It’s not a comic, but Commander Roy Fokker’s death in Robotech Macross was pretty harsh.

Also have to agree with the death of Jean Gray from the Dark Phoenix saga (original X-Men).

“Leah” tells the story of a homeless girl who adores Spider-Man, collecting newspaper articles about him to decorate the walls of her cardboard box and keep herself warm at night. She dreams of one day meeting her hero and swinging with him over the city, far above the struggling life she lives.

Peter David combined “The Little Match Girl” and “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” with his own personal experiences of Leah Adezio, a friend and fellow comic creator who passed away earlier that year.
http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/2007/01/17/rip-leah-adezio/
http://elayneriggs.blogspot.com/2007/01/let-me-tell-you-bout-my-best-friend.html

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/01/willingham-no-more-superhero-decadence-for-me/

But I’m thrilled to see so many people responded to our list, as it was a fun post to write.

And I like the laugh out loud idea. The first comic that came to mind was … well, maybe I’ll save it for the list

I don’t cry since 2000 (although I would like I have done it some more times) , but thie ending let me with the tears almost ready to fall…

Amazing Spider-Man #200 and 400 were also major ones for me — though both have recently been retconned out.

It’s amazing that for a medium that has been often relegated as below “real” fiction (and for whom death is a revolving door), there are a lot of moments in those so-called funny pages that still remain with us for their emotional impact today.

Off the top of my head I recall: Caza’s guilt over suspecting Bridget was a double agent, even after she killed her own time-glitch self to be with him; and the issue when Caza tells the dying boy that his father was a good man, even though he really was a gangster, and gives him his last super-hero comic.

I lost my mother shortly before this one came out and it hit too close to home.

The issue of Superman/Batman by Loeb’s late son, with the preface where Robin talks about how much he misses is friend Superboy was another one that really got to me.

And about 20 different moments in True Story, Swear to God.

I think I got weepy when Mariko died in Wolverine, too, but I was a youngin then.

The biggest emotional punch in the gut for me was in What If..? series 1 # 42… “What If The Invisible Girl Had Died?”. Especially as the issue was drawn brilliantly in the classic Jack Kirby FF style by Ron Frenz & Joe Sinnott. The one panel that always chokes me up is the single page shot of Reed erasing all his years of research with the word balloon from him saying “My life is over.” Beautifully written by Peter B Gillis.

Can’t let this go without also mentioning Supergirl’s death in Crisis on Infinite Earths. One of the first times you realised that a comic book series wasn’t afraid to kill off major characters and that no-one was safe.

1. JMS’ Silver Surfer: Requiem miniseries. It was a searingly beautiful sendoff for Norrin. I was bawling like a baby six pages into the first issue and didn’t stop until well after reading the last panels of issue #4.

2. Garth Ennis’ Mother Russia arc in MAX Punisher. The story so skillfully wove together a delicate, fragile emotionalism with the consequences raw brutality, and the end completely gutted me because Frank was *devastated* at having to leave little Galina.

3. Jim Starlin’s The Death of Captain Marvel. I had no idea that comics could be like that. None. It blew my mind when I first read it.

4. The end to Peter David’s Captain Marvel series, when Genis makes the ultimate sacrifice. That was hands down the most heroic thing that I have ever, ever seen a character in a comic book do. Peter David’s run on Captain Marvel had numerous moments of true pathos, though, particularly during Genis’ crazy phase.

5. Uncanny X-Men #137 and #138 – Jean’s death.

6. Greg Rucka’s entire run on the Elektra book, where Elektra is pushed beyond the limits of human endurance emotionally. It was, overall, a devastatingly sad read.

7. Rex Tyler’s fate in JSA, as someone else noted above.

8. The Pride of Baghdad.

9. Paul Cornell has gotten me twice in the last three years: the first is the final two panels of the MAX Wisdom miniseries when you realize that Pete is calling Kitty. So spot on, so sad, so tragic. The second was in the recent Captain Britain Annual when Meggan leaves her mark on hell, and that mark is hope.

10. All-Star Superman. So many wonderful moments.

11. The Last Stand of Skurge in Thor #362.