10 Most Tragic Deaths In The History Of DC Comics

6. Elongated Man

And if there's somebody who knows tragedy in the DC Universe, it's Ralph Dibny. Which isn't a sentence you expect to write about a superhero better known as Elongated Man, who has the ability to stretch any part of his body (snigger).

Like Aquaman, Ralph was mostly left to enjoy his masked vigilante lifestyle without any sort of consequence or the dread spectre of death following him around like a bad smell - which is good, because his super-sensitive nose would've smelled it coming a mile off. Or perhaps not, as in the pages of Brad Meltzer's pretty terrible DC whodunnit Identity Crisis, he wasn't quick enough to stop his beloved wife Sue from being murdered. And just when she found out she was pregnant, too. Yeesh.

Elongated Man was another victim of the 52 series which seemed less like an opportunity for writers to bring back some of their favourite obscure characters and more like a chance to kill them off. Ralph's story in 52 is all about dealing with his grief over his wife's death, going through any number of methods of trying to resurrect her.

Sure, people die all the time in DC Comics, but they come back plenty too. Sadly for Ralph that was not to be, as he gets murdered by mystical villain Neron, who chucks Dibny's own wedding ring through his heart so fast it comes out the other side. Dang. Pretty tragic, huh?

Guy spends a whole year trying to come to terms with his own wife's untimely death, only to wind up murdered himself. At least this particularly upsetting killing off has a silver lining: one of the various spells Ralph tried ensured him and Sue would be returned to each other, and technically they are - as ghost detectives! Which totally should have become an ongoing series, but for some reason didn't. And yet DC are still publishing Red Hood And The Outlaws. We ask you.