10 Controversial Comic Book Deaths Fans Hated

5. Sue Dibny - Identity Crisis

Identity Crisis is probably the most divisive of all DC's 'Crises'. Written in 2004 by Brad Meltzer, the book took a new approach to the most dastardly of comic book tropes, the dreaded retcon, by including a story centred around mind wiping, mystery, and murder.

Some consider it a well-paced, character driven story that plays to the strengths of the DC Universe's cast of superheroes, while others have deemed it to be a dower, unnecessarily cruel tale that ruined several heroes and conformed to a long-running trend of the publisher sticking women in the fridge. Whatever your take, it's difficult not to see how the death of Sue Dibny upset readers, given how it played out.

Sue was the wife of the Elongated Man, but is found burned to death at the beginning of the book. In their search for the culprit, Green Arrow reveals that Sue was raped by Doctor Light during the League's early years, which led several members to convince Zatanna to mind-wipe and change Light's personality, hence his depiction as a bumbling fool in every other DC book. Still, the death itself still stood, and it was later revealed that Jean Loring - the Atom's ex-wife - was the culprit.

In an attempt to win back Ray Palmer, Loring stole one of his suits, shrank down, and killed Dibny by increasing her mass whilst on her brain, resulting in a major bleed. Loring is then committed to Arkham, and the League's trust is completely broken.