11 Justice League Fates Worse Than Death

10. Having To Give Up Your Mother - Flashpoint

Justice League Superman Batman Wonder Woman
DC Comics

Flashpoint is an arc that somewhat split opinion amongst comic book readers. While the event itself was a monumental one to watch unfold, the fallout of Flashpoint led to the oft-ridiculed New 52.

This 2011 crossover event showcased a vastly different DC Comics landscape, with Barry Allen's time-travelling shenanigans having caused a major shift amongst some of DC's major players.

Here, we had Wonder Woman and Aquaman embroiled in a bloody, brutal war, Green Arrow as an arms dealer, Superman held captive as a government science project, Cyborg as the go-to hero of the day, and Thomas Wayne as a clinical, vicious, hard-drinking Batman - with Bruce Wayne having died that night in Crime Alley.

The reason for all of this was due to Barry Allen having travelled back in time to stop his mother Nora's murder at the hands of Zoom. But while Barry successfully saved his mother, that caused an altered timeline that culminated in an all-our war that cost millions of lives.

Having got to share time with Nora, the Sultan of Speed is forced to give up his resurrected mother by the close of Flashpoint, travelling back in time to stop himself from preventing Nora's death.

After years of mourning his mother, Barry had to let her slip away once more.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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.