15 Emotional Comic Book Moments That Made Us Shed A Tear
13. Orpheus Looks Back
Neil Gaiman's critically acclaimed Sandman series is chock full of emotional moments depicting pain and loss, but none may be as despairing as The Song of Orpheus. For the Sandman Special one-shot, Gaiman reimagines the classical Greek tale of Orpheus by making him the son of series protagonist Dream (Morpheus).
Per the ancient story, Orpheuss wife Eurydice is killed by an asp on the day of their wedding. In an effort to resurrect her, Orpheus travels to the Underworld and appeals to Hades and Persephone. The Underworld rulers agree to send Eurydice back on one condition: Orpheus must walk in front of her as they travel back to the upper world and he can not look back to see her.
Of course, Orpheus has a moment of doubt about his wife and looks back which causes Eurydice to be pulled to the Underworld. The absolute tragedy of the situation is sold by Orpheus' scream of No, while the art team of Bryan Talbot and Mark Buckingham beautifully depict Eurydice fading to black.
The Song of Orpheus demonstrates that even a story that is thousands of years old can still emotionally resonate today if told correctly. And with such a special team of creators behind it like Gaiman, Talbot and Buckingham, this old story still has the capacity to make us tear up.