What Happened To Everyone Who Killed Batman?

2008's Final Crisis is one of the biggest stories of the modern era, and one of the reasons for that is due to it featuring the very real death of Batman.

In the world of comics, famously nobody truly stays dead. But in the aftermath of Final Crisis, the Caped Crusader was pretty much as dead as dead can be when it comes to comic books.

The most simplistic way of describing the plot of Final Crisis is that Darkseid is looking to dominate Earth and rule with an iron fist that would shape the planet and skew reality to match his vision.

With the heroes of Earth and beyond stepping up to battle Darkseid, with the stakes extremely high - as shown by the early murder of Martian Manhunter - it comes down to Batman to put a stop to Lord of Apokolips.

To do so, the Caped Crusader arms himself with a radion bullet and has to break one of his codes: he has to fire a gun.

Bruce gets off the vital, fatal shot into Darkseid's shoulder and renders the villain vulnerable to further attack, but not before the Dark God is able to fire his Omega Beams in the direction of the World's Greatest Detective. This attack from Darkseid instantly kills Batman, and readers soon find themselves with the heartbreaking image of Superman holding the charred, skeletal remains of his long-time friend.

While this death did stick in the present day, the spirit of Batman was sent back in time and made to live numerous lives... before The Return of Bruce Wayne saw the Caped Crusader return to the present two years later.