10 Greatest Comic Book Tragedies Of All Time

By Chris Quicksilver /

5. Daredevil - Issue 181

One of the original (and best) comic book tragedies, Daredevil 181, first printed in 1982, saw the love of Daredevil€™s life, the assassin Elektra, slain at the hands of Bullseye. The image of Elektra impaled on her own sai, is an indelible one in superhero comics. Few creators can sculpt a tragedy better than Frank Miller, whether its the noble cop Hartigan sacrificing his career and reputation for Nancy Callahan in Sin City, or The Joker murdering young couples in a funfair tunnel of love in The Dark Knight Returns. As a result, this issue is one of his very best. Miller€™s world was always one of sadness and sorrow and, somewhat accordingly, his Daredevil was perhaps the saddest and most sorrowful character he ever wrote. Daredevil 181 is Miller€™s great genius given form, function and feeling. With a wonderful story and fantastic, latterly iconic, art from Miller and brilliant inking from the very great Klaus Jansen, this tragedy is considered as an all time classic of the genre €“ and rightly so.