Bruce Wayne — who by night is Batman — gets murdered by a man claiming to be the father he thought was dead.
In a highly controversial new comic book storyline, Bruce, who first appeared in 1939, is killed by Simon Hurt — the leader of the shady Black Glove organization.
Simon claims he is really Dr Thomas Wayne, saying he faked his own passing when Bruce was a child.
The superhero dies when he tries to stop his foe escaping by helicopter in the new issue of Batman # 681.
“This is so much better than death. People have killed characters in the past but to me, that kind of ends the story!” said writer Grant Morrison.
“I like to keep the story twisting and turning,” he added. “So what I am doing is a fate worse than death. Things that no one would expect to happen to these guys at all.
“This is the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman.”
Batman will live on though, with another character filling his Batsuit.
Two likely contenders are Dick Grayson — the original Robin — or current Boy Wonder Tim Drake.
Felled by his own thought-to-be-dead father? How very “Empire Strikes Back” of them!