10 Most Gruesome Moments In DC History
8. Max Lord Shoots Blue Beetle - Countdown To Infinite Crisis
Weirdly, in the DC universe, we don't actually see very many superheroes shot to death. A whole lot of random civilians and henchmen, sure - even the beloved parents of a soon-to-be-superhero - but seldom ever a savior dressed in spandex.
That is, this was the case until Countdown to Infinite Crisis came along, and provided us the gory and shocking moment of Maxwell Lord shooting Ted Kord, the second-ever Blue Beetle.
After hunting down Lord and discovering his misuse of both the Justice League's files and Batman's 'Brother Eye' satellite, Kord confronts the man, furious at Lord's complete betrayal of what he considers a hero to be. When Blue Beetle refuses Maxwell's offer to join him, Lord decides to solve his problem in the easiest way possible, by shooting Kord point-black in the head.
With heroes usually dying to cosmic entities or some elaborate magical or world-ending device, it's completely surreal to see one of DC's finest brought down by such conventional means.