History AndThenWhat / ComicBooks

* In the dark comedy miniseries ''[[ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers G.L.A. Misassembled]]'', Mr. Immortal does this to villain Maelstrom, convincing him not only of the futility of his current scheme to destroy the universe, but of evil schemes in general, and an existence without friends or loved ones would be unbearable. He convinces the villain to [[spoiler:commit suicide. "Here, I'll go first." Mr. Immortal gets back up again...]]

* Played with in an issue of [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]]: Donald and his nephews happen to stumble upon a MadScientist who plans to destroy all of Earth's technology. When called out on it, and questioned what he, himself would be without all his gadgets and devices, the scientist states that he ''did'' go insane for a reason. The ducks all realize that there's an undeniable, yet severely disturbing logic behind that argument.
* In an early issue of ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'', Graviton is being all villainous, crowing about how easily he can defeat the Thunderbolts. Moonstone replies that, sure, you can beat us. Then the Avengers, the Champions, the Defenders, the X-men and so forth (most of these teams no longer existed at this time). So then what? Graviton stopped, realized he had no long term plan at all, and disappeared for about a year. When he came back, he'd actually thought about it. And decided that essentially ripping San Francisco out of the ground to be his personal party/orgy palace was the "what". Letting him win in the first place might have been less destructive in the long run.

* Used to great effect in the graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Enigma}}'' by Creator/PeterMilligan and Duncan Fegredo. In the comic-within-a-comic, "The Enigma" taunts "The Rich Cat" with the pointlessness of his goals by saying "And then what? ...and then what? ...and then what?" until "The Rich Cat" can only say "aw, geez, I don't know." The phrase then becomes a catchphrase used by the Enigmatics, a cult inspired by the comic, who [[spoiler: say it before committing suicide en masse]].

---> '''Starscream:''' Our cruisers could have annihilated them from space. You're stalling. You've beaten the only real threat we've ever faced. I can see what's coming. So can you. Who will it be? Scourge? Who would have thought the worst move you could have made would be to win?

---> '''Starscream:''' Your philosophy, Megatron...\\

--->'''Optimus:''' What about freedom? Free will? Personal responsibility?
--->'''Megatron:''' They won't be missed.
*** And then played straight when it turns out that conversation caused Megatron to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realise just how far he'd fallen from his original path]], causing his later [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ''Emperor Doom'' features something like this, with ComicBook/DoctorDoom using the enslaved Purple Man to essentially brainwash the world into accepting him as its ruler. He eventually gets bored of all the niggly little things that a ruler of the world actually ends up having to do, and decides to let the heroes destroy the machine keeping Purple Man prisoner.
** Reed Richards asks this of Doom several times whenever Doom's captured him again and is gloating about how he's going to kill Reed and destroy everything he holds dear. Doom has no proper answer, because the be-all-end-all of his existence is to cause Reed Richards as much anguish as possible. Unlike, say, the Joker however, Doom can't admit this (having convinced himself that he's doing it because he's superior to everyone else and deserves to rule the world...and that he's doing the world a favor since he's ''obviously'' the most qualified for the job) and so whenever Reed mentions this, Doom usually just starts [[RivalTurnedEvil screaming about college grudges]] and beating the snot out of Reed. Doom is kind of nuts.
* This is discussed by the BigBad himself in ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse''. After accomplishing his plan to TakeOverTheWorld (or at least conquer much of it and turning the rest into a CrapsackWorld), Apocalypse realizes that governing his brutal new [[TheSocialDarwinist dog-eat-dog]] empire is actually pretty tiresome.
* At the end of ''ComicBook/PunisherNoir'', Frank Castelione, Jr. has killed everyone responsible for his father's death. Jigsaw, Barracuda, the Russian, Dutch Shultz... all of them are gone. As he visits his parents' graves, he asks his father what he should do now. Detective Soap called him the Punisher -- does he keep punishing forever? Does he keep taking it to the underworld? It's 1935, there's no shortage of mobsters. Frank, Sr. doesn't have an answer for him, but he gets one all the same when a newspaper is blown into his face -- featuring an article on Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist party.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/LastSon'', which re-introduced Kryptonian General Zod to the modern DC Universe, Superman attempts to use this against Zod when the general starts to talk about how he could have saved Krypton if his coup had been successful. Superman tries to point out to him that even if he'd defeated the Science Council nobody would have listened to him and he didn't actually have a plan to stop the disaster that destroyed the planet. Zod's only 'defence' is to cite how he won against various past foes and prevailed in old military campaigns and insist that he would have found a way, but shows no sign that he had an actual plan to save Krypton and ignores how his past military campaigns don't require the same skillset as stopping an environmental disaster.
* One ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' story had magnetic supervillain Dr. Polaris try to absorb the "magnetic glue" that holds the universe together, increasing his powers to infinite levels. It would also destroy the universe. The comic lampshades that Polaris is too drunk with power to stop to think what he would do afterward.
* At one point in Marvel's 1989 crossover ''Atlantis Attacks'', B-list heroine Firebird comes across several invading Atlantean/Lemurian troops who have gotten lost in the ''desert.'' After a CurbStompBattle[[note]]if you breathe water, and have to use a specially enclosed suit to survive on land, don't fight someone who controls fire and heat without being REALLY prepared[[/note]], she asks them that even if they win this war, what exactly are they going to do? She asks this as they stand...in a desert. They shrug. They come to a compromise wherein she destroys all their weapons and guides them to Tahiti, where they promise to sit out the rest of the war and decide to try and pick up land-dwelling women. (Firebird's words would eventually prove an InUniverse case of HarsherInHindsight, because [[spoiler:the Atlanteans were being used as {{Unwitting Pawn}}s by Set and would eventually be double-crossed by his servants.]]
* After going mad, [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Genis-Vell]] helps the cosmic villain Entropy successfully ''destroy the universe.'' Afterward, Entropy, Genis, Epiphany, and Rick Jones are left floating in a void of nothingness, and Entropy realizes he never expected to actually ''succeed'' and doesn't know what to do, now. So they do some TimeyWimeyBall jiggery-pokery and the universe comes back.
* PlayedForLaughs in one ''ComicBook/MiniMarvels'' strip. ComicBook/SilverSurfer gets ComicBook/{{Thanos}} to change his plans by asking him hypothetically, if he succeeded in getting Lady Death's attention by destroying the universe and she fell in love with him, what he would get her for her birthday. Thanos thinks carefully for a moment.
-->'''Thanos''': A pair of shoes?\\
'''Silver Surfer''': You just ''destroyed'' the universe! There are ''no'' shoes!\\
'''Thanos''': Oops!
* In the first arc of his "DC Rebirth" title, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} battles Black Manta, out to avenge the death of his father at Orin's hands. Arthur allows Manta to put his spear to Aquaman's throat and then asks what Manta's life will be like once he does it. He points out Manta's only goal in life is killing Aquaman and there's no way to make his death worthwhile enough to overcome that hate. After a long moment, Manta drops the spear and falls to his knees, realizing Aquaman is right.
** Becomes a NiceJobBreakingItHero moment later as Manta is kidnapped by an organization who secretly rules the seas. Remembering his enemy's words, Manta kills the leader, takes over and finds a new goal in life after all.
* In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/SpiderMan are battling their arch-nemeses on a satellite when one announces the intention to ''really'' destroy the world, instead of blackmail it with the ''threat'' of destroying it. Spidey asks the other SuperVillain, "Where are you going to spend your money then?" Not only does he [[ArmorPiercingQuestion mentally hit the brick wall]], he [[EvilVersusOblivion fights to save the world]] in a major (if temporary) HeelFaceTurn for [[spoiler:Doctor Octopus]].
* In the ''Riot at Xavier's'' story arc in Grant Morrison's run of ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', the radical young mutant Quentin Quire leads an anti-human riot by the mutant students. Quire declares that the rioters will take over the entire school. An unimpressed Emma Frost asks the question verbatim.
* Bastion posits this during the ''ComicBook/XMenSecondComing'' event. Just as his endgame is about to go into motion, Bastion asks his remaining dragons, Stephen Lang and Graydon Creed what they're going to do if they finally do kill all the mutants and what purpose they will serve afterwards, since it's not a noble or enlightening goal, and it's not something Bastion enjoys doing. Doesn't stop him from going through with it, though.

'''Dr. Manhattan:''' "In the end"? ''Nothing'' ends,[[spoiler: Adrian]]. Nothing ''ever'' ends.

* The Annual # 1 of ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures ''Study Hall:'' shows Scarecrow in Arkham after being beaten again by the ComicBook/{{Batman}}, asking to himself why he is trapped in a CycleOfRevenge instead of doing something he enjoys, at the beginning of his RedemptionFailure:
-->'''Scarecrow:''' What will happen when I am too old or too infirm to engage with the ComicBook/{{Batman}} at our usual duel of wills? Then what? [[SaveOurStudents I was a teacher once]]...
* Poison Ivy also asks one of them to herself at the end of ''Batman and Robin Adventures'' #24, "Touch of death". This one shows [[{{Hypocrite}} how disconnected Poison Ivy is from her true motivations]] to save a a Brazilian Boy who is a PoisonousPerson from a GovernmentConspiracy and brings him back to his home.
-->'''Poison Ivy:''' And with the kid, I could... ''[{{beat}}]'' ...poison people ''faster?''...[[DidntThinkThisThrough what was I thinking?]]
* In the ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' comic, "Those Left Behind," Mal asks a vengeful Dobson this question, what comes next after killing Mal. Dobson shrugs and says he'll pick up a hobby, probably.
* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in an EvilVersusEvil example in ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy''. The VirtualGhost of the Sith [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]] Literature/DarthBane tears into [[BigBad Darth Krayt]] for doing away with his RuleOfTwo and allowing multiple Sith to exist instead of just hoarding all their knowledge for himself. When Krayt questions the point of stockpiling power [[PragmaticVillainy without a greater goal in mind to apply it toward]], Bane basically calls him an idiot and says that [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide unlimited power]] ''[[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans is the point]]''.
* In "Jungle of the Giants!", a story appearing in ''ComicBook/DarkHorseMonsters'', the protagonist has been shrunken and put in a terrarium. His plan is to reach the glass wall... and from there, he apparently plans to reach the shrinking machine to restore himself to normal size. Somehow. All getting to the wall accomplishes is letting him look out at the shrinking machine. How he plans to get ''out'' to get to it is something even ''he'' seems unsure of. [[spoiler:It's rendered moot when his son, the one who placed him in the terrarium, appears with his cat. Uh-oh.]]
* In the original run of ''ComicBook/ArcherAndArmstrong'', Armstrong is talking with a rogue member of The Sect, a cult who believes Armstrong to be a demon in human form, rather than the immortal hedonistic human he actually is. The woman asks Armstrong if he's ever wondered what The Sect would do afterwards, if they ever managed to kill him. When Armstrong answers that he's never put any thought into it, she responds with "Neither have they."
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''. Mr. Mxyzptlk states that he has decided to spend 2000 years being Evil, since he has already spent 2000 years being apathetic, benevolent and mischievous. He acknowledges that he'll eventually tire of being evil too and says he'll probably spend 2000 years being remorseful, but that's OK since then, at least, he'll have something to do.
* ''[[ComicBook/TeenTitans Titans]]'': The second Tattooed Man joined Deathstroke's phony Titans after he was promised the chance to kill the villain Slipknot and avenge his son's death. Not only did killing Slipknot offer Tattooed Man no release from his guilt, but he helped murder the completely innocent [[ComicBook/TheAtom Ryan Choi]] as part of his end on the deal with Deathstroke. Oh, and to top it off, Tattooed Man later discovers his community's now living in a state of constant fear thanks to the gang members he left to watch over the neighborhood in his absence. So after murdering a guy who had nothing to do with his vendetta and learning his community's been terrorized for months to keep them in line, Tattooed Man's got nothing to show for killing Slipknot and ended up going back to Deathstroke because there was nothing left for him to do.
* In ''ComicBook/DarkTimes'', a clone trooper asks Vader what they're supposed to do now that the war is over. Vader clearly hesitates a moment before assuring them that the Emperor has a plan. He later goes to ask the Emperor personally.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': When [[ThoseWackyNazis Karl Ruprecht Kroenen]] explains to his old mentor, Herman von Klempt, about Rasputin's plan to awaken the Ogdru Jahad and bring about the Apocalypse that will cleanse the whole world, von Klempt responds, ''"And then what? Everybody naked and happy in Paradise? I think you were frozen too long, Karl."''
* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' explores the concept in the same dark vein as anything else. What does Butcher intend to do after he kills Homelander? [[spoiler: Kill everyone else who has been in contact with Compound V. Starting with the easiest targets, namely the people who helped him kill Homelander.]]
* A part of Talanah's arc in ''ComicBook/HorizonZeroDawn'' is that now that she had become the new Sunhawk and killed the machines that killed so many lodgers, she has no real goal moving forward.

* In ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'', the Wrecker grabs a crowbar and starts to toss around Spider-Man, Wolverine and Luke Cage. Then, Spider-Woman walks up and asks "why?". She wonders why despite having the power of a god, [[Comicbook/{{Runaways}} a bunch of kids in Los Angeles]] managed to beat him and his whole team up. She very nearly converts him to the side of good, until it's revealed she wasn't even trying, just lulling him into a false sense of security. [[JustifiedTrope It helps]] that she is both an experienced spy and exudes pheromones that make men fall in love with her.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/LastSon'', which re-introduced Kryptonian General Zod to the modern DC Universe, Superman attempts to use this against Zod when the general starts to talk about how he could have saved Krypton if his coup had been successful. Superman tries to point out to him that even if he'd defeated the Science Council nobody would have listened to him and he didn't actually have a plan to stop the disaster that destroyed the planet. Zod's only 'defence' is to cite how he won against various past foes and prevailed in old military campaigns and insist that he would have found a way, but shows no sign that he had an actual plan to save Krypton and ignores how his past military campaigns don't require the same skillset as stopping an environmental disaster.
* One ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' story had magnetic supervillain Dr. Polaris try to absorb the "magnetic glue" that holds the universe together, increasing his powers to infinite levels. It would also destroy the universe. The comic lampshades that Polaris is too drunk with power to stop to think what he would do afterward.

* PlayedForLaughs in one ''Comicbook/MiniMarvels'' strip. ComicBook/SilverSurfer gets ComicBook/{{Thanos}} to change his plans by asking him hypothetically, if he succeeded in getting Lady Death's attention by destroying the universe and she fell in love with him, what he would get her for her birthday. Thanos thinks carefully for a moment.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/SpiderMan are battling their arch-nemeses on a satellite when one announces the intention to ''really'' destroy the world, instead of blackmail it with the ''threat'' of destroying it. Spidey asks the other SuperVillain, "Where are you going to spend your money then?" Not only does he [[ArmorPiercingQuestion mentally hit the brick wall]], he [[EvilVersusOblivion fights to save the world]] in a major (if temporary) HeelFaceTurn for [[spoiler:Doctor Octopus]].

* This is how the very first story arc of George Perez's [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 reboot]] of ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' ended, with Wondy ensnaring Ares in the Lasso of Truth, forcing him to realise that starting WorldWarIII would superpower him immensely in the short term as conflict and disaster engulfed the world...but there'd be nobody left AfterTheEnd to fight, much less kill, each other, and without any living memory of the gods, he'd fade into nothingness.
* The Annual # 1 of ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures ''Study Hall:'' shows Scarecrow in Arkham after being beaten again by the Franchise/{{Batman}}, asking to himself why he is trapped in a CycleOfRevenge instead of doing something he enjoys, at the beginning of his RedemptionFailure:
-->'''Scarecrow:''' What will happen when I am too old or too infirm to engage with the Franchise/{{Batman}} at our usual duel of wills? Then what? [[SaveOurStudents I was a teacher once]]...

* ''ComicBook/Hellboy'': When [[ThoseWackyNazis Karl Ruprecht Kroenen]] explains to his old mentor, Herman von Klempt, about Rasputin's plan to awaken the Ogdru Jahad and bring about the Apocalypse that will cleanse the whole world, von Klempt responds, ''"And then what? Everybody naked and happy in Paradise? I think you were frozen too long, Karl."''

* After going mad, [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Genis-Vell]] helps the cosmic villain Entropy successfully ''destroy the universe.'' Afterward, Entropy, Genis, Epiphany, and Rick Jones are left floating in a void of nothingness, and Entropy realizes he never expected to actually ''succeed'' and doesn't know what to do, now. So they do some TimeyWimeyBall jiggery-pokery and the universe comes back.

* Played with in a pocket issue of WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck: Donald and his nephews happen to stumble upon a MadScientist who plans to destroy all of Earth's technology. When called out on it, and questioned what he, himself would be without all his gadgets and devices, the scientist states that he ''did'' go insane for a reason. The ducks all realize that there's an undeniable, yet severely disturbing logic behind that argument.
* In an early issue of ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'', Graviton is being all villainous, crowing about how easily he can defeat the Thunderbolts. Moonstone replies that, sure, you can beat us. Then the Avengers, the Champions, the Defenders, the X-men and so forth (most of these teams no longer existed at this time). So then what? Graviton stopped, realized he had no long term plan at all, and disappeared for about a year.
** When he came back, he'd actually thought about it. And decided that essentially ripping San Francisco out of the ground to be his personal party/orgy palace was the "what". Letting him win in the first place might have been less destructive in the long run.
* In ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'', the Wrecker grabs a crowbar and starts to toss around Spider-Man, Wolverine and Luke Cage. Then, Spider-Woman walks up and asks "why?". She wonders why despite having the power of a god, [[Comicbook/{{Runaways}} a bunch of kids in Los Angeles]] managed to beat him and his whole team up. She very nearly converts him to the side of good, until it's revealed she wasn't even trying, just lulling him into a false sense of security.
** [[JustifiedTrope It helps]] that she is both an experienced spy and exudes pheromones that make men fall in love with her.

* At one point in Marvel's 1989 crossover ''Atlantis Attacks'', B-list heroine Firebird comes across several invading Atlantean/Lemurian troops who have gotten lost in the ''desert.'' After a CurbStompBattle (if you breathe water, and have to use a specially enclosed suit to survive on land, don't fight someone who controls fire and heat without being REALLY prepared). Once that's over and she talks to them, she asks them that even if they win this war, what exactly are they going to do? She asks this as they stand...in a desert. They shrug. They come to a compromise wherein she destroys all their weapons and guides them to Tahiti, where they promise to sit out the rest of the war and decide to try and pick up land-dwelling women. (Firebird's words would eventually prove an InUniverse case of HarsherInHindsight, because [[spoiler:the Atlanteans were being used as {{Unwitting Pawn}}s by Set and would eventually be double-crossed by his servants.]]

* This is how the very first story arc of George Perez's reboot of ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' ended, with Wondy ensnaring Ares in the Lasso of Truth, forcing him to realise that starting WorldWarIII would superpower him immensely in the short term as conflict and disaster engulfed the world...but there'd be nobody left AfterTheEnd to fight, much less kill, each other, and without any living memory of the gods, he'd fade into nothingness.

** Bastion posits this during the "Second Coming" event. Just as his endgame is about to go into motion, he asks one of his underlings what will define them once the mutants are all dead, and what purpose they will serve afterwards (Doesn't stop him from going through with it, though).

* In the original run of ''ComicBook/ArcherAndArmstrong'', Armstrong is talking with a rogue member of The Sect (a cult who believes Armstrong to be a demon in human form, rather than the immortal hedonistic human he actually is) The woman asks Armstrong if he's ever wondered what The Sect would do afterwards, if they ever managed to kill him. When Armstrong answers that he's never put any thought into it, she responds with "Neither have they."
* ''ComicBook/XMen:'' Toward the end of the "Second Coming" storyline, Bastion asks his remaining dragons, Stephen Lang and Graydon Creed what they're going to do if they finally do kill all the mutants, since it's not a noble or enlightening goal, and it's not something Bastion enjoys doing.

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''. Mr. Mxyzptlk states that he has decided to spend 2000 years being Evil, since he has already spent 2000 years being apathetic, benevolent and mischievous. When asked the question, he says he'll probably spend 2000 years being remorseful, but that's OK since then, at least, he'll have something to do.

* PlayedForLaughs in one strip from a series that ran in several of Marvel Comics' series. A young ComicBook/SilverSurfer gets a young ComicBook/{{Thanos}} to change his plans by asking him hypothetically, if he succeeded in getting Lady Death's attention by destroying the universe and she fell in love with him, what he would get her for her birthday. Thanos thinks carefully for a moment.

'''Silver Surfer''': You just destroyed the universe! There are no shoes!\\