The Dark Age of Comic Books: Difference between revisions
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[[The Dark Age of Comic Books]] was the culmination of a gradual move towards an older audience for [[Comic Book|Comic Books]], particularly those featuring superheroes, that had started in [[The Bronze Age of Comic Books]]. It's sometimes also called [[The Iron Age of Comic Books]], to follow the Gold/Silver/Bronze progression, but Dark Age is the much more common term. Usually characterized as a [[Darker and Edgier]] period featuring an increased focus on sex, violence and dark, gritty portrayals of the characters involved, much of the content produced during this era is very controversial amongst comic book fans and is usually (depending on who you ask) considered either a welcome breath of fresh air after the medium languishing so long in its own version of the [[Animation Age Ghetto]], or a period of grotesque excess and immaturity...[[Take a Third Option|or both.]]
The Dark Age is generally agreed to have begun in 1986 -- a watershed year in comics, seeing the publication of [[Frank Miller]]'s ''[[
1986 also saw the wholesale [[Retcon|rewriting]] of [[The DCU]] [[Post-Crisis|following]] ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', which would itself be incredibly influential on what followed for numerous reasons. Firstly, it was the first [[Crisis Crossover]] (while [[Secret Wars]] was published first, it was only in response to Crisis which was already on the planning table, and lead Marvel to panic and rush it out before Crisis), and its success paved the way for more Big Events over the decade. Secondly, the reboot itself was important in setting the overall tone of the comics that would follow and as editors began to pick and choose what stayed and what was discarded; it seemed increasingly clear that more of the [[Lighter and Softer]] elements were [[Shoo Out the Clowns|being removed]] as comics were beginning to cater towards a more mature audience.
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Marvel was also actively trying out new concepts and characters, giving them their own series, including ''[[The New Warriors]], [[Sleepwalker]], [[Darkhawk]]'' and ''[[Thunderstrike]]''. Sadly, all of these titles would eventually be canceled, although they all had their own merits and cult followings.
The resulting material has been hotly contested by fans with regards to its quality. Certainly, the age produced a lot of widely-acclaimed and notable works, both affiliated with the mainstream universes and the independents -- such as ''[[The Maxx]]'', [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[
However, at the other end of the scale, a number of critics argue that in many cases "mature" content was actually closer to "adolescent"; while creators were taking inspiration from ''[[
The portrayal of women -- rarely at its most mature to begin with in this genre -- plunged to ever more absurd depths, at times bordering on outright misogyny (Except for ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' under [[George Perez]] who created one of the character's best ever periods). For example, during the Dark Age an entire sub-genre of "Bad Girls" comics started to appear, featuring female characters (usually [[The Vamp|Witches, Demons, Vampires, etc]]) in highly [[Stripperific]] outfits in Supernaturally themed, borderline pornographic storylines. An early [[Trope Codifier]] for this was ''[[Lady Death]]''. There was a time when this kind of material made up 90% of the material produced by [[Avatar Press]]. The "Bad Girls" genre has more or less died out, however some series like this (most notably [[Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose]]) are still around.
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An overly dark, cynical tone appeared even in works for which such a tone was unsuitable. While not always a [[Deconstruction]] of [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]], it was certainly a [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|deliberate opposition]], and although touted as being more adult and mature, in too many cases the works produced during the age were no more sophisticated than or superior to earlier, 'immature' works -- merely nastier.
Big Events and [[Crisis Crossover|Crisis Crossovers]] were also immensely common by this point, with events such as [[Superman]] [[The Death of Superman|dying and being replaced by feuding alternatives]], [[Batman]] [[Knightfall|having his back broken and]] [[Anti-Hero Substitute|replaced by a considerably more psychotic]] [[Azrael|individual]], the [[Silver Age]] [[Green Lantern]] [[Zero Hour|turning evil]] and [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] [[The Clone Saga|being replaced by a clone]]. Even [[Wonder Woman]] and the [[Flash]] were briefly replaced by darker doppelgangers, and [[
[[Broken Base|Opinion is divided]] on when -- or even if -- the Dark Age ended. Earliest estimates put it in the mid-to-late 1990s. In 1995, the critically acclaimed ''[[Astro City]]'', a [[Reconstruction|love letter]] to super-heroes of the Silver Age Style debuted. 1996 saw the publishing of ''[[Kingdom Come]]'', a brutal, barefisted [[Deconstruction]] of [[Darker and Edgier|the direction comics had been going in for the past ten years]]. 1996 also saw the end of ''[[
In at least one medium, the [[Dark Age]] is still going strong; [[Comic Book Adaptation|superhero movies]] have been increasingly focusing on much darker takes on superheroes, primarily represented by the release of ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' in 2008 and [[The Movie]] of ''[[Watchmen (film)|Watchmen]]'' in 2009. (Rather fitting, knowing [[Watchmen (comics)|what]] [[The Dark Knight Returns
As for the men who arguably started it all, at least one later appeared less-than-impressed by what followed. Moore became one of the era's most outspoken critics, revamping ''[[Supreme]]'' -- originally a standard grimdark Superman clone -- into an in-depth exploration of the Superman myth and what made it work, and many of his works for his America's Best Comics line, such as ''Tom Strong'', display a notable [[Lighter and Softer]] tone in order to balance the extremes of this era. The other, Miller, seems to be more on the fence, with his later works, including ''[[The Dark Knight Strikes Again]]'' and ''[[All Star Batman and Robin]]'' either [[Self-Deprecation|openly making fun of his own earlier work]] or providing a terrible example of its worst excesses, depending on who you talk to.
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* ''[[Spawn]]'' (The scion of [[Image]] and the model for its many imitators)
* [[The Maxx]] came out of this era, and while the series was published by [[Image]] and the titular character may look the part, the series itself is far stranger, more metaphorical and a good deal smarter than the other stuff that came out around this time, and thus it receives a far better reputation than many of its contemporaries nowadays.
* ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' (Along with ''[[
* ''[[The Punisher]]'' (This pre-existing ultra-violent [[Anti-Hero]] [[Vigilante Man]]'s stock went way, way up)
* ''[[Batman]]: [[Batman: Year One|Year One]]'' (Went hand-in-hand with ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]'' in defining Frank Miller's vision of the Caped Crusader)
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* ''Body Bags'', Which, like the above mentioned Doom Comic is notable only because it perfectly illustrates the excesses of the age. An indie comic about an estranged father/daughter assassin team, and how they grow to tolerate one another. The story ''starts'' with people getting ventilated and Clownface (the father) sticking a knife into the abdomen of a pregnant crackhead and ''[[Dead Baby Comedy|joking about it]]'', and goes from there. Oh, and the daughter, Panda, is a fourteen year old with [[Most Common Superpower|unusually large breasts]], constantly wears a cheerleader uniform, and spends most of each issue [[Ms. Fanservice|bent over or spread-eagled]].
* ''[[Zero Hour]]'': A 1994 [[Crisis Crossover]] from [[DC Comics]]. Relatively tame by this page's standards, it was nonetheless about a [[Silver Age]] hero's descent into madness, forcing his friends to fight and apparently kill him. Also featured the deaths of many surviving [[Golden Age]] [[Justice Society of America]] characters in a brutally quick and dismissive fashion.
* ''[[
* ''[[Transformers Generation 2]]'' actually took this time in its stride, further deepening the series mythos and taking full advantage of [[Anyone Can Die]]. It mostly failed due to the unrealistic sales expectations being placed upon the series. (It actually sold ''better'' than some titles that are considered quite successful.)
* ''[[Starman (Comic Book)|Starman]]'', which started out as a spinoff of ''[[Zero Hour]]'' but surpassed its originator in terms of quality. A thorough exploration of the [[Legacy Character]] concept that delved into DC's rich history like few comics before it and helped lead the way to the [[Modern Age]].
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Usually accepted as beginning with the publishing of ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' and ''[[
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