10 Best Times Superheroes Became Villains
5. Shazam! - Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come is one of the great DC works of the modern era, and a fantastic rebuttal of the grim-dark resurgence that gripped the Big Two during the nineties. How better to approach that topic than to turn DC's golden boy - Billy Batson - into one one of said dark figures?
Mark Waid and Alex Ross' comic positions the Justice League of yesteryear up against a violent new group of vigilantes, led by Magog. It includes a whole host of shocking revelations (including that Batman likes his steak well done - blegh), but the most shocking of the lot revolves around Lex Luthor's efforts to use the ensuing conflict to seize power and influence.
Batman discovers that Billy Batson has been mind-controlled by Luthor, and after relaying that information to Superman, a fight breaks out between them. Captain Marvel is the only one who could match the Man of Steel, and the conflict is rendered in operatic fashion by Ross.
What makes this turn so good, however, is how the heroes bring him back. Superman manages to convince Billy to save the world, which then leads to him sacrificing himself in the process. It's an incredibly poignant moment, but one emblematic of how once optimistic characters had been tinged by cynical darkness as the medium transitioned out of the Bronze Age of comics.