History DroppedABridgeOnHim / Comicbooks

* Eric O'Grady aka ComicBook/AntMan III got violently [[KillAndReplace Killed and Replaced]] right around the time Marvel brought his predecessor, Scott Lang, BackFromTheDead in ''Comicbook/TheChildrensCrusade''. O'Grady at least got to pull a HeroicSacrifice and DyingMomentOfAwesome, but some fans have noted that it seems like he was thrown under the bus simply so readers wouldn't be confused by two Ant-Men running around. ''Especially'' since Scott Lang was later confirmed to be the focus of the ''Film/AntMan1'' movie.

** The reception was so poor that the entire series of events was retconned in The ComicBook/{{New 52}} and now Ryan is back to being alive. An additional AuthorsSavingThrow was implemented in ''Comicbook/{{Convergence}}'', where it was revealed that Ryan's consciousness had survived after his body's death.

** When Bucky was acting as Cap's replacement, he showed up out of nowhere in ''Comicbook/FearItself'' only to be manhandled by the new ComicBook/RedSkull. She slaps him around with his own severed bionic arm before being impaled by a magic hammer.[[spoiler:Turns out he was still alive. He was severely injured, but we find out that Bucky's death was faked to get Steve Rogers back in the Captain America costume and lead the others that way.]]

* CrisisCrossover series, especially at DC, are notorious for killing off characters who've been around a long time in awkward, RedShirt like ways, just to show how bad the BigBad is. These characters are lucky if they get more than one or two lines of dialogue. Some examples include the Losers, Dove of Hawk and Dove, and the original Mirror Master in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica members Atom (Al Pratt) and Dr. Mid-Nite in ''Comicbook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'' (Hourman also died, but he got better), and most of the Freedom Fighters (Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, Black Condor) in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''.

** There's a good amount of this in ComicBook/BlackestNight, often to make room for their replacements/predecessors. Tempest gets his heart ripped out by Black Lantern Tula, making room for the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' version of Aqualad, and the second Hawk is also killed to free up space for her predecessor to return. Dr. Polaris gets it bad too, dying off-screen. Captain Boomerang Jr. went from being an antihero who had movie nights with ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} to someone who helps his ObviouslyEvil zombie father kill and devour women and children. Firestorm's girlfriend Gehenna got her heart ripped out and was turned to salt simultaneously, in order to leave an opening in the Firestorm Matrix for Ronnie Raymond's return (and also so Ronnie and Jason could hate each other).

** Toxin (or more specifically his host, Patrick Mulligan) was unceremoniously murdered '''offscreen''' by [[Comicbook/GhostRider Blackheart]] and the Toxin symbiote was confiscated, only to later be forced onto Eddie Brock by Crime Master.

** Ditto for Carnage, who appeared in New Avengers only to be [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill quickly flown to space and torn in half]]. Unsurprisingly, [[{{Creator/BrianBendis}} the writer of the story]] has stated that he has a dislike for the character.

* After a prolonged absence, the cast of ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' showed up in ''[[ComicBook/JonathanHickmansAvengers Comicbook/NewAvengers]]'' just to be unceremoniously slaughtered by [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] and his new Cabal. To add insult to injury, the Cabal then blew up the Squadron's planet.
** [[FromBadToWorse It gets worse]]. They [[UnexplainedRecovery somehow survived this]] and reappeared in ''Comicbook/{{Secret Wars|2015}}''...only to be easily (''[[CurbStompBattle hilariously]]'' easily) slaughtered by the Squadron Sinister. Only Nighthawk survived.

* ComicBook/TransformersWingsOfHonor: While most deaths got some dramatic tone to them (Dion and Magnum got TheHeroDies, and Metalhawk's death marked the point of no return for Onslaught), Over-Run got his helicopter dropped on top of him and Ironfist (while Ironfist survived, Over-Run didn't). The Stealth team also got hit with this. After an entire narrative focusing on their adventures, they come to base and get caught right up in the climax, Powerflash dying offscreen, and Tap-Out's corpse being seen once the battle was over. A deft shot later kills Rumbler in the second arc.

* ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'' sees [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Victor Mancha]] having his heart violently ripped out of his chest for no other purpose than to establish that Virginia Vision was truly dangerous... which was by that point already well-established. To make it worse, he only appeared in the series because Virginia's original intended victim, Jim Hammond, was considered too obscure to be worth killing. Victor's death was undone two years later in ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', making the whole thing even more pointless.

** ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'' member Sunfire was killed off by dropping a ''literal'' bridge on her. Or maybe it was a building. It's hard to say, because ''it happened off-panel''.

** The ''Wolverine'' characters had a mass culling at one point, seemingly in an attempt to streamline the character. This includes his son Daken being off-handedly killed by an amnesiac Logan, along with Omega Red. Daken at least later returned, along with literally every dead mutant, during ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen''.
* Rick Remender created Father and the Descendants in his ''Uncanny Comicbook/XForce'' run, and later had them appear as major villains in the final arc of ''Comicbook/SecretAvengers''. Despite building them up in such a big way, he casually killed them off near the beginning of ''Rage of Ultron'' to show that Hank Pym had crossed the MoralEventHorizon.

* A few years ago, Harbinger, one of the heroes of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', was abruptly killed offscreen by Apokolips forces in the pages of ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'' when she tried to prevent them from kidnapping ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} from Themiscyra, a role that could have easily been filled by any generic Amazon. Can't ''anybody'' from that story get a happy ending?

* The Comicbook/SubMariner once discovered that his family had been murdered by a single supervillain named Destiny. This led to a StoryArc where Destiny plots [[TakeOverTheWorld conquering Earth]] and destroying Namor for good while the latter intends to hunt him but gets sidetracked. How did it end? Destiny seemingly kills Subby, then [[TooDumbToLive spontaneously decides that he can fly even without his power helmet, and falls to his own death]]. Namor reappears and states that the fact he was still alive drove the villain mad. The scene had been inspired by a movie (''The Silver Chalice''), but for many readers, it comes across as OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow.

** Jean Grey's death in the 2003 "[[ComicBook/NewXMen Planet X]]" storyline fits this to a "T". Her marriage to Scott had a bridge dropped on it in more ways than one at the same time.

* After the ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' event in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, many mutants lost their powers. The ones who got it the worse were probably a set of young student ''Comicbook/XMen'', mostly minor characters in the series, who were literally PutOnABus... then the bus was hit by a missile. Every one of them died.
* ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'' member Sunfire was killed off by dropping a ''literal'' bridge on her. Or maybe it was a building. It's hard to say, because ''it happened off-panel''.
* Jean Grey's death in the 2003 "[[ComicBook/NewXMen Planet X]]" storyline fits this to a "T". Her marriage to Scott had a bridge dropped on it in more ways than one at the same time.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': Monica Chang is killed in ''Miles Morales, Spider-Man'' by the revived Green Goblin without so much as a fight.

* Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' is infamous for this trope, as it kills off over half the cast of Marvel's [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate Universe]] in brutal, violent, pointless ways similiar to many of the above DC examples. The most infamous is the Blob's gruesome murder of the Wasp.
* Eric O'Grady aka ComicBook/AntMan III got violently [[KillAndReplace Killed and Replaced]] right around the time Marvel brought his predecessor, Scott Lang, BackFromTheDead in ''Comicbook/TheChildrensCrusade''. O'Grady at least got to pull a HeroicSacrifice and DyingMomentOfAwesome, but some fans have noted that it seems like he was thrown under the bus simply so readers wouldn't be confused by two Ant-Men running around. ''Especially'' since Scott Lang was later confirmed to be the focus of the ''Film/AntMan1'' movie.
* Same thing happened to ComicBook/TheVision from ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' during the above-mentioned ''Children's Crusade''. He got unceremoniously destroyed in the final issue (and his friends refused to even TRY and rebuild him), right around the time Creator/BrianBendis decided to bring back the original Vision.
* Rick Remender created Father and the Descendants in his ''Uncanny Comicbook/XForce'' run, and later had them appear as major villains in the final arc of ''Comicbook/SecretAvengers''. Despite building them up in such a big way, he casually killed them off near the beginning of ''Rage of Ultron'' to show that Hank Pym had crossed the MoralEventHorizon.
* Due to ExecutiveMeddling, this was the fate of all of the Dead Universe Transformers in [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries Simon Furman's Transformers comics for IDW]]. Grindcore, Straxus, Cyclonus, Bludgeon, Thunderwing, and Monstructor were all destroyed (or presumed to be destroyed/deactivated) offscreen after the Autobots managed to deactivate the machines keeping them from disintegrating in the Live Universe. While this was probably going to be the case anyway, it felt like a Bridge Dropping because these characters had all of ''four issues'' to terrorize the Autobots, and it was left unclear whether the mind-controlled Decepticons died or were defeated offscreen.
** Later stories revealed that Cyclonus, Bludgeon and Monstructor all survived, but confirmed the deaths of Grindcore and Straxus. Thunderwing's still up in the air, though Furman suggested that if he didn't reappear, the Autobots threw him into the nearest black hole.
* The ''ComicBook/WildCATsWildStorm''[=/=]''Franchise/{{Alien}}s'' crossover from 1998 had most of the members of the {{Creator/Wildstorm}} team ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' killed off this way. WordOfGod from writer Creator/WarrenEllis is that he only took the job so he could get rid of the artifact characters to pave the way for a new title with the characters he created during his ''Stormwatch'' run (''ComicBook/TheAuthority'').
* Some of the characters from ''ComicBook/TheMiceTemplar'' go down without warning or unceremoniously. Templar Gehned, however, stands out for getting his head-lopped off when a mouse village is raided by rats. [[KilledOffscreen We don't even know he dies until Cassius identifies his body]].

* This happened to Ryan Choi, the second [[ComicBook/TheAtom Atom]] in the pages of DC's ''Titans: Villains For Hire'' at the hands of ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} to make Slade seem like more of a threat. The fact that this is the ''second'' Asian character to get killed by DC to make a villain seem more dangerous in as many months (the first being Lian Harper) has ''not'' gone over well with fans.
** Especially since A) this was ''Deathstroke'' who's already been established as one of the most ruthless badasses in the DCU for over twenty years and B) the person who hired him turned out to be Dwarfstar, a character who was created specifically as Ryan's nemesis.
** The reception was so poor that the entire series of events was retconned in The ComicBook/{{New 52}} and now Ryan is back to being alive. An additional AuthorsSavingThrow was implemented in ''Comicbook/{{Convergence}}'', where it was revealed that Ryan's consciousness had survived after his body's death.
* Terra 2 from ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' gets pointlessly killed one day to [[DyingToBeReplaced make way]] for a LegacyCharacter, in the form of her sister. She didn't even live long enough to even reunite with said sister, let alone having her true origin revealed to her: she was a princess from a underground kingdom who was given human form (of Terra, oblivious of the fact that Terra was evil), who was ultimately kidnapped by the Time Trapper and mindfucked into thinking she was from the year 2001 as part of an underground group of rebels fighting against the mad son of Donna Troy.

* A villain example occurred in the Franchise/SpiderMan miniseries, ''Hobgoblin Lives''. Jason Macendale, the second Hobgoblin and major villain for almost a decade, was quickly shot and killed in one page in order to make way for the original Hobgoblin to return. Given his VillainDecay it was probably for the best, as he'd been revamped twice as Demogoblin and as a cyborg. Ironically, this occurred in a miniseries that reversed a previous bridge drop on the first Hobgoblin. Longtime supporting Franchise/SpiderMan character, Ned Leeds had been unceremoniously killed by assasins in a Spider-Man/Wolverine miniseries. As Creator/RogerStern, the creator of the original Hobgoblin had left Creator/MarvelComics before he could reveal who the Hobgoblin really was, the Editorial staff decided that Leeds would fit the bill. Despite the original Hobgoblin having taken the Goblin formula making him powerful enough to avoid his death or at least survive it. Stern took the opportunity years later to fix the issue and establish his original choice Roderick Kingsley as the true Hobgoblin. By that logic Macendale had to go.
* Toxin (or more specifically his host, Patrick Mulligan) was unceremoniously murdered '''offscreen''' by [[Comicbook/GhostRider Blackheart]] and the Toxin symbiote was confiscated, only to later be forced onto Eddie Brock by Crime Master.
* Likewise, his fellow symbiote hosts Hybrid and Scream were later killed by Eddie Brock. This is made more egregiously humiliating by the fact that Brock was completely without powers at the time, and not even his own prior symbiote experience should have been enough with the way things went down. Combine that with the reality that neither Donna nor Scott were amateurs, and that Scott/Hybrid had the power of four symbiotes in one, made for a tragic end to both characters.
* Ditto for Carnage, who appeared in New Avengers only to be [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill quickly flown to space and torn in half]]. Unsurprisingly, [[{{Creator/BrianBendis}} the writer of the story]] has stated that he has a dislike for the character.
* Banshee was regarded as dying like this when Vulcan crushed him with the Blackbird, as were several mutants killed after House of M. The fanbase is not pleased that at least one major character is killed each story.

* This happens to Ethan Rayne in the comic adaptation of ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. He's shot by the bad guys while imprisoned, prompting him to disappear from a dream sequence he's helping Buffy with. She walks into his cell, taunting him, only to find him dead.
* The sad story of heroine Mystek ended with this. Created by Christopher Priest and was intended to be have her own mini-series, Creator/DCComics asked Priest to insert her into ''Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}} Task Force'' to churn up interest. However, DC decided to turn down the idea of the mini-series, leaving Priest with a most-likely unwanted character. So, he promptly makes her claustrophobic, panics and ends up getting shot out of an airlock in her panic.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
** The comic did this to ''almost the entire echidna population'' with everyone except for Knuckles and Dr. Finetivus are trapped and apparently wiped out within the Doctor's Warp Ring.
** Not that Finetivus escaped this. At the end of the "[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]]" crossover, Finetivus, along pretty much every single supporting character the comic had, was wiped from existence completely.
* ComicBook/TransformersWingsOfHonor: While most deaths got some dramatic tone to them (Dion and Magnum got TheHeroDies, and Metalhawk's death marked the point of no return for Onslaught), Over-Run got his helicopter dropped on top of him and Ironfist (while Ironfist survived, Over-Run didn't). The Stealth team also got hit with this. After an entire narrative focusing on their adventures, they come to base and get caught right up in the climax, Powerflash dying offscreen, and Tap-Out's corpse being seen once the battle was over. A deft shot later kills Rumbler in the second arc.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' arc "Home Schooling", [[spoiler:someone fired a missle at the Runaways' home, killing Old Lace and triggering a violent episode from Klara. Later, Old Lace's partner Chase gets hit by a car.]] Apparently, the story arc was supposed to end with [[spoiler:the resurrection of Gertrude Yorkes]], but it would seem someone at Marvel was displeased with the increasingly dark tone of the arc, so the whole series was put on a hiatus, and the events were later minimized.

* ''ComicBook/GIJoeIDW'' did this to the entirety of the Ninja Force (generally considered an embarrassment from the DorkAge of the toy line and the unfortunate final days of ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'', albeit, not enough so to make this an excusable act); having them brutally murdered during the 'Cobra Civil War' arc as part of a competition by contenders for the Cobra Commander position to see who could kill the most Joes.

* In ''{{Anime/Robotech}}: Prelude To Shadow Chronicles'', Breetai is killed along with the Regent when General Edwards fires on the Regent's flagship. And this was in the middle of Breetai's duel with the Regent. Therefore, Breetai is killed by what is technically supposed to be still friendly fire at this point, but then again, Edwards is already known for his general dislike of non-humans. Exedore is killed aboard the Deukalion (confirmed in the [[WesternAnimation/RobotechTheShadowChronicles animated followup]]). The Neutron-S missiles are not what they seem to be and Exedore chooses the wrong moment (when it's too late to stop the countdown) to remember just what these weapons are and where he has seen them. Mirya is strongly suggested (and believed by fans) to have died in childbirth while giving birth to Maia. The behind the scenes reason for these deaths is highly suspected to be Harmony Gold's move to phase out usage of the Zentraedi and other recognizably ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' elements from ''Robotech'' canon due to licencing issues.
** Breetai's death actually was done years before in the novels, though in that case it was more TakingYouWithMe than UnfriendlyFire.
* A big reason why ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' is so controversial is this happening to... pretty much everyone who dies. Juston, Mettle, and Red Raven all get killed after having barely any focus and are mainly used as plot devices. It also ''reeks'' of DeusExitMachina; all of said characters are powerful enough that the only way the plot could function is to get them out of the way before they could get a chance to curb-stomp Arcade into dust.
* After a prolonged absence, the cast of ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' showed up in ''[[ComicBook/JonathanHickmansAvengers Comicbook/NewAvengers]]'' just to be unceremoniously slaughtered by [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] and his new Cabal. To add insult to injury, the Cabal then blew up the Squadron's planet.
** [[FromBadToWorse It gets worse]]. They [[UnexplainedRecovery somehow survived this]] and reappeared in ''Comicbook/{{Secret Wars|2015}}''...only to be easily (''[[CurbStompBattle hilariously]]'' easily) slaughtered by the Squadron Sinister. Only Nighthawk survived.
* ''ComicBook/Block109'': [[spoiler:Otto Skorzeny]], who's something of a MemeticBadass of World War II, is unceremoniously killed by SlashedThroat after he boasts that he's the local SS commander to a member of the Teutonic Order.
* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'':
** Feydriva is rather suddenly killed off in the third album while the heroes visit a VanishingVillage.
** Fratus Sinister looks like he's going to play a major part in the final battle between Wismerhill's and Haazheel's forces, but he's casually killed by Hellaynnea.
* ''ComicBook/{{Dinocorps}}'': Buzz was, at best, a MauveShirt with a few lines, but he was still a member of the eponymous crew. When he finally does something noteworthy, he's shot out the sky by Icks or Blix and seldom mentioned afterwards.
* Despite being a main character in ''[[ComicBook/TheMultiversity The Multiversity Guidebook #1]]'', the only clue to the fate of Earth-42's Dick Grayson fate in ''The Multiversity #2'' is during a brief montage, where it's shown that he was hanged by the Atomic Knights.
* ''ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}'' got an infamous off-panel death, as shown in ''Death of X''.
* The Comicbook/SubMariner once discovered that his family had been murdered by a single supervillain named Destiny. This led to a StoryArc where Destiny plots [[TakeOverTheWorld conquering Earth]] and destroying Namor for good while the latter intends to hunt him but gets sidetracked. How did it end? Destiny seemingly kills Subby, then [[TooDumbToLive spontaneously decides that he can fly even without his power helmet, and falls to his own death]]. Namor reappears and states that the fact he was still alive drove the villain mad. The scene had been inspired by a movie (''The Silver Chalice''), but for many readers, it comes across as OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow.

* The plot of the final [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' story is kickstarted by the Doom Patrol's arch enemies the Brain and Monsieur Mallah being abruptly blown up. [[DeathIsCheap They eventually got better]]. Many decades later, Brain and Mallah would get killed during a ''Final Crisis'' tie-in by Gorilla Grodd.

* The ''Wolverine'' characters had a mass culling at one point, seemingly in an attempt to streamline the character. This includes his son Daken being off-handedly killed by an amnesiac Logan, along with Omega Red. Daken at least later returned, along with literally every dead mutant, during ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen''.
* ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'' sees [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Victor Mancha]] having his heart violently ripped out of his chest for no other purpose than to establish that Virginia Vision was truly dangerous... which was by that point already well-established. To make it worse, he only appeared in the series because Virginia's original intended victim, Jim Hammond, was considered too obscure to be worth killing. Victor's death was undone two years later in ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', making the whole thing even more pointless.
* ''ComicBook/IronFist'': At the end of ''Power Man and Iron Fist'', Danny gets cancer, then gets accidentally beaten to death by the inexperienced superhero Captain Hero. When Iron Fist's fans got upset, Christopher Priest just responded that Danny's death being so sudden and mean-spirited was ''the point''. Danny got better a few years later anyway (he just sort of meditated the cancer away).
* ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'': The Universal Inhumans return from their bus trip to get murdered to a one, solely to demonstrate how dangerous the villains of ''Death of the Inhumans'' are. Several more Inhumans introduced since ''Inhumanity'' join them, just so it's clear how Marvel feels about them, and their failed attempt to push the Inhumans as a property.
* ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'': With the exception of the Batman Who Laughs, and the Red Death, who's death was all AllAccordingToPlan, the title Dark Knights, after all their build up and development, are all killed off in half a panel fairly anticlimactically.
* [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym's]] recent end was so abrupt and ignoble that it came off as super mean-spirited. After over a year being forcibly merged to his android 'son' Ultron and being forced to witness every atrocity committed, the ''ComicBook/InfinityCountdown'' arc has Hank's soul be ripped free and trapped in the Soul Gem, where he is unceremoniously devoured by a Soul ''Eater'' after being trapped in a LotusEaterMachine hallucination that makes him believe he succeeded in getting home.

* The ''ComicBook/WildCATs''[=/=]''Franchise/{{Alien}}s'' crossover from 1998 had most of the members of the {{Creator/Wildstorm}} team ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' killed off this way. WordOfGod from writer Creator/WarrenEllis is that he only took the job so he could get rid of the artifact characters to pave the way for a new title with the characters he created during his ''Stormwatch'' run (''ComicBook/TheAuthority'').

** Natasha herself got this in ''Secret Empire'', a CrisisCrossover, where a backhand from Hydra Cap's shield snaps her neck. She was essentially fridged to give Miles Morales a reason to want to kill Hydra Cap. She was later brought back via cloning.

* CrisisCrossover series, especially at DC, are notorious for killing off characters who've been around a long time in awkward, RedShirt like ways, just to show how bad the BigBad is. These characters are lucky if they get more than one or two lines of dialogue. Some examples include the Losers, Dove of Hawk and Dove, and the original Mirror Master in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica members Atom (Al Pratt) and Dr. Mid-Nite in ''Comicbook/ZeroHour'' (Hourman also died, but he got better), and most of the Freedom Fighters (Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, Black Condor) in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''.

* ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'' sees ComicBook/VictorMancha having his heart violently ripped out of his chest for no other purpose than to establish that Virginia Vision was truly dangerous... which was by that point already well-established. To make it worse, he only appeared in the series because Virginia's original intended victim, Jim Hammond, was considered too obscure to be worth killing. Victor's death was undone two years later in ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', making the whole thing even more pointless.

* The plot of the final [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' story is kickstarted by the Doom Patrol's arch enemies the Brain and Monsieur Mallah being abruptly blown up. [[DeathIsCheap They eventually got better]].
** Many decades later, Brain and Mallah would get killed during a ''Final Crisis'' tie-in by Gorilla Grodd.

* [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym's]] recent end was so abrupt and ignoble that it came off as super mean-spirited. After over a year being forcibly merged to his android 'son' Ultron and being forced to witness every atrocity committed, the [[ComicBook/InfinityCountdown]] arc has Hank's soul be ripped free and trapped in the Soul Gem, where he is unceremoniously devoured by a Soul ''Eater'' after being trapped in a LotusEaterMachine hallucination that makes him believe he succeeded in getting home.

** Not that Finetivus escaped this. At the end of the "[[ComicBook/SonicMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]]" crossover, Finetivus, along pretty much every single supporting character the comic had, was wiped from existence completely.

* The ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'' comic did this to ''almost the entire echidna population'' with everyone except for Knuckles and Dr. Finetivus are trapped and apparently wiped out within the Doctor's Warp Ring.
** Not that Finetivus escaped this trope. At the end of the "Worlds Collide" crossover, Finetivus, along pretty much every single supporting character the comic had, was wiped from existence completely.

** Spider-Verse infamously did this to a bunch of Spider-Men. Particularly the ones from the cartoons, who got off-panel panel deaths. Made worse by the fact that they hadn't been used in over a decade, so they were called out of retirement for the express purpose of serving as cannon fodder. Other examples of this are: the 1602 Spider-Man, the Spider-Man from the MvC games, the Spider-Man from Spider-Man Reign, a Spider-Man who kept his cosmic powers, and the Mc2 Spider-Man.

** Yelena Belova, the blonde replacement for Natasha, was unceremoniously disfigured in the first arc of Brian Michael Bendis' ''New Avengers''. She was brought back in the annual as a villain and quickly disposed of and would only be brought back later by Jonathan Hickman... before being killed again.

** There's a good amount of this in ComicBook/BlackestNight, often to make room for their replacements/predecessors. Tempest gets his heart ripped out by Black Lantern Tula, making room for the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' version of Aqualad, and the second Hawk is also killed to free up space for her predecessor to return. Dr. Polaris gets it bad too, dying off-screen. Captain Boomerang Jr. went from being an antihero who had movie nights with ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} to someone who helps his ObviouslyEvil zombie father kill and devour women and children. Firestorm's girlfriend Gehenna got her heart ripped out and was turned to salt simultaneously, in order to leave an opening in the Firestorm Matrix for Ronnie Raymond's return.

* After a prolonged absence, the cast of ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' showed up in ''Comicbook/NewAvengers'' just to be unceremoniously slaughtered by [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] and his new Cabal. To add insult to injury, the Cabal then blew up the Squadron's planet.

* Eric O'Grady aka ComicBook/AntMan III got violently [[KillAndReplace Killed And Replaced]] [[LegacyImplosion right around the time Marvel brought his predecessor]], Scott Lang, BackFromTheDead in ''Comicbook/TheChildrensCrusade''. O'Grady at least got to pull a HeroicSacrifice and DyingMomentOfAwesome, but some fans have noted that it seems like he was thrown under the bus simply so readers wouldn't be confused by two Ant-Men running around. ''Especially'' since Scott Lang was later confirmed to be the focus of the ''Film/AntMan1'' movie.

* ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'' member Sunfire was killed off by dropping a ''literal'' bridge on her. Or maybe it was a building. I can't remember because ''it happened off-panel''.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': Monica Change is killed in ''Miles Morales, Spider-Man'' by the revived Green Goblin without so much as a fight.

** ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'' has several, though the most egregious examples of victims to this fate are Duela Dent, the Jokester, Trickster, and ''three entire Earths''. ''Countdown'' is very mean spirited overall.
** There's a good amount of this in ComicBook/BlackestNight, often to make room for their replacements/predecessors. Tempest gets his heart ripped out by Black Lantern Tula, making room for the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' version of Aqualad, and the second Hawk is also killed to free up space for her predecessor to return. Dr. Polaris gets it bad too, dying off-screen. Captain Boomerang Jr. went from being an antihero who had movie nights with ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} to someone who helps his ObviouslyEvil zombie father kill and devour women and children. Firestorm's girlfriend Gehenna got her heart ripped out and turned to salt simultaneously.

* ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'' sees ComicBook/VictorMancha having his heart violently ripped out of his chest for no other purpose than to establish that Virginia Vision was truly dangerous... which was by that point already well-established. To make it worse, he only appeared in the series Virginia's original intended victim, Jim Hammond, was considered too obscure to be worth killing, and Victor's death was undone two years later in ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', making the whole thing even more pointless.

* Eric O'Grady aka ComicBook/AntMan III got violently [[KillAndReplace Killed And Replaced]] [[LegacyImplosion right around the time Marvel brought his predecessor]], Scott Lang, BackFromTheDead in ''Comicbook/TheChildrensCrusade''. O'Grady at least got to pull a HeroicSacrifice and DyingMomentOfAwesome, but some fans have noted that it seems like he was thrown under the bus simply so readers wouldn't be confused by two Ant-Men running around. ''Especially'' since Scott Lang was later confirmed to be the focus of the ''Film/AntMan'' movie.

* A villain example occurred in the Franchise/SpiderMan miniseries, ''The Hobgoblin Lives''. Jason Macendale, the second Hobgoblin and major villain for nearly two decades, was quickly shot and killed in one page in order to make way for the original Hobgoblin to return. Given his VillainDecay it was probably for the best, as he'd been revamped twice as Demogoblin and as a cyborg. Ironically, this occurred in a miniseries that reversed a previous bridge drop on the first Hobgoblin. Longtime supporting Franchise/SpiderMan character, Ned Leeds had been unceremoniously killed by assasins in a Spider-Man/Wolverine miniseries. As Creator/RogerStern, the creator of the original Hobgoblin had left Creator/MarvelComics before he could reveal who the Hobgoblin really was, the Editorial staff decided that Leeds would fit the bill. Despite the original Hobgoblin having taken the Goblin formula making him powerful enough to avoid his death or at least survive it. Stern took the opportunity years later to fix the issue and establish his original choice Roderick Kingsley as the true Hobgoblin. By that logic Macendale had to go.

* ComicBook/BuckyBarnes, Cap's replacement, showed up out of nowhere in ''Comicbook/FearItself'' only to be manhandled by the new ComicBook/RedSkull. She slaps him around with his own severed bionic arm before being impaled by a magic hammer.
** [[spoiler:Turns out he was still alive. He was severely injured, but we find out that Bucky's death was faked to get Steve Rogers back in the Captain America costume and lead the others that way.]]

*** Though Monroe at least later got to be the subject of ADayInTheLimelight issue focusing on the days leading up to his murder.

* Furthermore in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', Gwen Stacy does what she does best: dying. But whereas her death in the classic continuity was a major series turning point and one of the most shocking and unexpected events in the history of comics, forever solidifying Norman Osborn as Peter's greatest nemesis, in the Ultimate universe she's jumped in Peter's backyard by mindless monster Carnage and sucked dry. The suddenness and brutality of her ''Ultimate'' death still caused it to have a considerable impact on the series though and in any case she comes back. ''[[TomatoInTheMirror As Carnage!]]''

** Toxin (or more specifically his host, Patrick Mulligan) was unceremoniously murdered '''offscreen''' by [[Comicbook/GhostRider Blackheart]] and the Toxin symbiote was confiscated, only to later be forced onto Eddie Brock by Crime Master.
** Likewise, his fellow symbiote hosts Hybrid and Scream were later killed by Eddie Brock. This is made more egregiously humiliating by the fact that Brock was completely without powers at the time, and not even his own prior symbiote experience should have been enough with the way things went down. Combine that with the reality that neither Donna nor Scott were amateurs, and that Scott/Hybrid had the power of 4 symbiotes in one, made for a tragic end to both characters.
** Ditto for Carnage, who appeared in New Avengers only to be [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill quickly flown to space and torn in half]]. Unsurprisingly, [[{{Creator/BrianBendis}} the writer of the story]] has stated that he has a dislike for the character.

* A villain example occurred in the Franchise/SpiderMan miniseries, ''The Hobgoblin Lives''. Jason Macendale, the second Hobgoblin and major villain for nearly two decades, was quickly shot and killed in one page in order to make way for the original Hobgoblin to return. Given his VillainDecay it was probably for the best, as he'd been revamped twice as Demogoblin and as a cyborg. Ironically, this occurred in a miniseries that reversed a previous bridge drop on the first Hobgoblin. Longtime supporting Franchise/SpiderMan character, Ned Leeds had been unceremoniously killed by assasins in a Spider-Man/Wolverine miniseries. As Roger Stern, the creator of the original Hobgoblin had left Creator/MarvelComics before he could reveal who the Hobgoblin really was, the Editorial staff decided that Leeds would fit the bill. Despite the original Hobgoblin having taken the Goblin formula making him powerful enough to avoid his death or at least survive it. Stern took the opportunity years later to fix the issue and establish his original choice Roderick Kingsley as the true Hobgoblin. By that logic Macendale had to go.

** Played straight with Jack Monroe (the former 50's Bucky and later the costumed AntiHero Nomad). After wallowing in ComicBookLimbo for years, he showed up for a few pages in EdBrubaker's ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' run just to be shot and killed by the Winter Soldier. The same fate befell the Red Skull's former lover, Mother Night.

** Spider-Verse infamously did this to a bunch of Spider-Men. Particularly the ones from the cartoons, who got off-panel panel deaths. Made worse by the fact that they hadn't been used in over a decade, so they were called out of retirement for the express purpose of serving as cannon fodder.