History TearJerker / DCComics

* The last story in the collected edition of "The Lightning Saga", which shows all of the personal meetings between Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. It shows all of the ups and downs (in one scene, Batman is talking about how he has found a new Robin named Jason and how happy he is), and it's all drawn in the styles of the some of the most memorable artists who have ever drawn in Justice League. How can you ''not'' shed a tear or two?

* [[spoiler:Captain Marvel's redemption and sacrifice]] in ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', along with Superman's reaction. Also, the flashback to [[spoiler:Lois Lane's death]], and [[spoiler:Magog's HeelFaceTurn]].
* [[spoiler:The hypothetical defeat of the Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}} and the destruction of Earth]] in ''Comicbook/{{Justice}}''. Everything in that sequence is painful to read: [[spoiler:Flash's utter failure to save his city, the gruesome death of the ComicBook/MartianManhunter, the boiling of Aquaman's oceans, the death of Lois Lane, the crushing of Wonder Woman, the destruction of the Earth and the survival of a tearful Superman who couldn't even lift a finger; even when it was a nightmare implanted by Brainiac and Lex Luthor into their fellow supervillains, it's really crushing how the possibility of such event could be greater than everyone expects, driving them to collectively attack and temporarily defeat the Justice League]]. Keep in mind, these are only the '''first pages''' of the introduction.
** When Zatanna and the Martian Manhunter find Aquaman's [[spoiler:maimed body. Keep in consideration that Brainiac removed the top of his head and his brain. At first, a worried Zatanna thinks that he is dead, but Professor Caulder (leader of the ComicBook/DoomPatrol) is able to restore his missing parts by submerging him in saltwater]]. This is one special story that actually shows Aquaman's full potential and drive '''as it should be'''.
** The [[spoiler:almost-death of Zatanna. The chase for Brainiac leads Zatanna to magically teleport herself and her companions right behind Brainiac's consciousness, which is jumping between bodies; it reaches outer space, where Zatanna (who is fully human) fades out from lack of oxygen. Superman basically has to burn through the atmosphere with the beautiful magician wrapped on his cape to make it in time to ground level, and make an enormous effort just to ''not to blow her up'' with his super-breath or crush her thorax by administering CPR]]. He succeeds, but the frantic pace of the sequence and Superman's [[spoiler:rush to save her]] is '''really''' painful to watch.
** Wonder Woman [[spoiler:dying and decaying in the arms of her mother while her mother tearfully begs the Goddesses to help resurrect her daughter from the sand and water of Themyscira. They do.]]

** [[spoiler:The death of Franchise/TheFlash]]. The fact that it had been foreshadowed for half a year up to that point didn't lessen the impact. Props to writer Marv Wolfman for [[http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/wolfman.shtml his efforts to make the scene as moving as possible, despite disagreeing with the idea]].

** From the issue immediately following, [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s HeroicSacrifice]]. Worse than the [[https://braveblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/crisis7-00.jpg cover]] was her [[https://braveblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/crisis7-39.jpg actual death]], with Superman cradling her body on his ''knees'' with a DeathWail. It was the first true GutPunch in the DC Universe, ever.
*** The subsequent Christmas story where [[spoiler:she briefly appeared after having been [[RetGone erased from continuity]]]]:

* Issue #12 of the mini-series ''Ion: Guardian of the Universe'' was especially emotional. Kyle Rayner's [[spoiler:mother dies, at which point he uses his Ion powers to revive her. The real TearJerker moment comes when she asks him to put her to rest, and tells him she loves him]].
* From the more recent "Threeboot" continuity, there's ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' #11, when [[spoiler:Elysion has killed Dream Girl.]] Brainiac 5 places a force-field over her body, and informs the other Legion members present that he has a plan to save her, to beat death - by outthinking it. The others go off to try and stop Elysion from doing any more damage, while Brainiac 5 remains standing over his fallen teammate. The final page of the issue shows Brainiac still inactive, and Legionnaire Theena confronts him.

** The after effects can be seen in ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' #139, the Brother vs. Brother issue. [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim]] and Dick end up physically fighting over the fact that Tim [[spoiler:wants to use a Lazarus Pit to bring back everyone he had lost at that point: his father, best friend and girlfriend. It ends with Tim accepting he can't use it and crumpling into big-brother Nightwing's arms for a well-earned Cooldown Hug. It's a tearjerker breakdown and a depressing reminder that a year and a half is a short time to lose three people you love.]]

* The DCU Elseworlds comic, ''Created Equal''. A [[NegativeSpaceWedgie cosmic storm]] sweeps past Earth, [[{{Gendercide}} killing every male on the planet]] except for Superman. If Superman using his heat vision to carve in a Batman insignia on the grave marked "Bruce Wayne" doesn't get to you, then the dialogue between Martha Kent and her adopted son over the grave of Jonathan Kent will. Or the fact that Superman is forced to [[spoiler:leave Earth because his presence threatens to mutate the virus, killing the rest of the human population ''two days before his son is born'']]. And then the second issue starts with tragedy when [[spoiler:Adam accidentally kills his mother while hugging her]].

* ComicBook/KingdomCome and JSA has been already mentioned, but what about that story, when the Superman from Kingdom Come is, right after [[spoiler:the nuclear explosion that killed the other superheroes]], transported to main DC-Earth, joins the JSA and when he returns home we can see what happened with him after the end of ComicBook/KingdomCome? [[spoiler:We seen him almost killing all ONZ members only to stop at the last moment, when he finds out that not all of his friends have died. He retires and spends the rest of his life peacefully - we see him raising babies with WonderWoman, attending on Batman's funeral and other stuff like that. Hundreds of years pass, until we reach the 31st Century - a multi-racial crowd is starring at the sky when ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}} is flying by. An old, grey-haired man, using his own cape as a cloak and a cane to stand is among the crowd. And he is so damn proud it makes me cry.]]

* In the climax of ComicBook/BlueBeetle, when he's finally facing down the Reach, we see Jaime decide [[spoiler:to make a heroic sacrifice.]] That's not tearjerking. It's pretty awesome, but not tearjerking. And then you see the Scarab, an alien intelligence designed to help the Reach conquer planets, completely agree to stick with him until the end, stating "Reyes[Friend]/Sacrifice[Good]. Scarab[Hero]" Yes you are, Scarab. *Sniff.* Yes, you are.
* A story where Zatanna has a nightmare and then convinces [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey Batgirl]] and Wonder Woman to go out clubbing and dancing. At first, the story seems like a cheery fluff story set in the past, but as the story goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that [[spoiler:Zatanna's nightmare was actually a prophecy of Barbara Gordon being paralyzed. Zatanna and Wonder Woman, knowing they can't fight prophecy, just wanted to give her one last perfect night.]] The tears really come when the story cuts to the present and you see how important that night was to her.
--->[[spoiler:'''Barbara Gordon''': I had the most wonderful dream. I was dancing...]]

** Especially [[spoiler:Batman and Robin. Orphans]].
--->[[spoiler:'''Alfred:''' I'm sorry Master Bruce.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Bruce:''' I'm sorry Dick.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Bruce (again):''' I'm sorry Tim.]]
*** [[spoiler:It took me a long time to read Sue's funeral without crying my eyes out. Especially when Ralph is so distraught he can't even speak and ends up losing his shape.]]
* When [[spoiler:Element Lad murders his former teammate Monstress]] in ''[[ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}} Legion Lost]]''. Even if you found that moment to be ridiculous, however, there's still ''Legion Lost'''s ending, in which Live Wire [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to save the other lost Legionnaires and let them return home - having first ''formally resigned'' from the Legion because [[ThouShaltNotKill Legionnaires don't kill]] - complete with a callback to the Legion's founding and a very effective fade-to-white.
* ''Comicbook/{{Hitman}}''. Garth Ennis writes a tale which starts off as a bunch of friends who all happen to be hitmen who drink together. [[spoiler: Almost everyone dies over the course of the comic, the final issue ends with the title character charging an army by himself in a futile attempt to save his dying friend. "We are such little men" an observer remarks. As the two friends lie dying together one of them reminds the other of a dream he had, where they walk into their favourite bar and all their dead friends are there and the barman says "Drinks onna house fellas. There ain't no closing time. But you gotta leave your guns at the door."]] The reply: "Cool."

** The ending of JLA/HITMAN: [[spoiler: a while after Tommy's death, Superman stumbles across the mostly-demolished wall of the Watchtower bathroom, and finds the facetious "Tommy wuz here" graffiti Tommy had scribbled there a few hours before the Crowning Moment of Awesome in which he had singlehandedly stopped a Bloodlines-alien infestation.]]

** [[spoiler: The death of Mr. Nobody]].
* In a JLA story, Martian Manhunter takes the Spectre, with the rest of the team tagging along, on a mental journey to prove a point. They end up in a hellish dimension with warped, misshapen scenery, nightmarish laughter, and gangs of roving demons that even the Justice League are no match for. But J'onn then reveals that at the core of this madness is a small untouched sanctuary of peace and love. In it, a dorky but friendly man and his wife welcome the heroes to their home. The Spectre is enraged and uses his light on them, which will destroy any illusion or deception. Instead of being destroyed, they ''glow right back'', and the astonished Spectre realizes that this goodness is genuine. Where is this place? [[spoiler: In the mind of the Joker. To make it subtly worse, it's implied it's a bit of a callback to ''Going Sane'' - listed itself in the ''Batman'' TearJerker section.]]

* ''TearJerker/VertigoComics''

** The after effects can be seen in ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' #139, the Brother vs. Brother issue. Tim and Dick end up physically fighting over the fact that Tim [[spoiler:wants to use a Lazarus Pit to bring back everyone he had lost at that point: his father, best friend and girlfriend. It ends with Tim accepting he can't use it and crumpling into big-brother Nightwing's arms for a well-earned Cooldown Hug. It's a tearjerker breakdown and a depressing reminder that a year and a half is a short time to lose three people you love.]]

** The reaction of Tim Drake to Bart's death (making him the last remaining member of the original "Young Justice" trio from the nineties) even more than Bart's actual death: A single page with no words and a dropped communicator, and Robin just sitting there in silence at the bottom of the page said more than the entire, ''disastrous'' arc had thus far. Even without Bart being mentioned at all in the rest of the issue, you ''knew'' what it was that had freaked Tim out so much.

** ''TearJerker/JLAEarthTwo''

* The first canonical meeting of Superman and [[{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] in UsefulNotes/{{the Modern Age|of Comic Books}}, "First Thunder". Billy's friend is killed by mercenaries (hired by Dr. Sivana) and Cap manages to arrest them and take them to the police headquarters. Upon taking his friend's body to the hospital and being told he is dead, Billy transforms to confront the killers and then Sivana. When Superman confronts Cap later on, Supes discovers that the mighty hero he had just recently met was really a young boy.

* The first canonical meeting of Superman and [[{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] in the ModernAge, "First Thunder". Billy's friend is killed by mercenaries (hired by Dr. Sivana) and Cap manages to arrest them and take them to the police headquarters. Upon taking his friend's body to the hospital and being told he is dead, Billy transforms to confront the killers and then Sivana. When Superman confronts Cap later on, Supes discovers that the mighty hero he had just recently met was really a young boy.

** ''TearJerker/TheBlackRing''
** ''TearJerker/ForTheManWhoHasEverything''

** ''TearJerker/TheDeathOfSuperman''

* ''TearJerker/DarkNights Metal''

* The death of Dinah Drake. She was the original ComicBook/BlackCanary before her daughter took up the mantel. Drake didn't die a dramatic death in battle, she died in a hospital bed due to cancer caused by a radiation blast that killed her husband years prior. Her death must have been even sadder for people who liked her back when she was Black Canary. It's a very bittersweet death and the narrations final lines say it all.
-->But tonight, no stalking the night for prey this evening, no Canary Cry echoing in the streets.
-->The canary cries no more. Tonight she weeps.

* ''TearJerker/JLAAvengers''
* ''TearJerker/JusticeLordsBeyond''

* ''Tearjerker/{{Supergirl}}''
** ''TearJerker/{{Supergirl 1972}}''
** ''TearJerker/{{Supergirl 1982}}''
** ''TearJerker/{{Supergirl 2005}}''
** ''TearJerker/{{Supergirl 2011}}''

** ''{{TearJerker/Gothtopia}}''

** ''Tearjerker/RedDaughterOfKrypton''

** ''Tearjerker/GrantMorrisonsActionComics''