10 Heartbreaking Works of Comic Book Genius

Like land speed records and Fabergé eggs, hearts were made to be broken. It is the goal of any artist worth his or her salt to take aim at your pulmonary artery and squeeze the emotional trigger. Pop goes your sensibilities like plastic Perfection. And no, this isn’t limited to the pages of Norah Hess novels, Beaches, and Carpenters albums. Comics, too, offer moments even the most crocodilian among us could agree to be poignant and (cardiac) arresting. Perhaps, like me, you have found yourself getting a little misty amidst the derring-do and cascading debris and wondered how you could have allowed the caped crusaders to breech your usually impenetrable defenses. As a bearded man in touch with his emotions, I like to record these incidents in a “Feelings Diary.” I’d like to share some excerpts from its tear-stained pages with you.    

Here is a (by no means definitive) list of ten moments in comics which required that I blot my eyelids with the back of my hand and lie to all surrounding teddy bears and other plush compatriots. “There’s something… there’s something in my eye.”

1) Blankets by Craig Thompson

“I wanted to burn my memories.”

 

 

We often cite this one as a girlfriend book, a comic which you can safely pass to a love interest who might otherwise reject the medium. For one, it’s a tender relationship tale and is really very accessible. But beyond that, it’s just a great comic book. Your experience may vary, but having developed as an artist in the Catholic school system, I can relate to the ongoing theme of religious guilt versus artistic freedom. This conflict dominates the book, and I think personal baggage might flavor your individual reading. It’s been a few years since I read Blankets, and as I paged through it this morning, I kept happening upon truly whimsical pages relating to the central love story. But that’s not what I was looking for. When I remember this book, I focus on a single panel which remains one of my favorite images in comics. Ashamed of his drawings, a god-fearing young Craig tosses his artwork into a trash can and sets it ablaze. He tilts back his head and allows his creative demons to pour out of his mouth. It’s a haunting image, and speaks to the anguish of spiritual guilt. “I’ve wasted my God-given time on escapism! Dreaming and drawing — the most secular and selfish of wordly pursuits! I acted as if I was sacrificing a burnt offering before God.”

Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story.

2) The Escapists written by Brian K. Vaughan, pencils by Steve Rolston

“…I just see Freedom.”

 

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Brian K. Vaughan offers a stirring sentiment for the hope and possibility inherent in the life of an artist in the final page of The Escapists. Anyone who’s ever faced a deadline knows that the scariest thing in the world is a blank page. But there’s also nothing so sweetly liberating. It is a boundless world asking only to be furnished, inhabited, realized. It is anything and everything we could ever want it to be. Art and creation is our escape and our redemption. It is an opportunity to suggest, “This is how it ought to be.” And if we create, we have the chance to inspire others to our cause. Freedom from the mundane, passport to something better and brighter. That final image (not pictured here; you’ll have to experience it yourself) is energizing and exciting. Happy, hopeful tears.

3) Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

“It’s true that he didn’t kill himself until I was nearly twenty.  But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him.”

 

 

I’d choose a specific moment from Bechdel’s memoir of sexual identity and familial loss, but as any good book should be, it’s in the hands of a friend. If pressed, I’d probably say the maps are particularly resonant. Bechdel painstakingly traces her father’s path on the day that he died. Much of Fun Home is frank and comical, free of the lachrymose sentiment of Blankets. It’s almost a black comedy. But something about Bechdel’s attention to detail and preservation of events and even geography, is really touching. In trying to make sense of tragedy, she takes an almost academic approach to organizing the facts and relating them to anecdotal memory. What emerges is a heartbreaking account of a girl and her father, and how their connection evolves over time and shared experience.

4) We3 written by Grant Morrison, pencils by Frank Quitely

“I. M. Gud.  R. U. Gud 2?”

 

 

I’m a dog person, through and through. And I put off reading We3 for a long time, knowing that I’d be in for some truly Old Yeller misery. Three stray animals: a dog, a cat, and a rabbit, are outfitted with mech suits and a glitchy communication system, and are destined for black ops carnage. Fortunately, their handler takes pity on them and releases them from their government compound unto an unassuming world. What follows is an artistically spectacular mash-up of Homeward Bound and Apocalypse Now. Pursued by the government, the three innocent war-machines weave a tapestry of violence over the countryside. For fans of Quitely’s ‘beautiful ugly’ renderings, the book is a visual feast. It’s one of the most violent books I’ve read, but it’s also one of the most emotionally gripping stories on my shelf. The reason is ‘Bandit’ the canine leader of the group. He’s essentially a benevolent Frankenstein’s monster. Simple-minded, but innocent and loyal, even to those who would do him harm. The animals are able to communicate on a primitive and rudimentary level through their suits, and the effect is a kind of Bizarro speak. Bandit frequently looks for approval in his constant efforts to be a good dog. And it gets me every time.

5) Fell written by Warren Ellis, art by Ben Templemsith

“This is where I live now.  None of you are nothing to me.”

 

 

Even Warren Ellis has a heart, and when it beats, it’s capable of a kind of bittersweet melancholy that makes all the grit and grime worth the trudge. Richard Fell is a special kind of hero. Thrust into the bleak and harrowing environs of Snowtown, an amalgam of Gotham City and Purgatory, he refuses to back down against crime and corruption. Moral decay is not permanent, and Fell is fully invested in saving a city that never so much as thanks him. Like Quitely, Templesmith is capable of some particularly gruesome imagery. But on the last page of issue #8, he offers a Snowtown sunrise (which, now that I type it, sounds like something Ellis might scrounge up on Urban Dictionary) which is downright breathtaking. In spite of everything, Fell is committed to fixing a town that others would see as hopelessly broken. Then again, heroes have to see things a little differently if they’re going to save the world.

6) Identity Crisis written by Brad Meltzer, pencils by Rags Morales

“I stretch as fast as I can… but I’m still not fast enough.”

 

 

Identity Crisis was my first real foray into the greater DC Universe. It is the book which really sold me on that world and beckoned further exploration into its rich gallery of characters. Identity Crisis is an important turning point in that the stakes were raised exponentially. It concerns very adult themes of rape and the ethics of power. It’s a murder mystery with a sophisticated construction, and it asks very difficult questions of characters we have known since childhood. In a sense, Identity Crisis is playing for keeps. By taking the conceptually comical figure of Ralph Dibny — Elongated Man — and stretching out his features into an expression of complete anguish at the death of his wife Sue, Morales creates a disturbing and powerful image of heartbreak.

7) Maus by Art Spiegelman

“God damn you! You… you murderer! How the hell could you do such a thing?”

 

 

I’ve talked about Maus before, but if we’re going to have a conversation about emotionally wrenching stories, Art Speigelman’s masterpiece about the Holocaust and narrative history is an essential ingredient. If page after page of matter-of-fact recollections of torture and despair are not enough, Spiegelman also bookends these stories with very personal exchanges between himself and his father. He is at once astounded and ashamed of his father’s actions as a survivor and as a senile old man. When Art discovers that his father burned his wife’s diaries and letters, Art is furious. He, a preserver of history, denounces his father as a murderer. There is nothing so devastating as misery multiplied in time.

8) Y: The Last Man written by Brian K. Vaughan, pencils, by Pia Guerra

One word. Grape.

 

9) B.P.R.D. written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Ryan Sook and Guy Davis

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll burn you?”
“Nope.”

 

 

Not all heartbreaking moments are depictions of loss and despair. Some moments are about connection. In Hollow Earth, an early story of the B.P.R.D., members of the Bureau recount their first meeting with Hellboy, the cornerstone of the organization and a friend gone missing. Abe Sapien remembers the moments when Hellboy rescued him from experimental testing. Hellboy reaches into Abe’s tank and grasps his arm in companionship. Liz remembers the despair following the awakening of her pyrotechnic powers and Hellboy’s simple offer of a lolly-pop. In B.P.R.D. proper, there are probably too many tender moments to mention. The disembodied spirit of Johann Kraus, one of my favorite characters in any comic, lacks a corporal body, but is easily the most human character in a book about monsters. His curiosity and concern for simple creatures like Roger the Homunuculus provide some of the strongest visuals.

10) Justice Society of America written by Geoff Johns, pencils by Dale Eaglesham

“It takes me a second to realize… for the first time in a long time… I feel something.”

 

 

The standout for me, by far, is a moment at the end of Justice Society of America #7, Citizen Steel’s origin issue. Because of his new-found powers, Nathan Heywood is unable to feel. He’s indestructible, and unable to contain his strength. Taken in by the JSA, he is outfitted with a costume to keep his powers under control. He struggles with the guilt of surviving a massacre of his adult relatives, constantly aware of his legacy as the grandson of the original Commander Steel. Ultimately, Nathan finds peace as Citizen Steel, a member of the new Justice Society of America. In the end, he takes comfort in the loving embrace of his remaining family. It’s a great single issue, and probably my favorite origin story.

 

*****


And that’s my list. I’m sure I’ve neglected some iconic moments of heartbreak, but these are some of the snapshots that resonate with me. What great moments in comics left you a little misty? What comic moments left you weeping in the bathtub or breaking down on the subway?  

 


Paul Montgomery wears his heart on his sleeve. Unless his shirts are at the cleaners, in which case, he keeps it in a jar with a few leaves and a twig. Send him your heartbreaking stories at paul@ifanboy.com. You can also find him on Twitter.

Now online: Listen to his first scripted episode of the award winning audio drama Wormwood: A Serialized Mystery, co-written with Wormwood creator David Accampo.

Paul joins the writing staff with season 2, episode 14 “Jack Nicholson’s Nose.”  All previous episodes from seasons 1 and 2 can be found for free at wormwoodshow.com or on iTunes.  

Comments

  1. I hardly knew who Elongated Man was before I read Identity Crisis.  But still, that first issue was so powerful that it punched me in the stomach.  I literally had to put the book down for a few seconds.  I consider the discovery of the body and the funeral one of the most emotional things I have ever read in a comic.

    I balled when I read that scene in Y.  I cared more about grape than I did the cliffhanger for issue #58.  What can I say, I’m an animal lover.

    Great article Paul.  Way to make me tear up at work!

  2. Despite my cynical, "Love Actually"-hating exterior, I’m someone who actually cries A LOT at stuff I read.  To the point that the experience doesn’t really stand out.  But I know I totally lost it over Vic Sage’s death scene in ’52.’ 

  3. Damn it, your mention of Y the Last Man (described with the exact single word I would have used for the same reason) has again brought tears to my eyes.  That book is a killer.

  4. great choices Paul and nice article.  The Dave Eggers fan in me loves your article’s title.  

  5. @kimbo you beat me to it

    well done on the Fell pick

  6. When I picked up Hallow Earth and read the parts about Hellboy helping his teammates, I was hooked.  Also We3 and Y gave me a tear in the eye. Very good article.

  7. I cried at the end of Pride of Baghdad…

  8. @englishw – Me too. The line "Is that a horizon?" followed by the gorgeous two-page spread of the sunset is what started the waterworks for me.

  9. Y: absolutely. Lately I have introduced a few friends to Y and they are all addicted, and the couple who have reached the end cried. I felt so vaildated and justified.

    Pedro and Me is another total tear jerker, but in a more chick flick kinda way.

  10. In Identity Crisis, it was the scene where Captain Boomerang and Tim Drake’s father kill each other, while Robin and Boomerang’s son are listening to their respective father’s last words at that exact moment. That was what got my eyes all watery.

  11. I’ve read about half of what you listed and I’m getting all sorts of misty just remembering some of those moments. Think I may just have to reread some of them over the Christmas break. Though, the one series that made me cry the most uncontrollably would have to be Ultimates 3, though, I’m not sure you’d classify that as a work of comic book genius. :'(

     

    / queues the waterworks.

  12. All Star Superman #10 with the young girl on the kedge. "You’re much stronger than you think you are. Trust Me.  [Superman Hugs her]. Perfection.

     

    Thanks, Paul, I needed this today. 

  13. Ok, I got some.

    X-Men: God Loves Man Kills: "If I have to choose between my friends and your God, then I–I choose my friend!" – Kitty Pryde 

    That line kills me EVERY time. Actually, the whole book does, but that quote is the capstone.

    Green Arrow/Black Canary #4: The lines "CLARK!" and "Daddy’s here," completely broke me. Shit, I almost lost it while listening to Josh talk about it on the podcast. 

    Uncanny X-Men #188: Rachel freaking out once Kurt yells, "…Thunderbird dead, Jean Grey dead!" Tears.

    Uncanny X-Men #196: "Then kill him, child. Prove your superiority — Slaughter them as callously, as mercilessly, as they would you. Let them see that you are no better than they… That you can return hate for hate, blow for blow, life for life. What are you waiting for, Rachel, DO IT! Give them the final victory!" -Magneto 

    Those are the ones I can think of right now…

     

     

  14. Final Crisis Requiem. Batman + Oreo = tears.

  15. That is my favorite JSA issue that has been out thus far.  I believe it made me a little teary eyed.  If certain people has seen what I looked like after reading that issue, they wouldn’t believe that I have a piece of black coal for a heart.

  16. Roger’s death in B.P.R.D. was quite sad as well.

     

    When he Johan journeyed into Roger’s sub-conscience and you saw him as a child…

     

    I haven’t that upset since Optimus Prime died in the 1986 movie

     

  17. All of these are home runs Paul.  I agree on all accounts.  I would say that Pride of Baghdad would probably replace JSA on my list, only because I don’t quite have the emotional connection to it that you do. 

  18. Preacher.

    Worse than any other comic book, except maybe Pedro and Me.

    Also, Alex Robinson has eeked from tears from me as well.

  19. Great list, man. 

    Gotta agree with @jonnjonz, FC: Requim was a tear-jerker. Mostly because I didn’t expect it to matter that much. That’s when they get ya!

    Oh, and Dugg. 

  20. I’ve never cried over a comic, but I got a little misty at the end of Bone.

  21. The end of Moonshadow always gets to me a little bit.

  22. @Josh – Definitely gonna agree with you on Preacher.  And when ******** bit the dust in Sandman, that got me a bit too.

  23. Blankets get’s me right in the gut.

    Also lately in the Walking Dead there have been some things making me want to cry.

  24. The last issue of Y.

    And that issue of Walking Dead around 46-48.  Thoughs of us caught up know what I’m talking about.  (trying not to spoil for everyone.)

  25. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    You’re all very lucky that the photos I took for this article, posed in my bathtub, clutching a copy of Blankets, did not turn out.  

    Keep on listing the heartbreaking moments I missed.  I noticed only too late that I don’t have any Marvel moments!   

  26. Oh aye, I totally welled up at the end of Preacher also. And I’m not entirely sure why? But it worked anyhoo.

  27. the only marvel moment I can think of was when Aunt May died in ASM #400 (I think is the number..), but it was during the Clone Saga stuff so it got easily swept under the rug.  It was quite the tear jerker.

  28. Nice piece, sir. I offer Krypto’s death in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow; the death of Supergirl; and the Mysterious Blonde’s appearance in the Deadman story in Christmas with the Superheroes.

  29. I doubt anyone else will know this one, but the mention of Moonshadow made me remember. There was a Martian Manhunter mini-series in the ’80’s, written by DeMatteis and drawn my Marc Badger. It retconned J’Onn into his odder shape, and made him a poet. It made his aversion to fire a psychological weakness, based on a repressed memory of his wife and daughter being killed in the fire. I remember crying like a baby at the end of that mini, as he remembered and embraced his past and the memory of his family. I have no idea if that holds up, but it was beautiful at the time.

    Also: Animal Man number…. 15? The one narrated by the dolphins? That one was really sad as well. I know there are more. But… back to work I go…

  30. You know, I’ve never been "punched in the guts" reading superhero comics, but I just finished No Man’s Land. My goodness that last volume had some intense moments. I had to take a moment to gather myself. A few scenes really moved me!

    In this list, Maus had that effect on me. (of those I read).

    Good article Paul!

  31. I’m kind of shocked that nobody has mentioned Astro City 1/2.  That’s my go-to tear-jerker comic.

    Honerable mention to the first story in Sshhhh! by Jason and of course, the saddest comic you’ll ever read about Animal Crossing.

  32. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Next week I’m going to offer instructions on how to make your very own "Feelings Diary!"  Bring construction paper and photos of your favorite orphans.  

  33. Nice article Paul!

    Highly agree on Identity Crisis, but the moment that did it for me was at the very end(final ish), the last few pages shows the Elongated Man having a conversation with his wife and going to bed alone telling her he loves her. Really brought the sadness of living life, going through routines w/o a loved one.

    Also, BKV totally ripped out my heart and gave me a lump in my throat that was hard to swallow."Grape" was one moment but the scene that did it was Yorick’s silent goodbye to his love.

     

  34. The first three trades of Invincible, the last page of the third trade in Fear Agent, the scene in kingdom come when superman puts his glasses back on and kisses wonder woman (classic), and of course Rorschach’s final scene in watchmen.

  35. The first two things that leapt to mind– actually, the only two things coming to mind right now– were both from Astonishing X-Men. Kitty’s sacrifice at the end still rattles me like she’s a real person (my God, she’s still out there!) and the moment when she discovered Colossus made me want to try and get Cassaday an Oscar somehow.

    ooh, and that moment at the end of Buffy: the Chain you were just talking about the other week…!

  36. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @Jimski – You seem to have a complicated relationship with the Whedon.  Which is totally fair.  Just an observation.  

  37. Like the list….Pride of Baghdad is one I would consider putting on the list.  And Spider-Man Blue I have such a hard time reading without tissues around.

  38. @Paul – I think you and I had similar reactions to blankets… I took video instead.

  39. daccampo: I got the j’onn reference…i liked that series very much and it was indeed a very sad moment. I get melancholy reading Starman for some reason as well. Also just reading the whole issue of Whatever Happen to the Man of Tomorrow always gets me! 

    Really dating myself…but one of the most heart-rending moments that really introduced pathos and real "death" to comics was the death of Iris Allen way back in Barry Allen’s run of the Flash. It was so sad and I was so frustrated that we didn’t know who did it for so long….. 

  40. That whole story point with the new Citizen Steel was pretty shocking. That whole part where the Nazi’s are brutally killing the people, and not drawn back mind you…Johns went all out on it, was sick. But that whole issue with the guy getting his full on powers and dealing with it, it was funny and touching at the same time.

    The most recent crying period for me was Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3. Those last 6 pages are just a tear jerker. Somehow Bendis handled such a sweet moment and not make it too hokey or sappy. It was the right amount of tenderness and love and it felt so genuine, by the time the huge panel of MJ and Pete kissing just made me cry in my room.

  41. i agree with most of those, but would like to add "the kid who collects spider-man" by roger stern. it’s wasn’t even half an issue, but i remember crying like a baby.

     

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kid_Who_Collects_Spider-Man

  42. cassiday’s letter to jesse custer at the end of preacher had me crying like a little bitch who just skinned her knee.

  43. Oh, Civil War:The Confession was a good Marvel cry.  When Tony says "it wasn’t worth it" while talking to Cap’s dead body.  Wow, that was a good one.

    Also tons of parts of the Walking Dead could be added in there.  But if I had to pick one, I would say the last scene in issue #48 with Lori and the baby.  Left.  Me.  Speechless.

  44. Ditto to @jimski.

    Giant Size Astonishing (which I reread earlier tonight, coincidentally enough:

    "Disapointed, Ms. Frost?"

    "Astonished, Ms. Pryde."

    Then she saves the world.

    And, of course: Blankets, Y:TLM, Pride of Baghdad, Preacher, Walking Dead #48, BTVS:The Chain, the ends of Bone and Strangers in Paradise and – I know it’s not a comic but it’s related – when Linus comes off the stage in A Charlie Brown Christmas and says, "And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." All do it to me. Every time. I’m emotional just writing this.

  45. Captain Marvel v3 #11 by Peter David and Jim Starlin

    Genis meets the Mar-Vell from a parallel universe after exploring a spacial rift.  After a short time of bonding, and even after Mar-Vell tells his "son" how proud of him he is, they both realize that they have to shut down the rift by focusing their photonic energy from both sides of it… meaning they’ll never see each other again.

    After a sad, heartfelt goodbye, we learn that Mar-Vell is the sole survivor of the Milky Way galaxy in his universe… and he dies of cancer, all alone.  The only thing that comforts him is knowing that somewhere, a part of him still lives on.

  46. Krypto fighting in vain while dying in "Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?"

    Ted Knight bravely going up in the great glass elevator with the Mist

    Dream’s coffin-boat floating past a saluting Nada’s reincarnation as a chinese child in "the Wake"

    most of the last volume of Y

    Kitty the Bullet-pilot in Giant-Size Astonishing

     

     

  47. It’s sort of comics related, but I get a little misy-eyed at the ending of Justice League: The New Frontier movie when Barry Allen and Iris say their goodbyes. 

    I’m not much of a crier, but the ending of The Iron Giant had me balling like a little girl.

  48. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    One moment that I ended up cutting from the list was the scene in Kevin Smith’s Daredevil where Matt gives the eulogy at Karen’s funeral.  "There are no words."  I left it out only because of the similarity to the Identity Crisis moment, but consider it an honorable mention.  

  49. Iron Giant….word.

  50. "Silver Surfer: Requiem" and uhm, "Final Crisis:Requiem".

  51. Hey, if we’re talking movies, that’s a year-long series for me.  

    But to sum up, the end of It’s a Wonderful Life, most Pixar movies, the Krypton stuff in Superman the Movie, the Grandpa/Olive scene in Little Miss Sunshine, the finale of MASH, the end of Shawshank Redemption, the Jaguar Shark scene in Life Aquatic, Inigo’s final confrontation in Princess Bride…

  52. My eyes leaked when I read Blankets…it’s a beautiful book.

  53. (yikes, first comment)

     that issue of strangers in paradise. About three times. And those last black pages, oi. I second (third or fourth?) Preacher.

    I have such an emotional connection to BORN AGAIN that there are several moments that, though they don’t bring on tears, certainly make me feel the size of my heart.

  54. Thinking about this thread some more, I remember seeing Roger Ebert on a panel at a film festival.  He said he’d read a study (don’t ask me who does this kind of study, but I guess Roger Ebert would know. . .) that said the moments that were most likely to make audiences cry in films aren’t the ones where something bad happens to a character, but when a character does something the viewer perceives as noble.  I was thinking over tearjerking moments on ‘Buffy’, and I realized the one that hits me hardest is when Tara’s asshole father is telling her that she has to leave her friends and come home with him, because he’s her family.  Then Buffy steps in and says "No, *we’re* her family," and everybody — even Spike, whos’s still technically evil — lines up behind her to defend their friend.  If I try to look at it bjectively, it’s a kind of predictable moment.  In the greater context of the story, I’m not even sure it’s earned. But even just thinking about it now, I’m tearing up. Whereas a lot of things that are more overtly tragic don’t have such a visceral effect.  What happens to what’s-is-name in ‘Serenity’ doesn’t make me cry, but Zoe squaring her shoulders and going into battle right after that does.

    Pulling this back into comics (but sticking with Whedon), the moment with Kitty at the end of ‘Astonishing’ manages to weave a lot of these threads together — it’s got something awful happening to a character we like, at the same time that it emphasizes her nobility, and her personal connection to her teammates.  The fact that it’s Emma, who she’s never gotten along with, rather than her old friend Logan, or her boyfriend Peter, actually serves to make the moment more poignant and less sentimental. 

  55. Y#60 made me and my girlfriend cry, her for 355 and me for Amp. 

    Essex County Vol. 2: Ghost Stories.

    Can’t remember the issue of Usagi but it involved Jotaro.

  56. @ohcaroline – I definitely agree.  The moments that really make me well up are the moments of noble sacrifice.  When the hero takes that one extra step that they shouldn’t be able to make, all for the good of the cause.  I think about that moment where the Grinch saves the sleigh full of Christmas gifts or WALL-E struggles to protect the plant or Charlie hands the everlasting gobstopper to Wonka.  

  57. When I realized why that scrawny girl with the glasses was given so much focus (realized it near the end of Box Office Poison).

  58. Just because I have a favorite character who’s always sacrificing herself and nobody’s mentioned it yet — in ‘Uncanny X-men 100′, when Jean realizes she’s the only person who can steer the space shuttle back to earth but that she’s going to die in the process: she knocks her boyfriend Cyclops out so he won’t try to stop her, yells at Wolverine about how she never liked him anyway until he slinks away, and only then hugs Storm and says to make sure Scott knows she loved him.  That’s a lot more moving to me than if they’d just started hugging and talking about noble sacrifices.  I think Whedon must have had that in mind a little with the Astonishing scene.  (Even though Jean didnt’ realy die that time; well, she did but they only retconned that later and then they retconned it again.  Jim Shooter sucks.  Anyway).

  59. If you wanna talk about movies………its all about THE NOTEBOOK my friends!!! Never fails every time i watch it.

  60. For me the beauty of Fun Home was the fact that it was a tribute to her father, yet she still details in complete honesty his problems and the strife in his relationships.  That one made me weep like a running faucet.  Just like you can give the warning to pet lovers about WE3, a warning should be attached to Fun Home for anyone with daddy issues.

    Also, Batman’s had it’s moments recently.  I don’t think I cried but I remember having a very very big frown (comically big. I’ve been told I’m a professional frowner.) when I read #677 where the black glove gets into the mansion.  Alfred is one of those puppy dog characters to me, like a Hagrid. If you hurt him and I get very very upset.

  61. @fuzzytypewriter "or Charlie hands the everlasting gobstopper to Wonka."

    This never happened.

  62. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @itsbecca – We’re thinking about having the "Daddy Issues Warning" tattooed on Conor.  

  63. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @itsbecca – It did too happen!  And we never got to see what happened to the bad kids either!  

  64. I like to think the bad kids get thumbs broken and a bag full of umpa lumpa turds.  I hated Agustus with a passion

  65. They got diced up and thrown in the vat.  Gobstoppers is PEOPLEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

  66. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Gobstoppers are not composed of people.  Lets get serious, folks.  

    The kids were diced though.   

  67. They got a lifetime supply of chocolate. The oompa loompas probably stayed in the factory doing hazardous work until they died. The weirdness of kids’ books is great.

  68. @PaulMontgomery Someone needs to remember just whose chocolate factory it was mister. Roald Dahl and I are glaring at you.

  69. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @itsbecca – Well, it certainly wasn’t Tim Burton’s!  

  70. OOH SNAP!

  71. Criying every time i’m remembered of = WE3

    Crying my a$$ off the entire last issue = the "grape" scene.

    Crying out of rage = Secret invasion #8

  72. Thanks for this Paul. I will be purchasing We3 at my next comics pit stop in midtown.The only one of these that had me near tears was Y, that last trade. I’m man enough to go there.

    And maybe one day <a href="http://slapclap.com/archives/1654">the Diane von Furstenberg comic</a> will reach said heights. but nahhh.

     

     

  73. Like ohcaroline, I lose track of how many times comics make me cry.  But good choices, all of these.

  74. I just got a chance to read ALL the comments.  Was no one touched by Action#870 with Pa Kent and all?  I’m not big on the ol’ Superman, but that got me.  It was done so well, juxtaposing it with Superman’s happiness at seeing Kandor. Man oh man.

     (As an aside, if anyone is curious what happens to the other kids from the Chocolate factory you can find it here. Honestly Paul, leading the people on.  It’s called journalistic integrity.)

  75. nice man. i LOVE JSA with a passion. most of these are grat works that just get me every time.

  76. I can’t say I have ever been moved to tears by a comic but the last scene in No Man’s Land between Gordon, Batman and Joker is etched on my brain for good.

  77. stupid monkey…

    there’s.. there’s something in my eye. excuse me

  78. POOR SAILOR by Sammy Harkham!!