History YankTheDogsChain / ComicBooks

** Then came ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'', when a Skrull ship crashed and revealed a group of the heroes. Most were discovered to be Skrulls, but Clint tested the Mockingbird they found with a question and decided she was the real Bobbi. Then it turned out she was actually a Skrull who honestly believed that she was the real Bobbi, which led to Clint shooting and killing her. The real Bobbi finally returned at the end of the event. Only ''that'' turned out to be bad when, in the course of a team-up, Clint realizes the Bobbi who he reunited with was the Skrull and the real Bobbi still considers them divorced.

** In ''Comicbook/TheKillingJoke'', Batman pleads with the Joker to reconsider the death course the two of them are on, making a genuine offer of help... and there's a [[Heartwarming/{{Batman}} panel]], about a panel and a half, where it looks almost like the Joker will accept. The Joker even turns the concept into a joke that has even Batman laughing.

* Happens to ''Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}}'' four times regarding his wife Comicbook/{{Mockingbird}}.

* In the short-lived ''Marvel Adventures: Comicbook/IronMan'' series, Tony finds out at long last that his father, who drove Stark Industries into the ground and abandoned him and his mother, had been cheated by a business associate and left in shame, but really had loved him. He hires a PI, Jessica Drew, to track his father down. And she finds him, and everything checks out, even memories... Then it turns out to be a plot by the Chameleon. Later he does find his dad and realizes that he's just as irritating as ever.
* ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryGillen'' sets up the possibility of real change and redemption for ComicBook/{{Loki}}, only for him to screw himself over in the end. They managed to change some things, in ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard'' they're even worthy of Mjölnir... for about 10 minutes. Which is yet another dog chain yanking moment.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Spider-Man has a big support cast, and [[DoomMagnet people keep getting killed]]. Sometimes the writers decide to bring them back. This never works. Possibly the biggest example is when his ''parents'' turned out to be alive again; they'd been killed when he was a baby. They turned out to be robots. Supporting cast coming back from the dead has only "stuck" twice: when the Aunt May who died turned out to have been an ''[[VoodooShark actress]]'', and when ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson, who had been killed in a plane accident because [[SuperheroesStaySingle having a wife restricted Spidey]], was not dead after all. (Cross your fingers for history repeating itself soon, folks.) And then ''Comicbook/OneMoreDay'' happened, because Creator/JoeQuesada didn't like the changes that had been made to Spidey since the Silver Age and PARTICULARLY not his marriage to Mary Jane, resulting in probably the most infamous CosmicRetcon of recent years. God damn it.

** She eventually finds her way to [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} Logan]], who offers to bring her to Xavier's school to give her a fresh start and help her cope with all the hell she's been through. And then she's attacked and arrested by Comicbook/CaptainAmerica. Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} even ''lampshades'' this [[WhatTheHellHero by telling Cap that he may have just stolen Laura's last chance at a normal life]]. The poor girl just can't catch a break!

* Franchise/{{Batman}} regularly runs on this, in all media - at least from the villains' point of view. Batman just will ''not'' die.

* Franchise/SpiderMan has a big support cast, and [[DoomMagnet people keep getting killed]]. Sometimes the writers decide to bring them back. This never works. Possibly the biggest example is when his ''parents'' turned out to be alive again; they'd been killed when he was a baby. They turned out to be robots. Supporting cast coming back from the dead has only "stuck" twice: when the Aunt May who died turned out to have been an ''[[VoodooShark actress]]'', and when ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson, who had been killed in a plane accident because [[SuperheroesStaySingle having a wife restricted Spidey]], was not dead after all. (Cross your fingers for history repeating itself soon, folks.) And then ''Comicbook/OneMoreDay'' happened, because Creator/JoeQuesada didn't like the changes that had been made to Spidey since the Silver Age and PARTICULARLY not his marriage to Mary Jane, resulting in probably the most infamous CosmicRetcon of recent years. God damn it.

* ''Franchise/XMen'':

* ''ComicBook/SuperboyPrime'': DoubleSubversion. At the end of ''ComicBook/AdventureComics'' #5, where Superboy-Prime admits that he hates what he has become and just wants a happy ending. Laurie Lemmon enters the basement and comforts him, telling him that they are sorry for what they did to him and are going to leave him alone—"they" being previously mentioned as being the writers at DC Comics. As they embrace, a Black Lantern ring is shown on Laurie's hand that detects the hope within Prime's heart, implying she is really a Black Lantern and is manipulating him into feeling hope before she kills him. However, when Superboy-Prime is accidentally transported back to New Earth, a flashback shows him reconnecting with Laurie Lemmon and his parents, implying she is the real Laurie Lemmon and they are happy together. Sadly for Prime, he is separated from his loved ones again. He blames the Teen Titans and battles them. When he loses, they imprison him within the Source Wall.

* ComicBook/{{X 23}}:''

* Sometimes, the pirates in ''Comicbook/{{Asterix}}'' think they can actually take down the ship they see. Or Can They? Nope! ''They'' are on board. It can be Phoenician, Egyptian, or Roman, but it's all the same.
** That's when they're lucky. If they're unlucky something will make the thing ''worse''. Luckily for them, what happened in ''Asterix in Corsica'' [[spoiler: (they took a job to take three people in Corsica with the idea of robbing the passengers, only to realize in open sea that they were transporting a Corsican clan chief and ''them''. As ''they'' were sleeping they manage to sneak out of the ship, and reboard it when the Corse and ''them'' have disembarked in Corsica... At which point the ship is ''blown up'' by the fumes of a piece of Corsican cheese!)]] hasn't been topped... Yet.

* ComicBook/{{X 23}}

* ''Franchise/XMen'': As a whole, mutants are always going to have it rough in the Marvel Universe. After all, [[RuleOfDrama there wouldn't be a need for the X-Men]] if society ever did accept them would there? But a couple of examples stand out.

** Mutants then began to recover from this disaster (though their population was cut in half.) Humans were finally starting to sympathize with mutantkind and even Magneto (who was presumed dead at the time) was being seen as a force of positive social change. Then Xorn, while disguised as Magneto no less, destroys New York while high on sentient bacteria and [[KilledOffForReal murders Jean Grey]]. (Confused? It's okay most were).
** This prompts ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} to actively try to cultivate the image of mutants superheroes in order to repair the damage. It seems to be going well. Then the ComicBook/ScarletWitch [[ComicBook/HouseOfM says three little words...]]

* After years of the abuse she watched the Facility put her daughter, ComicBook/{{X 23}}, through in their quest to duplicate the Weapon X project, Dr. Sarah Kinney finally decided to take the girl and run, issuing her instructions to destroy additional embryos created by the project and to kill the project leader, Zander Rice. Just when it looks like Laura will be able to escape with her mother to live in peace, it turns out Rice had Sarah contaminated with the trigger scent as a final "fuck you" from beyond the grave. One UnstoppableRage later Laura is a SelfMadeOrphan, killing the only person who loved her.
** It happens ''again'' not long after. After escaping the Facility, Laura turns up at the home of her aunt Debbie and cousin Megan. Debbie knew ''something'' about Laura, (it's implied that she knows Laura is Sarah's daughter, but believes she was the product of a bad relationship her sister was in and that both were trying to escape it) and welcomes her into their home as part of the family. Laura quickly connects with Megan and strikes up a strong friendship with her, and it seems as if she will ''finally'' escape into a quiet and peaceful life with people who love her. Too bad it turns out Debbie's boyfriend was planted by the Facility and calls in Kimura. The three manage to escape her after a trigger scent scare, (Megan had the presence of mind to drag her mother into the shower to wash it off after being exposed) but Laura is forced to send them into hiding and cut off all contact with them to protect them.

** And yet ''again''. Just as she's starting to find a measure of peace after WalkingTheEarth to find herself during her solo series and then joining ComicBook/AvengersAcademy, she gets [[ComicBook/AvengersArena shanghaied by Arcade to fight other teen heroes to the death for his amusement]]. ''And'' no sooner is she rescued, but she turns up wandering Miami in an amnesiac state after being taken and tortured by the Purifiers. Who, by the way, happen to have a copy of the video Arcade released which quite prominently puts just what the trigger scent does to her on display.

* Franchise/SpiderMan has a big support cast, and [[DoomMagnet people keep getting killed]]. Sometimes the writers decide to bring them back. This never works. Possibly the biggest example is when his ''parents'' turned out to be alive again; they'd been killed when he was a baby. They turned out to be robots. Supporting cast coming back from the dead has only "stuck" twice: when the Aunt May who died turned out to have been an ''[[VoodooShark actress]]'', and when ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson, who had been [[DorkAge killed in a plane accident]] because [[SuperheroesStaySingle having a wife restricted Spidey]], was not dead after all. (Cross your fingers for history repeating itself soon, folks.) And then ''Comicbook/OneMoreDay'' happened, because Creator/JoeQuesada didn't like the changes that had been made to Spidey since the Silver Age and PARTICULARLY not his marriage to Mary Jane, resulting in probably the most infamous CosmicRetcon of recent years. God damn it.