sure sometimes comic creators make poor
choices but what were they thinking when
and take the new trivia quiz on
watchmojo.com follow the link in the
description for this list we’re looking
at instances and DC comics in which the
story line just went too far or
characters involved acted in ways that
just weren’t acceptable number 10 star
city is destroyed superhero comics have
to find a way to pack drama into their
stories something that is hard to do
when dealing with people of exceptional
powers and abilities one way to do this
is to create widespread destruction
while another is to bring devastation to
the lives of ordinary people around a
character cry for justice did both
arranging for destruction of Star City
home to the Green Arrow family millions
of people died so our heroes could
experience tragic and dramatic loss one
of those killed was Leanne Harper the
young daughter of hero red arrow whose
grief pushed him far over the deep end
both the mass destruction and the death
of Leigh Anne felt manipulative and
Leanne’s death especially seemed cruel
and unnecessary number 9
Batman burns bad guys sleeps with Black
Canary Frank Miller is well known for
pushing against boundaries and this is
one instance where he simply went too
far the entire all-star Batman and Robin
series has been criticized for its
extremes but the seventh issue provided
an excellent case in point
Miller’s Batman is unrelenting in his
contempt for criminals so much so that
he douses a bunch of thugs with bleach
and then sets them on fire not satisfied
with that he continues to fight them all
of which makes Black Canary who is
watching nearby so turned on that she
and Batman decide to satisfy their
animal urges right then and there
creepy sadistic and more than a little
gross number 8 lois lane changes race to
get a story in the context of its time
this story was well intentioned as Lois
Lane uses a machine the kind only found
in comic books to temporarily change
from her appearance to pass as an
african-american woman viewed today
decades past its first appearance
comes across as unintentionally
condescending more problematically Louis
comes across as putting her own career
and self-promotion ahead of the story it
would have made better sense to offer an
african-american female journalist the
chance to write from her perspective
it’s good intentions aside the story
feels hackneyed and exploitative
nowadays number 7 Deathstroke beds a 15
year old the Judas contract was one of
the best storylines of the 1980s and a
defining moment for the New Teen Titans
during the course of this story it was
revealed that new member Tara was
actually a spy working with the Titans
arch enemy Deathstroke so that was all
well and good not so well and good
however was discovering that the
relationship between Tara and
Deathstroke seems to have been romantic
since Tara was only 15 years old at the
time that puts quite a different spin on
things even more disturbing is that it
feels like the creator’s seem to take
the underage business and stride as if
it were not that big a deal trust us it
is number 6 Lois and Lana tried a
brainwashed baby Superman far too many
Silver Age Superman stories involved
Lois Lane and Lana Lang competing for
Superman’s affections in a way that
modern readers find demeaning too often
these ladies lives seem to revolve
around nothing more than attaining
Superman’s love worse
the rivalry often goes too far as in
this example from 1965 somehow Superman
has been transformed into a toddler and
Lois and Lana need to take care of him
they’re tender caring includes each of
them trying to brainwash him so that
when he returns to normal he will marry
them it turns out that this was actually
a super baby from another dimension but
it doesn’t make their attempted
manipulation and exploitation of him any
more acceptable number 5 Green Lantern
dates a teenager it’s bad enough when a
villain like Deathstroke takes a sexual
interest in an underage girl it’s even
worse when a superhero does it but
that’s what happened with Green Lantern
Hal Jordan
aresia a teenaged Green Lantern from
another planet clearly had a schoolgirl
crush on how how being a seemingly
sensible adult told her that a romantic
relationship between them would be
inappropriate given her age as a result
she changed herself physically from a
teenager into a grown woman
how then reciprocated her romantic
feelings for
it seems her power ring had responded to
her subconscious wish to be a woman but
the fact remains despite her physical
appearance she was still 13 years old
number 4 tarantula rapes Nightwing like
Nightwing tarantulas sought to fight
crime but she was more ruthless in her
methods and believed in killing her
opponents if necessary this went against
Nightwing’s core beliefs but after an
especially draining battle with the
villain blockbuster he allowed tarantula
to kill his enemy fatigued from the
battle and wracked with guilt
my twin fell into a catatonic state
seizing her opportunity tarantula took
advantage of his breakdown and raped
Nightwing it’s true that this action
revealed a great deal about tarantula
but it caused an uproar in the fandom to
say the least number 3 su did nice fate
was there ever a cuter comics couple
than Ralph and soo did knee the
elongated man and his beloved wife were
never Superstars but they were treasured
for their lightheartedness and their
picture of domestic bliss who knew su
was headed for tragedy during the
identity crisis storyline su was found
brutally murdered with her grisly
charred corpse all that remained of the
lovable su worse it was later revealed
that she had been viciously raped by the
second-rate villain dr. light and her
murderer turned out to be Jean Loring
the ex lover of the atom Sue’s death
turned out to just be a way for Jean to
get her man back going too far we think
so number 2 Barbara Gordon’s abuse by
the Joker speaking of going too far
inevitably brings up the Killing Joke on
the one hand Alan Moore and Brian
Bolin’s graphic novel is a brilliant
distillation of the mind of the Joker
and a compelling read on the other hand
the manner in which Barbara Gordon is
treated is truly reprehensible in order
to torture Commissioner Jim Gordon
Joker brutally shoots his daughter in
the spine paralyzing her
he then strips her naked and takes
pictures of her does he do more some
readers believed the Joker also raped
the helpless former Batgirl whether he
did or not the senseless brutality
visited upon her was simply too much for
many readers even fans of the comic
number one Green Lantern’s girlfriend is
frigid
after doing his usual a hero thing of
saving lives Green Lantern Kyle Rayner
returned to his home ready to spend a
little alone
time with his girlfriend Alex
unfortunately he found that Alex had
been killed by one of his villains and
stuffed into his refrigerator this
cold-blooded murder set off a huge
outcry
it seems the Alex had really been
created just so she could be killed in
other words the woman was treated as a
way for the male lead to experience pain
the issue of how women are treated and
storytelling spread far beyond the
comics industry the term frigid was
going to refer to any incidences of a
female character being killed just so a
male character could wallow in his grief
do you agree with our picks check out
these other great clips from watch mojo
and be sure to subscribe and ring the
bell to be notified about our latest videos
choices but what were they thinking when
and take the new trivia quiz on
watchmojo.com follow the link in the
description for this list we’re looking
at instances and DC comics in which the
story line just went too far or
characters involved acted in ways that
just weren’t acceptable number 10 star
city is destroyed superhero comics have
to find a way to pack drama into their
stories something that is hard to do
when dealing with people of exceptional
powers and abilities one way to do this
is to create widespread destruction
while another is to bring devastation to
the lives of ordinary people around a
character cry for justice did both
arranging for destruction of Star City
home to the Green Arrow family millions
of people died so our heroes could
experience tragic and dramatic loss one
of those killed was Leanne Harper the
young daughter of hero red arrow whose
grief pushed him far over the deep end
both the mass destruction and the death
of Leigh Anne felt manipulative and
Leanne’s death especially seemed cruel
and unnecessary number 9
Batman burns bad guys sleeps with Black
Canary Frank Miller is well known for
pushing against boundaries and this is
one instance where he simply went too
far the entire all-star Batman and Robin
series has been criticized for its
extremes but the seventh issue provided
an excellent case in point
Miller’s Batman is unrelenting in his
contempt for criminals so much so that
he douses a bunch of thugs with bleach
and then sets them on fire not satisfied
with that he continues to fight them all
of which makes Black Canary who is
watching nearby so turned on that she
and Batman decide to satisfy their
animal urges right then and there
creepy sadistic and more than a little
gross number 8 lois lane changes race to
get a story in the context of its time
this story was well intentioned as Lois
Lane uses a machine the kind only found
in comic books to temporarily change
from her appearance to pass as an
african-american woman viewed today
decades past its first appearance
comes across as unintentionally
condescending more problematically Louis
comes across as putting her own career
and self-promotion ahead of the story it
would have made better sense to offer an
african-american female journalist the
chance to write from her perspective
it’s good intentions aside the story
feels hackneyed and exploitative
nowadays number 7 Deathstroke beds a 15
year old the Judas contract was one of
the best storylines of the 1980s and a
defining moment for the New Teen Titans
during the course of this story it was
revealed that new member Tara was
actually a spy working with the Titans
arch enemy Deathstroke so that was all
well and good not so well and good
however was discovering that the
relationship between Tara and
Deathstroke seems to have been romantic
since Tara was only 15 years old at the
time that puts quite a different spin on
things even more disturbing is that it
feels like the creator’s seem to take
the underage business and stride as if
it were not that big a deal trust us it
is number 6 Lois and Lana tried a
brainwashed baby Superman far too many
Silver Age Superman stories involved
Lois Lane and Lana Lang competing for
Superman’s affections in a way that
modern readers find demeaning too often
these ladies lives seem to revolve
around nothing more than attaining
Superman’s love worse
the rivalry often goes too far as in
this example from 1965 somehow Superman
has been transformed into a toddler and
Lois and Lana need to take care of him
they’re tender caring includes each of
them trying to brainwash him so that
when he returns to normal he will marry
them it turns out that this was actually
a super baby from another dimension but
it doesn’t make their attempted
manipulation and exploitation of him any
more acceptable number 5 Green Lantern
dates a teenager it’s bad enough when a
villain like Deathstroke takes a sexual
interest in an underage girl it’s even
worse when a superhero does it but
that’s what happened with Green Lantern
Hal Jordan
aresia a teenaged Green Lantern from
another planet clearly had a schoolgirl
crush on how how being a seemingly
sensible adult told her that a romantic
relationship between them would be
inappropriate given her age as a result
she changed herself physically from a
teenager into a grown woman
how then reciprocated her romantic
feelings for
it seems her power ring had responded to
her subconscious wish to be a woman but
the fact remains despite her physical
appearance she was still 13 years old
number 4 tarantula rapes Nightwing like
Nightwing tarantulas sought to fight
crime but she was more ruthless in her
methods and believed in killing her
opponents if necessary this went against
Nightwing’s core beliefs but after an
especially draining battle with the
villain blockbuster he allowed tarantula
to kill his enemy fatigued from the
battle and wracked with guilt
my twin fell into a catatonic state
seizing her opportunity tarantula took
advantage of his breakdown and raped
Nightwing it’s true that this action
revealed a great deal about tarantula
but it caused an uproar in the fandom to
say the least number 3 su did nice fate
was there ever a cuter comics couple
than Ralph and soo did knee the
elongated man and his beloved wife were
never Superstars but they were treasured
for their lightheartedness and their
picture of domestic bliss who knew su
was headed for tragedy during the
identity crisis storyline su was found
brutally murdered with her grisly
charred corpse all that remained of the
lovable su worse it was later revealed
that she had been viciously raped by the
second-rate villain dr. light and her
murderer turned out to be Jean Loring
the ex lover of the atom Sue’s death
turned out to just be a way for Jean to
get her man back going too far we think
so number 2 Barbara Gordon’s abuse by
the Joker speaking of going too far
inevitably brings up the Killing Joke on
the one hand Alan Moore and Brian
Bolin’s graphic novel is a brilliant
distillation of the mind of the Joker
and a compelling read on the other hand
the manner in which Barbara Gordon is
treated is truly reprehensible in order
to torture Commissioner Jim Gordon
Joker brutally shoots his daughter in
the spine paralyzing her
he then strips her naked and takes
pictures of her does he do more some
readers believed the Joker also raped
the helpless former Batgirl whether he
did or not the senseless brutality
visited upon her was simply too much for
many readers even fans of the comic
number one Green Lantern’s girlfriend is
frigid
after doing his usual a hero thing of
saving lives Green Lantern Kyle Rayner
returned to his home ready to spend a
little alone
time with his girlfriend Alex
unfortunately he found that Alex had
been killed by one of his villains and
stuffed into his refrigerator this
cold-blooded murder set off a huge
outcry
it seems the Alex had really been
created just so she could be killed in
other words the woman was treated as a
way for the male lead to experience pain
the issue of how women are treated and
storytelling spread far beyond the
comics industry the term frigid was
going to refer to any incidences of a
female character being killed just so a
male character could wallow in his grief
do you agree with our picks check out
these other great clips from watch mojo
and be sure to subscribe and ring the
bell to be notified about our latest videos
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