History TearJerker / MarvelComics

* The death of the villain Black Knight. On his deathbed Nathan Garrett laments that he wasted his life and his [[CutLexLuthorACheck intellect]] by turning to a life of crime and asks Dane Whitman, his nephew and the only person who ever meant anything to him, to use his technology for good so that the world will one day remember the Black Knight as a benefactor to mankind. [[LegacyCharacter Dane accepts]].

* Iron Man is not exactly thick with these moments, but there is one that always gets me: In #22 of the first volume, Janice Cord, Tony Stark's love interest of several years, gets dragged into a three-way battle between Iron Man, Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man. As she dies her fading last words are ''"You called me 'darling'... strange... it sounded so much... like the way Tony says it to me..."''. She never even knew. And the superhero business was definitely not her world. She was practically the definition of an innocent bystander.

* CaptainAmerica discovering that Bucky is alive, but that he's the Winter Soldier. When he calls out to him and the Winter Soldier asks who Bucky is, and then when Steve restores his memories and Bucky remembers everything that he's done--and he tells Steve that he should have killed him instead.

** [[spoiler:Hang on until Uncanny X-Men #522, in March. That is all.]]

* The death of MarvelComics villain Black Knight. On his deathbed Nathan Garrett laments that he wasted his life and his [[CutLexLuthorACheck intellect]] by turning to a life of crime and asks Dane Whitman, his nephew and the only person who ever meant anything to him, to use his technology for good so that the world will one day remember the Black Knight as a benefactor to mankind. [[LegacyCharacter Dane accepts]].

* The last issue of perpetually B-list Marvel hero ComicBook/{{Quasar}}'s solo series. Thanks to various cosmic events, his girlfriend has been sealed away on an alternate Earth that she can never leave and he can never visit (as ordained by The Living Tribunal, essentially God's personal representative). His security company is on the verge of collapse. And one of his nastier villains escapes his other-dimensional imprisonment and threatens everyone he loves, causing Quasar to pull a FakingTheDead to his friends and family, and self-exile from Earth. Specifics change, but his overall happy level has barely fluctuated much from this degree of suck right to the present day (he's currently stuck somewhere between alive and undead, though this at least looks like it might change soon).

* TearJerker/IncredibleHercules

* ThePunisher MAX series has more than a few emotionally hard-hitting moments, such as the final couple of panels of "The Slavers" in which [[spoiler: we learn that, despite Frank killing the titular slavers and Viorica being able to assume the closest thing to a decent living in New York, the scars from her mistreatment and the killing of her baby will never fade away.]] Also, the end of the fifth issue of "The Man of Stone" arc, where [[spoiler: O'Brien dies in Frank's arms, asking only that he kill Rawlins for her, and to stay with her so she wouldn't [[DyingAlone die alone]].]]

* Tearjerker/{{X23}}

* The entire last issue of Garth Ennis's ''[[NickFury Fury: My War Gone By]]'' series is basically an examination of how little Fury's life of war has meant. Even the enemy who defeated him in Vietnam acknowledges that it was all pointless.
-->'''Fury:''' "I wanted the girl and the war and the victory. I chose one."

* In ''TheMightyThor'' #4 (Matt Fraction's run), Odin and Galactus and their respective forces are fighting over who will gain control of the LifeSeed. Instead of fighting head-on, Odin and Galactus engage in a psychic battle where they show each other their worst memories. Towards the end of the issue, we see Galan, a younger Galactus, investigating the impending doom of his universe. The kicker comes when it is revealed to the reader and to Galan that his wife/lover is pregnant. For a brief panel, the reader sees Galan overjoyed at the prospect of being a father, only to have his universe, his lover, and his unborn child die a few seconds later. This one memory overwhelms the mighty Galactus. I'm not one for recons, but this one was rather touching, if only for the reason that it showed that Galactus, The Devourer of Worlds, was once a normal person who had everything taken away from in a brief instance; it really hits home when you realize that he has to kill trillions every year just to keep the current universe from being completely being destroyed.

* In the last issue of the mini-series ''TheThanosImperative'' [[spoiler: we have Mistress Death walk silently away from a distraught Thanos, who has just destroyed a whole universe to please her and prove to her that he loves her. As she walks away, a human-faced death sheds a tear, as she knows that he will forever be kept alive and never be hers to love.]] Something about Gods and such never being able to love is especially sad.

---> Human Torch: A billion to one... you think I'm afraid of that? YOU THINK I'M AFRAID OF THAT? FLAME ON!

* In ''[[{{Comicbook/Powers}} Powers: Bureau]]'', Deena and her then-partner get some [[{{Squick}} Powers semen spilled on them]]. He ends up dying as a mutant EnfantTerrible rips out of his gut, but Deena is cleared by a doctor. But when she and Walker later catch the guy who was dealing the stuff, he spooks Deena into going back and seeing the doctor again. So she does, and is very surprised to find out that she's now pregnant. She doesn't tell anyone, but when she's later physically attacked by another Power a few weeks later, she ends up losing the baby. Christian takes her home and asks why she didn't tell him she was pregnant, and risk dying like her former partner, and she replies [[BreakTheBadass "Because...I really wanted it."]] The issue closes with Deena, who's rarely shed a tear throughout the series, crying into her pillow as Christian tries to comfort her.

** [[spoiler:Mariko's death]] and Morph asking the Timebroker [[spoiler:to let him stay on the team even when he's allowed to go back his original reality, which we've seen is pretty nice]].

** This troper read this short at school and struggled to not completely lose it as he read this poignant and heart-rending scene.

* Then there's ''Fantastic Four'' #267. Sue's pregnant with her and Reed's second child, but radiation due to exposure to the Negative Zone is threatening both of their lives. Reed calls in the experts in radiation - Bruce Banner, Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch of ComicBook/AlphaFlight), and [[{{Morbius}} Michael Morbius]], but they're not enough. Langkowski suggests bringing in Otto Octavius, who's currently locked up and on meds, and when Reed goes to retrieve him, Otto is only too happy to once again be given a chance to help people instead of hurting them. Unfortunately, though, Reed just happens to drive the Fantasticar past an anti-Spidey billboard from the Daily Bugle, which sets Doc Ock off, and he jumps ship, forcing Reed to battle him. Reed eventually gets Octopus to settle down and agree to help again (though still in full Doc Ock persona), and they rush to the hospital, where Sue is saved, but... [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fZ37jdy-g4M/TJrEKbYBuWI/AAAAAAAABOU/lXzkKPRUuYQ/s1600/FF267_0017.jpg the final page, one panel enclosed in black, tells it all.]]

* Tearjerker/{{X-23}}

* When the [[{{Ant-Man}} Irredeemable Ant-Man]] tells the mother of his child that he can't be involved in its life, as well as the whole exchange with the empath he falls in love with. That final speech where he admits his failings and promises that he will honestly try to change, even as it becomes apparent that he probably can't and never will.

* Maria Hill's backstory, as revealed in Invincible Iron Man. Her mother died either during or shortly after her birth, her father hated her for it, and she grew up with everyone telling her that she was terrible, from her childhood, to being kicked out of high school, to when she was in the Marines, to when Fury was yelling at her. On top of this, she's shown being treated badly by the SHIElD agents around her, with one saying "so long, sweet cheeks" and her narration says that she can't resist slapping back once more. Is it any surprise that Maria's first instinct is usually to attack people? She's spent her entire life being hated for things as simple as being alive and being a woman?

* In ''[[{{Comicbook/Powers}} Powers: Bureau]]'', Deena and her then-partner get some [[{{Squick}} Powers semen spilled on them]]. He ends up dying as a mutant EnfantTerrible rips out of his gut, but Deena is cleared by a doctor. But when she and Walker later catch the guy who was dealing the stuff, he spooks Deena into going back and seeing the doctor again. So she does, and is very surprised to find out that she's now pregnant. She doesn't tell anyone, but when she's later physically attacked by another Power a few weeks later, she ends up losing the baby. Christian takes her home and asks why she didn't tell him she was pregnant, and risk dying like her former partner, and she replies [[BreakTheBadass "Because...I really wanted it."]] The issue closes with Deena, who's rarely if ever shed a tear throughout the series, crying into her pillow as Christian tries to comfort her.

* In ''[[{{Comicbook/Powers}} Powers: Bureau]]'', Deena and her then-partner get some [[{{Squick}} Powers semen spilled on them]]. He ends up dying as a mutant EnfantTerrible rips out of his gut, but Deena is cleared by a doctor. But when she and Walker later catch the guy who was dealing the stuff, he spooks Deena into going back and seeing the doctor again. So she does, and is very surprised to find out that she's now pregnant. She doesn't tell anyone, but when she's later physically attacked by another Power, she ends up losing the baby. Christian takes her home and asks why she didn't tell him and risk dying like her former partner, and she replies [[BreakTheBadass "Because...I really wanted it."]] The issue closes with Deena, who's rarely if ever shed a tear throughout the series, crying into her pillow as Christian tries to comfort her.

* In ''[[{{Comicbook/Powers}} Powers: Bureau]]'', Deena and her then-partner get some [[{{Squick}} Powers semen spilled on them]]. He ends up dying as a mutant EnfantTerrible rips out of his gut, but Deena is cleared by a doctor. But when she and Walker later catch the guy who was dealing the stuff, he spooks Deena into going back and seeing the doctor again. So she does, and is very surprised to find out that she's now pregnant. She doesn't tell anyone, but when she's later physically attacked by another Power, she ends up losing the baby. Christian takes her home and asks why she didn't tell him, and she replies [[BreakTheBadass "Because...I really wanted it."]] The issue closes with Deena, who's rarely if ever shed a tear throughout the series, crying into her pillow as Christian tries to comfort her.