10 Comics Fates Worse Than Death
6. Age Rapidly Into Oblivion
The Crisis on Infinite Earths event was one of the biggest to shake up the DC Universe since the publisher started pumping out books nearly a century ago. It would also have long-lasting impacts on the characters involved for years to come. One such character was Barry Allen, otherwise known as the Flash.
In the eighth issue of the series, Barry saved the Multiverse, but it cost him his life, and it was incredibly horrible. He remained dead and out of the regular DC continuity for twenty-three years after the event, which is an incredibly long time for a comic book character to remain dead.
In the book, Barry manages to escape and is able to foil the Anti-Monitor's plan to take out the Earth with an anti-matter cannon. To do this, he ran faster than he'd ever run before, creating a speed vortex, which pulled the power of the cannon in, but at a cost.
He ran so fast, he began running backward in time, and the strain on his body was too much for him. As he called out for help, he began to rapidly age so quickly, he turned into dust and died. He more than just died though, he ran himself out of existence, and it was a fate far worse than death.