Big Damn Heroes/Comic Books

• In the climax of Watchmen, this is subverted. The big bad saw the Big Damn Heroes coming and activated his plan as he did. Consequently, they arrive thirty-five minutes too late.
• Elf Quest: in part 15 of the original series, just as the Wolfriders and Leetah are about to be slaughtered by Guttlekraw's trolls, they are rescued by the Go-Backs and (big spoiler): Rayek. All except One-Eye, who's killed before they arrive. Here's the scene, if all the spoiler tags haven't put you off.
  • In the climatic battle at the end of the book, Rayek and the Holt Trolls charge in just as the Wolfriders and the Go-Backs were about to be beaten. It is lampshaded with Rayek complaining to Cutter that if he had sent Petalwing the Preserver back to guide them, they could have arrived much sooner.
• Y: The Last Man. Natalya and Ciba arrive just in time to stop one of Alter's mooks from kidnapping Beth Junior. Genre Savvy Hero even quips: "Natalya; always with the last minute Han Solo."
• Grant Morrison is particularly fond of this trope, beginning his obsession in Zenith (see this article) and taking it to its logical conclusion in Seven Soldiers, which is literally just a bunch (conspicuously more than seven) of those moments strung together, from the badass ("Gloriana! There is one!") to the farcical (Bulleteer accidentally running over the Queen of Darkness in a cartoony art style to boot) encompassing romantic, metafictional and slightly creepy along the way even finding room for an ambiguous aversion, with Klarion merrily fulfilling his own personal character arc at the expense of the rest of the "team"
  • Subverted in his JLA run when The Key devises a plan that actually depends on the Justice League's last minute heroic victory.
  • Played straight moments later when Green Arrow Jr. shuts him down with a boxing glove arrow to the face.
• "Ultron. We would have words with thee."
  • "And yet, through the smoke, Xavier sensed a coming...of hope...of heroes...of Marvels."
• There are some instances in the X Wing Series comics that count. In Requiem for a Rogue, Wedge is captured by a Sithling who wants to use him as bait for the other Rogues. The other Rogues come on foot to rescue him, and he slips away while the Sithling is directing his forces. Just as three Rogues are about to get killed, Wedge appears with two stolen blasters, shouting "Everybody down!" "Wedge! You're alive!" "Yeah, and you can keep me that way by moving your behinds!"
• Subverted in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage, during the Foot's attack at April's building; despite Casey Jones' Big Damn Heroes entrance, the Shredder's forces still manage to overrun the heroes, and they are eventually forced to retreat. The scene is eventually adapted into the first movie and the second cartoon.
• Subverted in Preacher, with the truly epic failure of Cassidy's attempt at rescuing Jesse and Tulip from the Saint of Killers via pick-up truck.
• This absolutely awesome moment from The Flash: Rebirth #4.
• In Justice League: Generation Lost #8, the League has been caught breaking into Checkmate headquarters, and are on the verge of being overwhelmed by Checkmate forces. Then the wall blows in, with Captain Atom coming to the rescue:

Ice: Thank God.
Fire: He's not God. He's just our ride.

• Justice has a scene where Superman has been dog-piled by four supervillains. Blindsided and beaten on by Bizarro and Solomon Grundy, weakened by Metallo's Kryptonite heart, his powers drained by the Parasite, Superman is pretty much helpless. And the whole while, he's left wondering why none of the JLA are responding to his distress call, and finally, in a rather chilling scene, Superman cries out for help. Cue Big Damn Hero moment as a lightning bolt flashes across the sky, all of the villains get an "oh shit" look on their faces as a red and gold blur comes down and proceeds to take them apart. Bizarro? Punched into orbit. Metallo? Kryptonite yanked out of his chest. Parasite? Had said Kryptonite jammed in his chest, and since he had stolen Superman's powers and weaknesses, was instantly defeated by it. Solomon Grundy? Beaten unconscious into a crater. In the space of a page, these four powerful villains are handily and decisively dealt with. The blur finally slows down enough to reveal who it is, offering a hand to help Superman up.

Captain Marvel: "It's okay Superman. I got your signal. It's going to be okay."

• In the Thanos Imperative: Devastation one-shot (a Poorly-Disguised Pilot for the next cosmic Marvel mini-series, Annihilators) features one of these when Blaastar pulled a Face Heel Turn:

Quasar: Shall we take this outside?
Blaastar: Oh shi--

• In Transformers Timelines "The Stunticon Job", when Sideswipe and Cheetor are cornered by the Stunticons, Optimus Prime disguised as Toxitron comes in, and causes a ramp to crash on the cons.