10 Greatest Comic Book Tragedies Of All Time

10. Batman & Robin - Issue 23

After the events of Batman, Incorporated, vol 2, issue 8, Damian Wayne, son of Bruce and Robin Mk IV (by most people€™s count) was dead. Having been shot with arrows, beaten to a pulp and finally impaled on the Heretic€™s broadsword, poor old Damian died tragically, as his father failed to escape Talia Al Ghul€™s insidious deathtrap in time. However, the true tragedy of a loss lies, not in death itself, but in the sorrow still felt by the living... Over the course of 5 issues, writer Pete Tomasi, paired with artist Pat Gleason, took Batman on a tour through the various stages of grief. First was a story entitled Denial, which saw a deranged Batman attempt to unearth the secret of life after death by attacking (and rather gruesomely vivisecting) Frankenstein. Following this was Rage, which culminated in Batman bringing Jason Todd to the Ethiopian desert of Death in the Family. This led to Bruce saying and doing some awful things in order to goad Jason into a bloody fist fight as an elaborate act of self harm. In a story called The Bargain, Batman teamed with Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl. At the culmination of a raw and sad issue, Babs made her point by shattering the glass case that Bats keeps Jason€™s old costume in, as a grieving Bruce was forced to face his own reflection in the shards. In Despair, Batman teamed with Catwoman and was able to save a small child from harm, gaining some measure of redemption in the process. Whilst the entire series was excellent, it was issue 23€™s Acceptance that really provided the closure that both the fans, and the character, desperately needed. In this issue, an obsessive Bruce runs simulation after simulation of the night Damian died, trying in vain to produce an outcome that would not result in his son€™s death. Finally, Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, plugged himself into the simulation and helped Batman to save his partner and son. As Damian vanished from view between them, Batman finally achieved a measure of relief. The true tragedy of the issue, however, was that after Bruce had begun to heal, Alfred was seen to be alone in the Batcave, running his own simulation, one where he stopped Damien from leaving the cave and going to his death in Batman, Inc Issue 8. After all this time spent caring for a grieving Bruce Wayne, neither Batman, nor the readership, had stopped to consider just how great the guilt felt by Alfred was for allowing Damien to join a fight that his father had forbidden. It was a tragedy in the truest sense of the word.