Writing characters that have been in the game for decades can be a challenge for anyone working in comic books. That is especially true for DC Comics where creators are dealing with characters like Batman and Superman that have been consistently in action for more than 80 years.
As such, some DC creators take big swings on stories, trying to create memorable arcs that stand out in the minds of fans who have been reading DC Comics for years. While some of those arcs are booming successes, others barely make it across the finish line and kind of just sputter at the end. They're memorable, too, just for the wrong reasons.
10 Batman Finds A Button In His Wall
One of the most influential comics of all time is DC's Watchmen. It had a much different take on superheroes and their world, one that maintained a safe distance from the main DC continuity. But that didn't stop DC from trying to combine the two.
After Batman found a distinctive smiley face button in his wall, the ball got rolling. While the whole storyline had some action in it, the finale played out in a rather tedious fashion. But the whole concept was flawed from the beginning, so that wasn't a surprise.
9 Superman's Electric Powers Fizzle Out
When a character has been around as long a Superman, he eventually goes through some changes. After being deprived of the sunlight that gave him powers for an extended period of time, the Man of Steel lost his usual incredible abilities. He then developed some odd electric-based powers.
While the explanation for how he got those powers was iffy at best, how Superman returned to normal was even more suspect. He just kind of showed back up one day as the normal Superman. The weird part was that Supes seemed largely uninterested in why any of this happened to him.
8 Doctor Leslie Thompkins Kills Stephanie Brown
Out of all of Batman's support team, Doctor Leslie Thompkins held a special place. Largely removed from Bruce Wayne's superhero antics, Thompkins provides him with some important outside perspective as well as some key medical support.
But one angle saw her kill Stephanie Brown. It was out of character, made no sense and was quickly retconned when it was revealed that Brown wasn't dead. The whole thing was pointless and ended poorly.
7 The "Hawk Is Monarch" Reveal Is The Result Of A Leak
This was an odd situation because it wasn't supposed to happen. A villain named Monarch arrived from the future, doing battle with present-day heroes. He killed Dove so Hawk killed him. Hawk then removed Monarch's helmet to find out that his own future self was Monarch.
Originally, the reveal was supposed to be that Captain Atom was Monarch but a story leak caused DC to change plans last minute to maintain some sort of surprise. But the Hawk reveal made no sense, and sucked away any momentum the story had. It ended with a resounding thud.
6 Superboy-Prime Just Kind Of Fades Away
A survivor of Earth-Prime, the world Superboy-Prime was born on was eliminated as part of the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths story. He would eventually return, a twisted version of his former self and one of the nastiest villains around.
Dark Knights: Death Metal seemingly ended his story. He sacrificed himself to stop the Darkest Knight's plans, only to end up in a perfect version of his reality where he read DC Comics and was his world's only powered hero. It's a sweet ending but an oddly boring one.
5 The Insane Reveal At The End Of Identity Crisis
Identity Crisis is easily one of the controversial stories of the past two decades in DC Comics, though it did sell incredibly well. It centered around the murder of Sue Dinby, The wife of the Elongated Man's death ignited a fierce search for her killer, which turned out to be the Atom's ex, Jean Loring.
The build-up throughout the story was huge. The reveal itself was not. Fans were not particularly enthused with Jean being the killer, less so with her motivations for the crimes she committed. Identity Crisis ended with a bit of a whimper.
4 Conduit Fails To Destroy Superman
The story of Kenny Braverman would be tragic if the end wasn't so lame. He was born near Smallville on the same day Superman landed on Earth as an infant. Kenny ended up with his own Kryptonite-fueled powers as a result.
He blamed Clark/Superman for everything that had gone wrong in his life, failing repeatedly to destroy the Man of Steel. Kenny's final move was to essentially destroy himself while blaming Superman for the act. Conduit could have been a major villain in the long term but his end just wasn't worth it.
3 Catwoman Dumps Batman At The Altar
The arc of the relationship between Batman and Catwoman has been incredibly interesting. They were never really enemies, though Catwoman was a burglar that Batman had to repeatedly stop. That being said, she sided more with Batman's family than his gallery of rogues.
It didn't really come as a shock when they decided to get married. Unfortunately, that specific story ended with Catwoman leaving Batman alone at the altar. That whole thing left a bitter taste in the mouths of fans and was not the ending they were looking for.
2 The Many Reveals Of Hush Are Confusing
There are a lot of comic book stories that are famous for their big reveals. Hush is certainly one of them. The story of Bruce Wayne's childhood friend trying to dismantle his life one piece at a time has some elements that have become iconic. Others, not so much.
Honestly, there are so many reveals in this story that the big ones end up falling completely flat. And too many of the reveals turned out to be a shapeshifting Clayface, a gimmick that only should have been used once.
1 Batwoman Becomes A Vampire
The Batwoman title that was part of The New 52 was largely applauded for excellent and innovative storytelling. Well, at least until the first arc came to an end after issue #24. This was where it all started to come apart.
Issue #25 took a huge left turn, and began a storyline that would lead to Batwoman becoming a vampire. The creative team behind the first 24 issues left in protest as their first major arc ended on a sour note after such a massive directional switch.