10 Most Tragic Deaths In The History Of DC Comics

2. Jonathan Kent

Superman's adoptive father is like the DC Universe's equivalent of Marvel's Jean Grey. In other words: he just keeps dying. And being resurrected. And dying again.

Is this what the circle of life is all about? Another victim of DC's constant continuity resets, the simple Kansas farmer who found a baby Kal-El in a field and raised him like he was his own son doesn't have luck that stretches to him being alive. Even when his kid has superpowers. Now that is unlucky. Whilst certain parts of the Man Of Steel's origin story remain immutable - doomed planet, desperate scientists, last hope, kindly couple (as All Star Superman puts it) - the fate of the Kents is ever changing.

In the Golden Age they both died not long after Clark's high school graduation, which meant their foster kid could move to Metropolis with no tricky connections to his hometown of Smallville. After the Crisis On Infinite Earths event this got changed so both remained alive to watch their son become Superman, only for Jonathan to die following an attack by Brainiac.

In the original film, along with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Superman For All Seasons, Pa Kent succumbs to a heart attack. In current continuity, both Kents were killed by a drunk driver. Much like Jean Grey, the sheer amount of times Jonathan Kent has passed away doesn't rob any such instance of its power - it's the first big heartbreak Clark Kent suffers, and the first time Superman really fails.

Oh except in Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel, where he dies completely unnecessarily and thus it has not emotional weight. Seriously. It's like some Independence Day-level nonsense.