What Happened To Everyone Who Killed Batman?

8. The League Of Ancients

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DC Comics

It wasn't just Batman who ended up dead in JLA #74, for a who's who of the Justice League's biggest names ended up on the deceased list courtesy of some legendary Atlantean warriors known as the League of Ancients.

These no-nonsense Atlanteans are nothing if not brutally effective in their work, which here involved taking down the Justice League.

First up, poor Flash had his legs ripped off. But that's the tip of the iceberg, as the narrative sees the Atlanteans methodically target each member of the League and take them out.

For Superman, he ends up dead after zooming around the planet and hitting an Atlantean plaza; Wonder Woman bit the dust after being stabbed in the shoulder; Martian Manhunter likewise succumbs to extensive battle wounds; Kyle Rayner's Green Lantern has the grizzly fate of his heart being ripped out; and Plastic Man is turned to stone and smashed into smithereens.

In amongst the chaos, the death of Batman is somewhat of a footnote that largely takes place in the background of this bloodshed.

Making things more bizarre, the Justice League shuffled around as undead version of themselves in the following issue, before a mixture of Green Lantern's might, Aquaman's spirit, sparkly magic and general 'stuff' brought the JLA back to the land of the living.

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.