10 Times DC Went Too Far

2. Superboy Prime Kills Pantha - Infinite Crisis

Lian Harper Death
DC Comics

Infinite Crisis is one of the most divisive event comics that DC has ever published. And most of this centres around whether or not it's hypocritical in its condemnation of grim dark storytelling. On one hand, the lashing that this story gives the DC heroes (and by proxy, DC as a company) for letting what was once filled with hope and optimism get so dour and grim and gory is well deserved and satisfying to watch.

On the other hand, Superboy Prime punches Pantha's head off.

Granted that's not all that he accomplishes in this scene, but it's definitely the most shocking and visceral of all the acts of brutality that Superboy Prime commits while fighting the Titans. Not only was it just a dumb way to kill a character that turned out to have a MUCH larger following than writer Geoff Johns anticipated, but it's so indulgently gory that it undoes - even if just a little - the very critique it set out to make about the DC universe at the time.

Contributor
Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?