5 DC Resurrections Done Right (And 5 That Sucked)

2. Stephanie Brown - Robin/Spoiler Special

Despite the death and return of Stephanie Brown occurred a literal lifetime ago (in a different DC continuity), it still manages to invoke the ire of longtime Bat-fans.

Stephanie was introduced as the vigilante Spoiler during the long-running War Games arc, where she conspired to take down her father's criminal dealings. She came into conflict with Batman and his allies over the course of the arc, but gradually struck up a romance with Tim Drake. When Tim had a lapse in confidence, Stephanie came in and assumed the Robin identity... just before she was brutally tortured by Black Mask and died of her injuries.

Before she died, Stephanie managed to find Dr. Leslie Thompkins for treatment. Thompkins was a longtime ally to the Dark Knight, but she decided to let Brown die on the operating table in order to convince Batman to stop enlisting children in his war on crime. It completely ruined her character, and when Stephanie wasn't given a memorial in the Bat-Cave, fans were justifiably peeved.

Come 2008 however, and it was revealed that Stephanie never died at all. Batman had chosen to keep her fate a secret, giving DC an out in regards to the lack of a memorial and for Thompkins' depiction. Fortunately Steph did end up making good on her comeback in Bryan Q. Miller's brilliant Batgirl run, but the intervening years weren't made any less frustrating.