The price of Chronic Hero Syndrome.
- The way Clayface's expression becomes sorrowful
◊ when recalling how Batman sacrificed his life to save him. Being made of moldable clay, his entire face slumps, when recalling Batman told him everyone deserved to be saved. - Bruce's mother telling him that the only reward he gets for being Batman, is to be Batman again, and worse, he only gets to have a few years of happiness.
- "Goodnight, Bat-Signal. Goodbye, stars in the big night sky. Goodnight. Goodbye. Goodnight."
- Selina's version has her betray Bruce. When Batman comes to her for help, having already lost a lot of blood, Selina ties him up and lets him bleed out completely. As he does, she explains it as a Mercy Kill since she can't stand watching him destroy himself. One of the few times Catwoman is shown to kill, and it's Batman.
- Superman's story of Batman's death, as seen in the page image. He knew it was suicide, but if it saved one person...
- Harvey Bullock's story has Batman tossing him a baby just before he's drowned by tsunami-like floodwater.Bullock: I made it out of there, carrying the baby. And people said to me, "How do you keep going?" I said, "Because he kept going."
- "Hello, Bruce." Seeing Martha Wayne cradle her newborn son in her arms, smiling lovingly at him, knowing what awaits them both in eight years time...
- The Riddler during the main eulogy actually had a deep and saddening line concerning Batman's death, reminding us that most Batman villains really are still human...Riddler: "It doesn't happen like this! Everybody knows, you put him in a death trap, he pulls something outta his utility belt and he's away. Same bat time, same bat channel."
- For added poignancy, the Deluxe Edition features the short "When Is A Door", where Riddler's lament about the shift from the Silver Age to the Iron Age (featured on the Batman page) just meshes perfectly with the above.
- Every single reference to the '66 TV series has become about a thousand times sadder with the death of Adam West at age 88...
- The Killing Joke version of the Joker's story of killing Batman◊ by injecting him with a massive overdose of Joker venom using a gigantic hypodermic needle. Batman gives him a variation of the same retort he did in the classic story.Joker: And I screamed — "Smile, damn you, why don't you smile?! You've got enough Joker venom in you to finish off a regiment of elephants. Why don't you smile? Why don't you die?"
Batman: "Because it's not funny."
Joker: And, after much too long, he went down. (Joker stops smiling) He died. But he still didn't smile. And he was right. It wasn't funny. But it should have been...
