15 Emotional Comic Book Moments That Made Us Shed A Tear

6. Krypto'€™s Sacrifice

DC Comics

Nothing pulls on the heartstrings like the death of a pet. Ask any pet owner who has seen films like Marley and Me or Old Yeller if they shed a tear at the end of those movies, and they are 100 percent lying to you if they say €œno.€

Alan Moore€™'s epic Superman storyline €œWhatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow€ is the comic book equivalent of Old Yeller. In it, Superman€™s longtime pet Krypto the dog, sacrifices his life to protect his master when he attacks the deadly Kryptonite Man. Superman apparently hears his beloved dog€™s €œdeath howl€ but is unable to do anything to help him.

Adding to the emotional weight of the scene is the fact that Kryptonite Man is incapable of understanding why a dog would be willing to sacrifice himself for a loved one. Perhaps because Kryptonite Man never had a pet growing up to help him understand the unconditional love that comes with that relationship.

In this post: 
Spider-Man
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Mark is a professional writer living in Brooklyn and is the founder of the Chasing Amazing Blog, which documents his quest to collect every issue of Amazing Spider-Man, and the Superior Spider-Talk podcast. He also pens the "Gimmick or Good?" column at Comics Should Be Good blog.