10 Most Tragic Deaths In The History Of DC Comics

4. Blue Beetle

The Blue Beetle name is something of a poisoned chalice. Which is not something you should drink from. Did you not see Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade? At worst, you'll go all weird and skeletal and then explode in a shower of bones and dust.

At best, you'll either get cancelled (by Charlton Comics again!), shot in the head, or everybody you know and love will get killed instead. It's really a now-win situation. Obviously, you do get your hands on some magical scarab-derived superpowers and a cool suit, but is that really worth it for all the pain and emotional turmoil that comes part and parcel of being a Blue Beetle?

Nowadays the name is used by teenager Jaime Reyes, but the most famous and beloved character to fight crime as the Blue Beetle was definitely one Ted Kord. Again given life by former Spider-Man mastermind Steve Ditko, the second Blue Beetle - nobody really remember the original, Dan Garrett, so there's no reason you should either - possessed a genius-level intellect and was a gifted athlete.

Also he flew around in a bug-shaped spaceship which was totally rad, and had a lot of goofy adventures with his best friend Booster Gold, as chronicled in mostly-humorous series like Justice League International. Like Aqualad and Elongated Man, it was this inherent goofiness that would prove to be Ted Kord's undoing. Or would it least make it all the more upsetting once he got bumped off.

Blue Beetle didn't even survive long enough to meet his maker in the pages of 52, as so many other second stringers did: his fate befell him during Countdown To Infinite Crisis, where he is captured whilst infiltrating the nefarious Checkmate organisation and then shot in the head by its leader, Maxwell Lord. Poor Ted. He was just trying to help.