Bawww Moments in Comics

Comics are supposed to be funny and happy, right? Well, that ship sailed away a long way back. Ever since Eisner wrote his wonderful A Contract With God, sequential art storytelling has deserved to be as highly respected in its maturity as any other form of literature. But then this post is not me justifying why I love comics.

Over the last few years, I've read thousands of comics, of all genres. Some which make me laugh, some which depress the hell out of me, some which are epic and others are brilliant in their dealing with mundane subjects. Every so often, I've come across a point in a comic where something really upsetting happens and which has been so beautifully portrayed that I will never forget it. It is not necessarily very important to the story. It is certainly not an aspect unique to comics, it is a challenge in any art form to memorably show any poignant moment so that it does not get relegated to any of the deaths and losses and sadness which our desentitised brains have seen over the years. But I believe a comic has the unique capability of juxtaposing the written word/dialogue with the image made exactly the way the creator wants it and such that both do not trample on each other.

So what makes such a Bawww moment successfully rendered. The test, to me, is that you should remember it long after you have read it, and indeed, make you want to read it again and again, and curse it under your breath for every single time. It should make you say 'this is not happening' even though you fully expected it to happen and should be incomprehensibly saddening when it is unexpected. It should not be depressing and send you into a black mood. Depression is never beautiful, and these moments are beautiful. This is why nothing from Maus is in the following list, although Maus has some of the saddest moments in fiction. Maus is just too depressing, there's no beauty to appreciate in it.

So here's a list of Bawww moments in comics which have truly hit me when I read them, in no particular order. Most of them are deaths, but I guess that is natural. For the record, each of these comics series/titles are excellent reads and I would recommmend them to anyone (unless you hate comics, but then you have probably stopped reading this anyway). The list has spoilers, so if you are interested in the comic, you may want to skip it.

Y-The Last Man: Okay, I lied when I said this list is in no particular order. There is one scene which is unquestionably on the top and hit me the most and deserves to be first. If I had read it ten years ago, I would have probably cried. It's in the last issue, the epilogue, the scene where the capuchin pet Ampersand dies.

Sandman: This had to be there somewhere, right. Well, yes and no. I'm not talking about Morpheus' death. Not even any other death in The Kindly Ones storyline, most of which were, I think, more heartbreaking than the big one. This scene is in issue #46 in the Brief Lives storyline, the one where the shriveled, weak Bast wakes up from Morpheus' dream conversation. That image was completely unexpected to me, and although it is a footnote in the series, I think it is one of the most powerfully written parts of Sandman.

All-Star Superman: If you have read it, this one is pretty easy. It's Pa Kent's death in issue #7 and Superman's sudden realisation from somewhere far away that he can't hear his heartbeat anymore.

Identity Crisis: The beginning of issue #6, when Robin discovers his father's body, and Batman holds him for comfort. Of all the deaths in the Bat-verse over the years, this one is probably the best written.

Pride of Baghdad: The last scene, when the lions are killed.

Silver Surfer - Requiem: The end where Galactus comes to mourn the impending death of his one-time faithful servant, Silver Surfer. If you have the minimum idea of who Galactus is in the Marvel Universe, then you can guess how this reaction is supremely poignant, especially with the near perfect dialogues which were written here.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Ogami Itto's death. Anyone who's read the comic will understand that the complete abruptness of the ending completely throws the reader off before the realisation of what happened hits. I couldn't sleep the night after I had finished it.


There are more, but I guess these are the biggest bawww moments in comics to me.