Updated June 15, 2019 9.3K votes 1.8K voters 94.8K views
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Vote up the most graphic DC Comics moments.
They say "when it bleeds, it reads" and comic books are no exception. However, for a superhero comic publisher that's frequently aimed at younger readers, there sure is a lot of gore in DC Comics. While it usually isn't as visceral as Vertigo or other mature publishers, there certainly are a great number of violent DC Comics moments.
Remember when Black Adam poked a man's eyes out? Or when Animal ripped a wolf asunder? Or one of the several gory comics that featured the Joker maiming a victim or himself? Take a violent look down memory lane at this list of some the goriest moments in DC comics.
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Joker Cuts His Own Face Off (Then Wears It Like A Mask)
In Detective Comics "Faces of Death" and Batman "Death of the Family," Joker had his face sliced off for reasons that were never fully explained. He would then take his flappy face skin and staple it onto his head or strap it on as a mask. While Joker would commit some disturbing and gory acts of violence against his victims, this is easily the most brutal thing he's ever done to himself.
In Brian Azzarello's TheJoker story, Azzarello included a scene at a strip club that was more than skin deep. Joker took a former lackey and current strip club owner, Monty, and skinned him alive from the neck down. Joker then asked Monty to do a striptease dance for the crowd.
In one the earliest, better-known acts of violence within DC Comics, Joker repeatedly hit Robin with a crowbar in the storied Batman: A Death in the Family. While the sickening thuds and whip-like strikes from the Joker are violent enough, that's not the worst part. The worst is that the fans participated in a call-in contest to vote on whether or Robin would survive the encounter. When the dust settled, the fans voted that the Boy Wonder would be a Boy Corpse.
In 52 #43, the dopey alligator man, Sobek, convinces his friend Osiris to transform back into his human form from his god-like state. Sadly, this act of trust ended in tragedy as Sobek went full National Geographic on Osiris, biting him in half. It turned out that Sobek was playing dumb in order to take down the Black Adam family from within.
From the pages of Animal Man comes a horrifying visual of a spider-like creature taking over a man's body and turning it into a pudding-like human puppet. The Hunters Two cling to the material world and hide incognito within the bodies of others to sneak up on their prey. Readers should know that while Animal Man is enjoyable, it's probably best to avoid reading it while eating a roast beef sandwich.
In the "Tornado's Path" story in Justice League of America, Red Tornado got what he wanted: a real human body. While Reddy would finally be able to feel warmth from those he loved, it didn't come without consequence. A smartened-up Solomon Grundy took advantage of Red Tornado's mortal state and yanked off Reddy's arm like a weed. The snapped, exposed bone and blood was a strikingly violent visual for a mainstream superhero comic book to show off.
