10 Darkest Endings In The DC Animated Universe

8. Dan Turpin's Death - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman the Animated Series Dan Turpin Death
Warner Bros.

As things stand, Superman: The Animated Series definitely seems like the most underrated of the DCAU shows. Yes, there's the obscure Zeta Project to consider, but given how long it went on for and how much it accomplished, STAS definitely deserves more credit than it seemingly gets - especially as far as its Fourth World elements are concerned.

Although primarily inspired by the John Byrne Superman run of the 1980s, STAS also took a great deal of inspiration from Jack Kirby's Fourth World Saga. Kirby had passed away in 1994 - about two years before the premiere of STAS - and so the show's creators endeavoured to find a way of paying tribute to the writer/artist in the series.

They did this in two ways mainly: first, by making Darkseid a principle antagonist and by incorporating the conflict between New Genesis and Apokolips into the series; and second, by modelling the character of Dan Turpin on Kirby's personality and features.

During Apokolips Now - where Superman's Fourth World arc really comes to a head - Turpin leads the fight against Darkseid. New Genesis comes to the Earth's aid to scare the Lord of Apokolips off, but instead of leaving politely, the tyrant turns around and blows Turpin to smithereens with his Omega Beams, killing him then and there.

The ensuing funeral serves as a great tribute to Kirby, but the fact Turpin's death happens so abruptly makes it one of the most shocking moments in the DCAU.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.