The world of comics is filled with all kinds of stories— superheroes, magical fantasies, ghost stories, and heart-warming romances. But comics are kind of infamous for one thing: At some point, things are going to get dark.
This can happen halfway through a story or in a spin-off or sequel. Sometimes, this is done to help the series be seen as “serious,” although it could just be that a new author has a soft spot for the dark and edgy and wants to take things in a new direction. There are even times this is done to appease fans who think things are too light. And this can happen with all sorts of comics, from smaller indie titles to long-running, well-known properties.
10 Cerebus The Aardvark: This Phenomenon Is Named After This Comic
This indie comic is so infamous for the dark direction it took that comic book fans literally use the term “Cerebus Syndrome” to describe the trend of a comic becoming darker and edgier.
The series originally started as a rather silly parody of Conan the Barbarian with an aardvark as the hero. Eventually, the series became progressively more serious and started discussing controversial themes. Towards the end of the original run, Cerebus, the titular aardvark, is panicking while dragged off to the afterlife, implying he ends up damned to Hell— although later comics have offered alternate interpretations.
9 Spider-Man: If Gwen Stacy’s Death Didn’t Start It, It Certainly Solidified It
Spider-Man had a few dark moments at the start— notably with the murder of Uncle Ben— but was a lighthearted series during its early run, especially focusing on a kid superhero. The Mexican comics version of Spider-Man even allowed him to marry his love-interest Gwen Stacy, and then revealed the story to be a dream in a very classic sitcom-esque fashion.
The death of Gwen Stacy, as well as the earlier death of her father, George Stacy, are often considered a turning point to the comics taking a darker turn. Emphasizing how serious her death was, it is infamously one of the few deaths in comics that rarely gets retconned or reversed.
8 X-Men: Mutant Powers Weren’t Always Shown To Be Such A Good Thing
In earlier stories, the X-Men tended to be drawn as relatively attractive and humanoid enough to pass as humans, which had the in-series explanation of adding to the supposed paranoia behind mutants since they could look like anyone else. Usually, only the unsympathetic villains were physically distorted by their powers and they reveled in it. Later stories would introduce heroic mutants whose powers had left them in less-than-ideal physical conditions— like Beak, who is essentially turned into a giant chicken.
Characters’ backstories have often been changed to become darker throughout the series, such as later stories bringing out the idea of Magneto being a Holocaust survivor.
7 Batman: The Camp Ended With The TV Show
While Batman has often been seen as one of the darker superheroes to begin with, many fans have noted the end of the 1960s series marked an end to the campiness of the comics— although this has often been seen as a return to earlier stories.
Robin is a character that especially gets darker when a new character takes on the mantle, with Jason Todd and Damian Wayne especially being seen as some of the darker incarnations of the character. “A Death in the Family,” featuring the death of Robin, arguably marked a new tonal low for the series.
6 Superman: The Bronze Age Was Not Too Kind To Superman
Superman’s adventures were especially light-hearted during the Silver Age, usually with him fighting off against supernatural threats. The ’40s and ’50s were filled with stories like him going back in time to meet Cinderella or him stopping real-life musician Pat Boone from writing a song about him.
The Bronze Age, however, started to take him into a darker turn, with Supergirl being killed off and him losing various other allies. For some fans, Superman’s dark turn peaked with the 1960s story, “The Death of Superman,” although it was originally treated as an imaginary tale.
5 Teen Titans: The 1980s Were Hard For The Team
Being younger than average superheroes, most of the early Teen Titans comics were very lighthearted, with the teen heroes helping other teenagers and series often making use of famous sidekick characters. However, things would take a turn by the 1980s.
For some readers, one of the first major twists taking the Teen Titans to the dark side was the reveal that Terra was a villainous mole in “The Judas Contract.” Even The New Teen Titans ends with the Titans being captured by Brother Blood, without the story being given a proper resolution.
4 Vampirella: Vampi Lost Her Campy Sci-Fi Elements As The Years Went On
In general, Vampirella’s personality plays on whatever’s trendy in horror at the time, with her going from an Elvira-inspired snarker to a monster-fighting heroine like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That said, her original stories were known to be somewhat campy.
The famous retcon of her going from a vampire-like alien to being the daughter of Lilith can be seen as one of the more famous attempts to make her edgy, especially as it marked the series distancing itself from sci-fi elements. But the 2010s comics especially took the series to dark places, with Vampi’s allies being killed off and the world turning against her.
3 Wonder Woman: Themyscira Isn’t Always A Paradise
Wonder Woman’s stories have become darker over the years. This can be seen in elements like Diana becoming more willing to kill to Etta Candy’s dwindling role in the series.
Even the Amazons’ backstories tend to get darker depending on the story. The debut comic made them warriors of Aphrodite, but other stories have made them survivors of a kingdom whose men were killed by a plague or even the reincarnated souls of abused women. Added to that, Themyscira had often gone from a genuine paradise to just keeping up appearances of one.
2 Daredevil: Even His Costume Shows His March Into Darkness
Daredevil was relatively a lighthearted character in his early years, but, similar to fellow Marvel hero Spider-Man, the death of his love interest helped solidify his transition into one of Marvel’s grittiest characters. In fact, his love interests being killed off would end up becoming a running theme.
Even Daredevil’s costume went through an edgier transformation. Before he would gain his more well-known red costume, likely a play on him being a “devil,” his original costume was originally mostly a bright yellow.
1 Paperinik: Donald Duck Isn’t Above Going Dark
Even Donald Duck can become dark and edgy when the opportunity presents itself. For some fans, gaining a superhero alter-ego, Paperinik, in the Italian comics was the start of this.
But even by the sequel series, Paperinik’s world would bring about abusive relationships and characters committing suicide. Paperinik’s adventures are also known for avoiding the comic book trope of reviving characters after being killed off.
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