Hmm...."saddest" deaths huh? 
1) Barry Allen dies during Crisis on Infinite Earths because I was simply floored when it happened, he knew what was at stake, he knew the end result yet he pushed himself harder and faster then ever to save everyone. The pain he experienced and to know he'd die alone 
on a distant planet. None of it mattered and he ran faster! 
2) Ronnie Raymond dies in Identity Crisis ( I think...one of those Crisis books). It was sad to me to see such  kick ass character die in such a random and sudden way, stabbed by Shadow Thief? Really? 
3) Phantom Lady was always a personal favorite of mine for some reason. I have had a love affair withe JSA, All Star Squadron and characters from time period.and Sandra was one of my favs. It was a shame to see her go out with a whimper with the rest of the Freedom Force. It was almost a  
subtle message like the old heroes could not defeat these new villans, Sandra wasa d-lister at best, so I dont see her ever making a apperance in the future..long live Stormy! 
 
and finally... 
TED KORD 
till this day it makes me angry he is gone...however pick up Justice League:Generations Lost...a very fun read to watch Max go about his evil business and the Super Buddies (Captain Atom,Booster,Ice.Fire,Rocket Red,The new Blue Beetle,and Powergirl as of the last issue I read...)are the only ones who know he's alive

Ampersand

Lian hands down......... 

Superman and Ted Kord.

Superman impacted me heavily as a child and the death of Ted Kord blew my mind.

I know that the comics need to make a buck, but sometimes its over kill. I wonder what goes into their heads, are they nuts. To me, they trying to out do Dragon Ball Z. I don't know how many times Gouku died, after awhile its like, so what. All you have to do is run on snake road to come to life. The reason I say its overkill, that most comic didn't change the figures on profit, that what someone said. I have to agree that Sups was the sads thing and the most hatefull thing he said was I'm not America anymore. I wish that Batman killed him for real.

Martian Manhunter and Mogo

@U R Sofa King We Todd Did said:

Ampersand

Oh Lord. Now I'm sad.

Jason Todd. Although, all things considered, I love Red Hood, so maybe it's for the best.

Vic Sage. It was such a sad but fitting death.

Sarah Gordon's death was a shocker for me.

The image of all the kidnapped babies crawling over her body STILL stays with me....

Bruce Wayne.

Out of the ones I have read, Deadman's in Brightest day was kinda sad and unfair.

J'onn touched me the most because I love him and he's such an awesome guy. The reaction was very visibly the same from his friends.

J'onn touched me the most because I love him and he's such an awesome guy. The reaction was very visibly the same from his friends.

Although I'm a superman fan, I have to billy Batson death was very sad

@FadeToBlackBolt: Zactly. Seriously so simple and touching that was.

Ted Kord, Stephanie Brown and Jason Todd. No order.

Ted Kord and Vic Sage. I also hope their deaths aren't cheapened by them being brought back to life.

Ted Kord Blue Beetle

Jason Todd and to a lesser extent Stephanie Brown, mostly because they came back.

Come on! People paid good money to have that rat put down!

bart allen ....especially when inertia explain to wally west how his return stripped bart of his powers and left him to die

Jason Todd's death was really sad, especially in its execution.

@Afro_Warrior said:

Vic Sage. It was such a sad but fitting death.

This and Mogo. :(

J'onn's death to me never seemed all that bad to be honest. Though I only read FC, so that might be it.

I'd like to add I haven't read Vic Sage's death.

This...yes I know, people will probably disagree with me considering the character at the time, but this was definitely saddening to me at the time and the epitome of the heroic sacrifice.

Since Wildstorm was part of the DCU during Number of the Beast, I'm going to include Jenny Quantum's death/disappearance. She sacrificed herself to save the universe, but the effect of what she did only really showed up long after she was gone. In WildC.A.T.S #25, Zealot taunts Midnighter about what happened to Jenny, and at the end of the book you can see how much Jenny's death/disappearance was weighing on him.

And this of course:

Detective Sarah Essen (James Gordon's wife) at the end of No Mans Land. Everybody has gone through hell for a year. Gotham is about to be reopened. Right before that can happen and law and order can be restored, she dies protecting a nursery full of children from the Joker. It felt like a classic Greek tragedy.

@RedheadedAtrocitus said:

This...yes I know, people will probably disagree with me considering the character at the time, but this was definitely saddening to me at the time and the epitome of the heroic sacrifice.

Not a fan of Final Night in general, but this was a great scene.

@EisforExtinction said:

The original Question.

This

i would have to go with conner.... damn really hate superboy prime how could he

Ted Kord.

Steph's death wasn't faked. It was retconned. Alot of people didn't like the whole war games thing, but I did. Steph's death was indeed touching and disturbing.

There have been alot of epic ones. Barry's the most epic of all. The saddest though? Idk. I really felt for Jim when Joker got Essen.

The scene where Bruce puts the Choco on MM's coffin was pretty damn touching.

The saddest? Guess I have to go with Azrael's. The death itself wasn't particularly moving, but damn, I haven't missed any comic book character Like I miss JPV.

Detective Sarah Essen (James Gordon's wife) at the end of No Mans Land. Everybody has gone through hell for a year. Gotham is about to be reopened. Right before that can happen and law and order can be restored, she dies protecting a nursery full of children from the Joker. It felt like a classic Greek tragedy.