10 Worst Fakeout Endings In Comics

9. Bruce Wayne Is Replaced By Jean-Paul Valley

Spider-Man Miles Morales Captain America
DC Comics

1993's Knightfall was fantastic in how it served up a fresh villain who was immediately made a major player, and for how it delivered the "KRAKT!" heard around the world.

That "KRAKT!" was the noise Batman's back made as it was broken at the hands (and knee) of the recently-debuted Bane. Not just did this put Bane on the map in a huge way, it also put the Caped Crusader out of commission. So much so, by Batman #500 we had a shiny new Dark Knight take centre-stage in the form of tormented soul Jean-Paul Valley.

Out was Bruce Wayne, in was JPV. This was billed as a full changing of the guard, with Valley a new, edgier Batman for a new, edgier generation. The only thing is, DC Comics always planned for Valley's time under the cape 'n' cowl to be temporary, and we were all duped into thinking this was a permanent arrangement.

Of course, you could also include Batman's Final Crisis 'death' as another painfully poor fakeout. There, we were led to believe that Bats had been killed after being struck by Darkseid's omega beams.

Readers were greeted by the heartbreaking image of Superman carrying the charred remains of the World's Greatest Detective, and it seemed that maybe Bats really was toast. That was until the BS twist of the omega beams sending Batman back in time, where Bruce would spend the next two years travelling through history to return to the present day.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.