History BittersweetEnding / ComicBooks

* ''ComicBook/AmeliaRules'': ''Superheroes''. Trishia lives, but Amelia doesn't find out until years later- and she never sees Trish again

* In ''ComicBook/AllFallDown'', Siphon dies and no-one gets their powers back. However, a flash-forward shows that the heroes and villains do eventually move on and find closure.

* ''ComicBook/TheBadBadPlace:'' Ned is able to trick Malise into allowing Jenny and Jon to escape from the [[EldritchLocation Castavette Estate]], fulfilling the terms of his vow. As a result, the house vanishes from reality and is bound never to harm anyone else, allowing Jenny, Jon and one of the children from the house to stride off into the sunset. Unfortunately, Ned did this at the cost of now being trapped in the Estate forever along with Serena, Malise has essentially gone unpunished for her crimes, and the people [[LotusEaterMachine ensnared by the house]] [[AndIMustScream will remain there for all eternity]].

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' comic ''ComicBook/{{Bloodquest}}'', the quest to recover the Literature/BloodAngels' relic sword is successful and the heroes managed to stop a Black Crusade from rampaging across the galaxy, but all members of the group are dead save for a single survivor, and the leader who sacrificed himself to end the crusade was previously possessed by a Daemon. Even the SoleSurvivor's escape is uncertain since he is last seen drifting in space waiting to be picked up by a Imperial vessel.
* The ending of ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' is quite bittersweet. The Lord of Locusts is destroyed, Kingdok and Briar are killed, Thorn becomes queen, the Valley is at peace, and Fone Bone makes peace with [[ThoseTwoGuys the two Stupid Rat Creatures]]. But Lucius is dead, Fone Bone and Thorn will probably never see each other again, and the Bone cousins have to leave the valley forever. The last scene has the Bone cousins and [[TeamPet Bartelby]] heading out into the desert together, planning to return to Boneville...

* At the ending of ''{{ComicBook/Circles}}'', Paulie sadly dies from leukemia and Douglas finds it hard to cope. Until he realizes that he still has family who loves him and takes care of him. Paulie did what he could to keep the family together and on good terms so that they are never alone after his passing.

* In ''ComicBook/DeepGravity'', the planet Poseidon is toxic to humans who stay too long, and personnel are therefore rotated through it rather than permanently stationed there. The freighter ''Vanguard'' is conducting one of these rotations, and when it's destroyed, a few survivors escape down to the planet. Most are newcomers, but one of the survivors is Michelle, who was among the group who had already had their maximum safe exposure and needed to ''leave''. It's left open whether or not Poseidon's slow poisoning will prove fatal before another ship arrives, but it doesn't look good.

* ''ComicBook/{{Demo}}'': Most frequently.

* Creator/AlanMoore's ''Lost Girls'': The ladies have opened up to each other and come to terms with their pasts. They part ways at the end, with Alice heading to Switzerland to seek out Monsieur Rouget, Wendy returning to her husband with the implication of spicing up their sex life and Dorothy planning to start a family. Alice says goodbye to her precious childhood mirror as a way of letting go of the past. That said, World War I has broken out and the now-abandoned hotel is ransacked by German soldiers, one of whom breaks the mirror. Plus, Wendy's husband will make ships for the war and Rolf will most likely be called up to fight and possibly die. The story ends with a dead soldier in No-Man's-Land.
* In ''ComicBook/MassEffectRedemption'', Liara manages to recover Shepard's body, but her friend Feron is captured by agents of the Shadow Broker. Liara then gives Shepard's body to Cerberus in the hopes that Cerberus can revive Shepard. Liara's not entirely convinced that she did the right thing. Given that this is a prequel to ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' and the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC, Liara eventually gets the chance to set things right by rescuing Feron with the help of Shepard, who was indeed revived.

* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyMicroSeries'' #3: Rarity is of course upset at high society paying attention to her hippie friends and ignoring her, but she consoles herself at least her new friends are happy and have given her a lifetime supply of their product in gratitude of her help while Twilight points out that her own fashion show was a big success itself with a slew of new commissions for her business.
* In ''ComicBook/PathfinderWorldscape'', Shareen is freed from [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Empress Camilla]], [[EvilSorcerer Kulan Gath]] is stopped from conquering TheMultiverse and the MacGuffin is safeguarded by [[BigGood Fantomah]], allowing the heroes to return to their respective homeworlds. However, the Council of Jungle Kings chooses to stay in the Worldscape to safeguard the {{MacGuffin}}s and anyone who leaves this realm has their memory from their time trapped there erased, meaning the heroes will forget their friends and their adventures together when coming back to home. In addition, there is nothing stopping the Worldscape from trapping more and more individuals across the planes of existence, nor is it preventing those who escaped once from being imprisoned there once again.

* In ''ComicBook/PrideOfBaghdad'', all of the main lion characters are shot and killed by U.S. soldiers, but, at the very least, [[IDieFree they died free,]] and Zill got to see one last sunset.
* At the end of Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Gilbert's book ''ComicBook/TheProfessorsDaughter'', Imhotep and Lillian get married and have three children, but Lillian's father is killed and wrapped in bandages, and then placed as a part of the Museum's Egyptology exhibit.
* ''ComicBook/{{Reborn}}'' by Creator/MarkMillar ends with the heroine Bonnie saving both Earth and the afterlife realm of Adystria from [[EvilOverlord Lord Golgotha]] at the expense of her body dying in the mortal plane leaving her still-surviving family heartbroken. On the flip side, in this fantasy world she rejuvenated from a dying old woman into a youthful beauty and gets crowned queen of the now freed realm for her efforts. On the down side, she is unable to reunite with her beloved husband Harry, whom also died long before Bonnie and ended up in this world, but has married another woman and formed a new family with her. Bonnie ends up [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy leaving him for his own happiness]].

* ''ComicBook/SinCity'' stories often end with the hero defeating and possibly even killing the BigBad but at the cost of his life... one way or another. Wallace's story ''Hell and Back'' is perhaps the only 100% happy ending in the entire series.

* The ending of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'' is this: Mega Man's able to restore his world to how it was, but Dr. Eggman, refusing to let Sonic win, interrupts his Chaos Control, then attacks it, transforming Mobius to a version never seen before. A few issues later, we learn that it did worse than that: the entire multiverse collapsed upon itself and then rebuilt then, [[EarthShatteringKaboom Mobius shattered.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Tomboy}}'': While Irene and Elena are defeated and their plans thwarted, their conflict with Addison has left mounds of corpses in their wake, including Addison's father and grandfather. Whether Addison herself survives is left unanswered. A few good people like Autry manage to survive, but the reveal that Jessica is the Scarlet Queen and evidence of more and more Afflicted awakening in Rivergrove means a new shadow war between the Branches and the Elder Branch is inevitable.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRegenerationOne'''s present-day aftermath of the final issue is very bittersweet. Rodimus Prime has defeated the dark Matrix creature, ending the threat it posed to the multiverse, but at the cost of forever cutting off his own universe from [[PhysicalGod Primus]]; Optimus Prime has died again, this time for good; thanks to the Matrix creature, Cybertron has been [[ApocalypseHow rendered uninhabitable]]; and most of the Transformer population on Cybertron were turned into [[LivingShadow shadow-leeches]] by the creature, before its defeat allowed what was left of their [[OurSoulsAreDifferent sparks]] to pass]]. But, the DistantFinale reveals that the ForeverWar has come to an end, as Autobots and Decepticons become emissaries of peace; the survivors of Earth and Nebulos succeed in rebuilding their worlds; and eons later, when Rodimus finally passes, his Matrix-spark breathes new life into Cybertron, allowing the long-dormant [[{{Precursors}} Primordials to be reborn as a new race]].

* ComicBook/TransformersWingsOfHonor: The ending of the second Arc is actually happier than [[SuddenDownerEnding the first.]] [[BigBad Deathsaurus]] is defeated and driven back, the traitorous Combaticons are locked away and the autobots succeed. However, so many have died at this point including Ricochet, one of the comic relief characters. In the end, Rumbler is killed in the final battle, and Sprocket, the resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, continues to talk to him as if he was alive. TheHero, Dion is shot along with [[TheCaptain Magnum, both are near death, when they go into operation, one dies, and the other emerges as Ultra Magnus.]] The Autobots all agree to leave or go into stasis, taking their war away into the Generation one series.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersUnicron'' ends with the destruction of the titular villain, Earth saved, and the populations of Earth and Cybertron saved, but Cybertron itself is destroyed and millions are dead, including [[TheHeroDies Optimus]] [[HeroicSacrifice Prime]].
* ''ComicBook/TransformersLastBotStanding'' ends with the final extinction of the Transformers. However, Rodimus manages to defeat the last Decepticons, including Steeljaw, and he spends some time teaching the people of Fembrance how to use Energon responsibly, starting a golden age. Finally at peace, he then takes the final, stasis-locked Survivors and the remaining Cybertronian tech with him onboard a starship, being content to also go into stasis-lock until he finally dies. By doing this, Rodimus will guarantee that the Transformers' destructive legacy will end. The story ends with Shib looking up at the night sky, with the light from his starship becoming the first star in a long time.

* The ''Franchise/DragonAge'' tie-in ''ComicBook/UntilWeSleep'' ends with Aurelian Titus defeated and Alistair finally meeting his long-lost father Maric. Unfortunately, Maric is only being kept alive by an ancient magical artifact and Alistair destroys it [[MercyKill in order to release his father]]. Alistair then returns home to rule Ferelden [[TheChainsOfCommanding as an unhappy king]]. Isabela, scarred by her imprisonment at the hands of the qunari, is shown leaving her life as a pirate.

* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' ends in a DistantFinale where cloning has been perfected and the first twenty or so reliably immune men have recently been released into the "wild". however Yorick Brown 1.0 himself does not fare quite so well. He finds out that the girlfriend he had rounded the globe tracking down was about to dump him when the fateful telephone call was cut off; eventually she shacks up with his sister. Then the woman that had been slowly falling in love with him, 355, gets shot dead at Alter's command in the hopes of securing an "honorable" death in combat with the only available male. He begins the DistantFinale straitjacketed and locked in a hidden room in the French Presidental Palace by his own daughter after an apparent suicide attempt shortly before his eighty-sixth birthday... he claims he thought it would be ironic.

* ''ComicBook/{{Squad}}'': Arianna is killed so her heart can be eaten to [[DePower depower]] Becca and Marley]], but Becca and Marley [[spoiler: are happy together and delve further into their relationship.

** ''Somewhere Within The Shadows'': Blacksad's former flame is obviously still dead, but he was able to bring vigilante justice to the man who murdered her, even if he and Smirnov had to go behind the law to do it, which Smirnov is not proud of.
** ''Arctic Nation'': Blacksad is able to rescue Kylie and cripple the eponymous white-furred supremacist organization, but Kylie's mother was killed, leaving her an orphan, and Jezebel, the sole survivor of the complicated revenge plot that involved Kylie's kidnapping to begin with, [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty is left broken]].
** ''Red Soul'': Blacksad is able to prevent his friend, Otto, from being murdered and stops the hydrogen bomb blueprints from being leaked to the Soviet Union, but in the process was forced to abandon a potential LoveInterest and discovers Otto is actually a former Nazi, who is left a shell of his former self from the experience. The would-be assassin also killed an innocent lookalike and [[KarmaHoudini escapes justice]].
** ''A Silent Hell'': Blacksad isn't able to prevent Sebastian's murder, but Faust's crimes become known to others, Blacksad is at least able to prevent one of the musicians from being killed, and it's assured that Sebastian's widow and child will be financially stable.

* ''ComicBook/{{Superior}}: Ormon and Abraxas are defeated and Simon keeps his soul but he's lost his powers for good. However, he's now at peace with himself.

* ''Comic/{{Superior}}: Ormon and Abraxas are defeated and Simon keeps his soul but he's lost his powers for good. However, he's now at peace with himself.

** ''Arctic Nation'': Blacksad is able to rescue Kylie and cripple the eponymous white-furred supremacist organization, but Kylie's mother was killed, leaving her an orphan, and the sole survivor of the complicated revenge plot that involved Kylie's kidnapping to begin with [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty is left broken]].

** ''Somewhere Within The Shadows'':Blacksad's former flame is obviously still dead, but he was able to bring vigilante justice to the man who murdered her, even if he and Smirnov had to go behind the law to do it, which Smirnov is not proud of.

** ''Amarillo'': spoiler:Chad decides to stop running away from his crimes and face justice, preventing Blacksad from being arrested for the murder he committed, but [[NiceGuy Neal]] ended up accidentally dying, and it's ambiguous whether or not Chad's story ends up published. Blacksad also ends up totalling two cars he borrowed with no way to repay the owners.