
08:44and become the sole ruler of a new anti-matter universe slash universe kind of thing. Standing
08:50in his way is his counterpart, the Monitor, joined by a collection of the greatest heroes
08:54from across the multiverse. After leading a successful attack on the Anti-Monitor's
08:58base, the heroes manage to bring about a temporary end to the battle. However, the big bad Anti-Monitor
09:03uses this time to create a new body and find himself a new weapon, the Anti-Matter Cannon.
09:08Just as he is about to use it to destroy the remaining Earths, in swoops Barry Allen, aka
09:12the Flash, aka the Scarlet Speedster.
09:15Faced with impossible odds, Barry has no choice but to sacrifice himself in the process of
09:20stopping the Anti-Monitor's plan. But what makes his death so significant is that unlike
09:24most comic book demises, which typically last less time than the expiry date of sliced bread,
09:29this one actually stuck. Barry was gone from the DC continuity for 23 whole years. For
09:35the sheer weight of the moment, and the subsequent consequences, this was perhaps the most heartbreaking
09:40moment in Justice League history.
09:42And there we go my friends, those were the 10 most heartbreaking moments in Justice League
09:45history. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about
09:49it down in the comments section below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow
09:52me over on Twitter at RetroJWithA0, or you can swing by Live and Let's Dice where I
09:56do all of my streaming outside of work. As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome,
10:02never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.