Heroic BSOD/Comic Books: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Elf Quest (Comic Book)|Elf Quest]]'':

* In ''[[Animal Man (Comic Book)|Animal Man]]'', Buddy Baker has a BSOD lasting at least several days when {{spoiler|an assassin murders his wife and children}}. This subverts {{spoiler|temporarily}} the normal tendency of [[Dark Age]] superheroes to immediately go on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]].

* In ''[[Runaways (Comic Book)|Runaways]]'', Victor Mancha, a cyborg, goes into what characters describe as a Blue Screen of Death when he hears three pre-determined questions that conflict with his logic programing and spirituality. Only one has been used (Q: Could God make a sandwich so big, he could not eat it? A: {{spoiler|Yes, and then he would finish it anyway.}}), but Chase mentioned that there are three questions in total. However, each question only works once.

* Cyclops, in [[Joss Whedon]]'s ''Astonishing [[X -Men]]'' run, has a severe one of these when {{spoiler|Emma Frost reveals to him that his inability to control his powers is the result of a complex he developed about self-control as teenager, rather than a brain injury resulting from a concussion, as he had previously believed.}} He spends and issue or two in a completely catatonic state, his powers not functioning. He soon recovers enough to move around and lead the team (perhaps even more effectively than usual, with his self-control issues out of the way) and later {{spoiler|surprises everyone by revealing (with a point blank blast in the face of his interrogator) that his powers still work, and that he now has full control over them. At the end of the arc, this control fades as the "clarity" he got from Emma's intervention wears off. See [[Status Quo Is God]].}}

* [[Spider Man|Spider-Man]] is a master of this. The death of Gwen Stacy is the best and most famous example. In ''Clone Saga'' it happens one time after another and the level of his [[Wangst]] is just ridiculously big.

* Black Adam had one of these upon discovering {{spoiler|[[Fifty Two52|the death of Isis, his wife at the time]]}}. This lead to the {{spoiler|[[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] that is known as [[World War Three]]}}.

* Subverted with [[Swamp Thing (Comic Book)|Swamp Thing]]. He has a brief one in the first arc of Alan Moore's legendary run, after he learns that {{spoiler|he isn't Alec Holland turned into a plant, but a plant that absorbed the deceased Alec Holland's memories}}. His BSOD lasts one issue and ends with him accepting his true nature, so as to pretty much ensure that the series didn't bog itself down in the Wangst of Swamp Thing (already a serial moper) moping about because he was a literal monster and never Alec Holland to begin with.

* Cassie Hack of ''[[Hack Slash|Hack/Slash]]'' went through one (entering what was pretty much an [[Angst Coma]] to boot) after the ''[[Re -Animator]]'', in which her long-lost father dies, and she's forced to kill her mother (... again).

* Two at the end of Vol 5 of ''[[Empowered (Comic Book)|Empowered]]'', right after another. {{spoiler|Sistah Spooky snaps upon being just a few seconds too late to save Mind????, something her powers warned her about but she didn't recognize the significance of at the time. Immediately afterwards, Emp breaks down as well, explaining to a murderous Sistah Spooky that if she had only been just a little bit more confident, maybe Mind???? would have let her try using her powers to survive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.}}

{{quote| '''Ivy:''' "I need to know...Julie, I woke up and I couldn't remember..."<br />

'''Julie:''' "Remember what?"<br />

* ''[[The Boys]]'' is about a group of superpowered CIA operatives who provide a balance of power for rampant "[[Superhero]]" groups, (who either do nothing but live as celebrities while [[The Hedonist|indulging every sick whim, no matter who gets hurt]], or are [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity|with good publicity]] that [[Beware the Superman|you should really be wary of]]) and the [[Mega Corp]] behind them that eventually wants to turns supers into [[Person of Mass Destruction|living weapons]]. In one arc, The Seven, (the most powerful of the super hero groups and essentially the [[Justice League of America]]) and The Boys nearly get into a showdown when a member of the Seven is [[Caught Onon Tape]]. At the last moment, the Seven realize that Butcher, the leader of The Boys, is telling the truth when he says that they didn't release the tape. The member of the Seven who was on the tape flies off in a huff, and everyone walks away, until {{spoiler|Butcher goes back downstairs and sees that his beloved dog Terror is dead}}. Butcher walks right out to where he knows that one member of The Seven will be, catches the guy by surprise, and begins stabbing him over and over, repeatedly asking {{spoiler|"Why'd you kill my dog, Jack?"}}. At one point {{spoiler|Jack}} tries to say something or maybe beg for mercy, but Butcher says something along the lines of how his mind isn't really even there, it's just watching what he's doing from somewhere far away. Then he goes back to the stabbing and questioning, over and over, long after {{spoiler|Jack}} is dead.