History TooBleakStoppedCaring / ComicBooks

* The ''ComicBook/{{Arawn}}'' graphic novel series tells the story of the eponymous EvilOverlord that rules the underworld and details how he came to be this way. It's hard to get invested already as it is, due to the ForegoneConclusion stating that he lost everyone he loved and was betrayed by those he trusted in the prologue, but as the story unfolds, virtually none of the supporting cast come out in a sympathetic light since they commit some truly heinous atrocities or make the situation worse than it already is. Not even [[DistressedDamsel Deidre]], who is most likely to garner sympathy from readers is above crossing the line when she [[spoiler:[[MoralEventHorizon kills her innocent son]] to spite his father in revenge for [[RevengeByProxy killing her child with Arawn]].]]

* The ComicBook/{{Arawn}} graphic novel series tells the story of the eponymous EvilOverlord that rules the underworld and details how he came to be this way. It's hard to get invested already as it is, due to the ForegoneConclusion stating that he lost everyone he loved and was betrayed by those he trusted in the prologue, but as the story unfolds, virtually none of the supporting cast come out in a sympathetic light since they commit some truly heinous atrocities or make the situation worse than it already is. Not even [[DistressedDamsel Deidre]], who is most likely to garner sympathy from readers is above crossing the line when she [[spoiler:[[MoralEventHorizon kills her innocent son]] to spite his father in revenge for [[RevengeByProxy killing her child with Arawn]].]]
* The ''Borgia'' series by Creator/AlejandroJodorowsky has as its protagonists the notorious Borgia family, who kill, rape, and torture their way into power. You may better remember their patriarch, Rodrigo, as the final boss from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII''. They operate in a world full of other raping, murdering, torturing assholes. You know something is off when ChurchMilitant killjoy Savonrola is ''likeable'' compared to our heroes.

* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': The world is so grimdark that there's hardly anyone to root for. Let's see, it's set on a hellworld where the wicked are rewarded by being turned into powerful monsters and the good are punished by being turned into less powerful monsters, the whole culture is built around violence, bloodshed, and betraying anyone you can, and the gods are terrible eldritch entities at war with each other. Even the main character is an ex-Nazi who is the reincarnation of possibly the most evil character in the setting.

* ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' was stated by its [[Creator/KieronGillen author]] to be a story not meant to be enjoyed, with the author's intent being to [[{{Deconstruction}} utterly demolish]] the typical comic book themes of HeroicSpirit, UnderdogsNeverLose and StupidJetpackHitler. It's UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, [[StupidJetpackHitler and Hitler got himself a shiny new weapon]] in the form of [[PersonOfMassDestruction super-powered soldiers]], with the rest of the comic being one [[{{Gorn}} absurdly-gory slaughterfest]] after another absurdly-gory slaughterfest performed by these super-soldiers as the Allies rush to find something, ''anything'', that can provide them a fighting chance. Good guys with a strong desire to win get slaughtered mercilessly, bad guys walk away to fight another day even in the worst situations they get into, the RedShirtArmy soldiers on all sides are about as useful as a new coat of paint (and quickly ''become'' a new coat of paint)... the story can be described as "let's take the Second World War, crank the bloodshed and horror up, and brutally snuff out any reason we can think of to make the reader feel hopeful that maybe things might get better". The author ''has'' become aware of this trope and has [[AuthorsSavingThrow made an effort to avert this]] in later issues, but whether he actually succeeds or not is still debatable.

* Many think that the comic ''Comicbook/{{Invincible}}'' went over the edge, as it started off as a fun parody of superheroes with some dramatic elements but then got too complicated and too mean-spirited. Many of the characters become unlikable either because they do nothing to stop evil or they just turn into straight up-jerks, and it feels like many of the harsher moments happen simply for shock-value.

* The premise of the ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' comic franchise is "you think the ZombieApocalypse would be awesome? [[{{Deconstruction}} Wrong]]!" coupled with "let's see how we can make each atrocity more {{Gorn}}-filled and horrific than the last one" and sprinkled with a dash of "[[AnyoneCanDie almost everyone's gonna die horribly]]". The original comic (retroactively tilted ''Volume One'' when the later comics rolled around) by Creator/GarthEnnis was already different to Ennis' other works; whereas the others tend to balance the dark and often nihilistic subject matter with moments of levity (albeit usually [[BlackComedy dark in nature]]), ''Volume One'' often tended to be quite grim and serious and comedy, while not entirely absent, is often a lot rarer. It was refreshing for Ennis back when it began, as the tragic events and eventual DownerEnding were well integrated into the plot, and plenty of the gruesome moments were visually hidden via GoryDiscretionShot so as to not overuse the shock value. The later comics with different writers[[note]]Of which Ennis only had involvement in one, that being ''Badlands''' arc "Of the World in Its Becoming".[[/note]], however, throw any plot-shock relations out the window in favor of showing the gruesomeness in all its detail whenever the writers could, combined with repetitive storylines and flat or unlikable characters. This means that a comic or arc's plot can often risk turning into a chain of escalating unpleasant and gruesome events happening to doomed people in an atmosphere of unrelenting misery, making it easy for burnout to set in.

* The premise of the ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' comic franchise is "you think the ZombieApocalypse would be awesome? [[{{Deconstruction}} Wrong]]!" coupled with "let's see how we can make each atrocity more {{Gorn}}-filled and horrific than the last one" and sprinkled with a dash of "[[AnyoneCanDie almost everyone's gonna die horribly]]". The original comic (retroactively tilted ''Volume One'' when the later comics rolled around) by Creator/GarthEnnis was already different to Ennis' other works; whereas the others tend to balance the dark and often nihilistic subject matter with moments of levity (albeit usually [[BlackComedy dark in nature]]), ''Volume One'' often tended to be quite grim and serious and comedy, while not entirely absent, is often a lot rarer. It was refreshing for Ennis back when it began, as the tragic events and eventual DownerEnding were well integrated into the plot, and plenty of the gruesome moments were visually hidden via GoryDiscretionShot so as to not overuse the shock value. The later comics with different writers[[note]]Of which Ennis only had involvement in one, that being ''Badlands''' arc "Of the World in Its Becoming".[[/note]], however, throw any plot-shock relations out the window in favor of showing the gruesome in all its detail whenever the writers could, combined with repetitive storylines and flat or unlikable characters. This means that a comic or arc's plot can often risk turning into a chain of escalating unpleasant and gruesome events happening to doomed people in an atmosphere of unrelenting misery, making it easy for burnout to set in.

* The premise of the ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' comic franchise is "you think the ZombieApocalypse would be awesome? [[{{Deconstruction}} Wrong]]!" coupled with "let's see how we can make each atrocity more {{Gorn}}-filled and horrific than the last one" and sprinkled with a dash of "[[AnyoneCanDie almost everyone's gonna die horribly]]". The original comic (retroactively tilted ''Volume One'' when the later comics rolled around) by Creator/GarthEnnis was already different to Ennis' other works; whereas the others tend to balance the dark and often nihilistic subject matter with moments of levity (albeit usually [[BlackComedy dark in nature]]), ''Volume One'' often tended to be quite grim and serious and comedy, while not entirely absent, is often a lot rarer. It was refreshing for Ennis back when it began, as the tragic events and eventual DownerEnding were well integrated into the plot, and plenty of the gruesome moments were visually hidden via GoryDiscretionShot so as to not overuse the shock value. The later comics with different writers[[note]]Of which Ennis only had involvement in one, that being ''Badlands''' arc "Of the World in Its Becoming".[[/note]], however, throw any plot-shock relations out the window in favor of showing the gruesome in all its detail whenever the writers could, combined with repetitive storylines and flat or unlikable characters. This means that a comic or arc's plot can often risk turning into a chain of escalating unpleasant and gruesome events happening to doomed people in an atmosphere of unrelenting misery, making it easy for burn-out to set in.

* ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}''. The premise of the series is "you think the ZombieApocalypse would be awesome? [[{{Deconstruction}} Wrong]]!" coupled with "let's see how we can make each atrocity more {{Gorn}}-filled and horrific than the last one" and sprinkled with a dash of "[[AnyoneCanDie almost everyone's gonna die horribly]]". However, unlike a lot of Creator/GarthEnnis's work, which tends to balance the dark and often nihilistic subject matter with moments of levity (albeit usually [[BlackComedy black in nature]]), the works in the ''Crossed'' series often tend to be quite grim and serious and such moments, while not entirely absent, are often a lot rarer. This means that the series can often risk turning into a series of escalating unpleasant and gruesome events happening to doomed people in an atmosphere of unrelenting misery, meaning that it's easy for burn-out to set in.

* As brutal as ''Series/TheBoys'' can be, [[ComicBook/TheBoys the comic was much darker]]. But even with people who like dark... well... see above about the difference between conflict and ''meaningful'' conflict. When you've got BlackAndGrayMorality taken to the point that the closest thing to 'good guys' we've got amounts to "every faction is a bunch of amoral killers, but when ''that'' bunch of amoral killers are tearing people into chunky salsa, it's to people worse than themselves often enough that they ''sometimes'' seem like the lesser evil," and every issue trying to out-horrify the last, do you have a compelling story where a lot of bad stuff happens, or is it total bleakness that makes it easy to stop caring for anyone?

* ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}''. The premise of the series is basically "you think the ZombieApocalypse would be awesome? [[{{Deconstruction}} Wrong]]!" coupled with "let's see how we can make each atrocity more {{Gorn}}-filled and horrific than the last one" and sprinkled with a dash of "[[AnyoneCanDie almost everyone's gonna die horribly]]". However, unlike a lot of Creator/GarthEnnis's work, which tends to balance the dark and often nihilistic subject matter with moments of levity (albeit usually [[BlackComedy black in nature]]), the works in the ''Crossed'' series often tend to be quite grim and serious and such moments, while not entirely absent, are often a lot rarer. This means that the series can often risk turning into a series of escalating unpleasant and gruesome events happening to doomed people in an atmosphere of unrelenting misery, meaning that it's easy for burn-out to set in.

** ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}''. In a fight between a group of nihilistic, mass-murdering, serial-raping assholes who want to continue ruling the world in secret and a group of nihilistic, mass-murdering, serial-raping assholes who want to rule the world openly, why should the reader really care who wins? Heck, you might as well root for the series' antagonist, Mr. Rictus. At least ''he's'' good for some BlackComedy (if you're amused by the slaughter of children). The YouBastard ending seems to indicate that the author himself hates both the story, and anyone who read it through to the end. One of the possible interpretations is that he's condemning anyone who could accept a universe so devoid of hope. Like ''Kick-Ass'', [[Film/{{Wanted}} the movie]] [[http://thedissolve.com/features/forgotbusters/914-wanted-improved-on-its-its-inspiration-by-throwing/ gets more love for embracing fun instead of nihilism]].

* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': The world is so grimdark that there's hardly anyone to root for. Let's see, it's set on a hellworld where the wicked are rewarded by being turned into powerful monsters and the good are punished by being turned into less powerful monsters, the whole culture is built around violence, bloodshed, and betraying anyone you can, and even the gods are terrible eldritch entities at war with each other. Even the main character is an ex-Nazi who is the reincarnation of possibly the most evil character in the setting.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'' has taken a darker tone on Franchise/TransformersGeneration1; the Autobots before the war weren't saints as the ones in the present, who aren't always as nice as we used to know them. Their relations with the humans who fear and hate them aren't good, all thanks to the Decepticons who are as ruthless as ever. Even though the Autobots have saved Cybertron, their victory seems hollow. A band of Cybertronians who fled the war blame both sides for tearing Cybertron apart, Optimus steps down as Prime as part of a deal so that the Autobots can stay and goes into exile. Meanwhile an even greater threat looms, as an entire universe called the Dead Universe seeks to extinguish all life in normal space. ''More Than Meets The Eye'' has largely averted this trope by actually having the heroes succeed and keeping them sympathetic while not playing up the darker ideas as much (or at least toning them down significantly), but its sister series ''Robots In Disguise'' is steadily slipping into it. Some fans have started abandoning ''Robots In Disguise'' because unlike MTMTE it sometimes gets ''really depressing''.\\

* ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' was stated by its [[Creator/KieronGillen author]] to be a story not meant to be enjoyed, with the author's intent being to [[{{Deconstruction}} utterly demolish]] the typical comic book themes of HeroicSpirit, UnderdogsNeverLose and StupidJetpackHitler. It's UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, [[StupidJetpackHitler and Hitler got himself a shiny new weapon]] in the form of [[PersonOfMassDestruction super-powered soldiers]], with the rest of the comic being one [[{{Gorn}} absurdly-gory slaughterfest]] after another absurdly-gory slaughterfest performed by these super-soldiers as the Allies rush to find something, ''anything'', that can provide them a fighting chance. Good guys with a strong desire to win get slaughtered mercilessly, bad guys walk away to fight another day even in the worst situations they get into, the RedShirtArmy soldiers on all sides are about as useful as a new coat of paint (and quickly ''become'' a new coat of paint)... essentially, the story can be described as "let's take the Second World War, crank the bloodshed and horror up, and brutally snuff out any reason we can think of to make the reader feel hopeful that maybe things might get better". The author ''has'' become aware of this trope and has [[AuthorsSavingThrow made an effort to avert this]] in later issues, but whether he actually succeeds or not is still debatable.

* This is a frequent criticism of the works written by Creator/BrianKVaughan. Vaughan is known for his affinity for common [[{{DarkerAndEdgier}} Darker & Edgier]] and TrueArtIsAngsty tropes in his various comics; including (but not limited to): AnyoneCanDie, DownerEnding, WorldOfJerkass, [[{{GreyAndGrayMorality}} Grey-&-Gray Morality]], [[{{SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism}} Extreme Cynicism]], and [[{{SirSwearsALot}} Characters Swearing to the point that even sailors would find it excessive]]. It is not uncommon in many of his comics, such as ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' and ''[[{{ComicBook/Saga}} Saga]]'', to have it appear that things will [[{{HopeSpot}} improve for the main characters]]... but then an issue or two later to have that [[{{Main/YankTheDogsChain}} taken away]], [[{{Main/SurprisinglySuddenDeath}} have a major character killed rather spontaneously]] (typically one of the more nice & likeable characters), and now [[{{FromBadToWorse}} things are worse than ever for everyone]]. Unsurprisingly, all of this has caused many readers to lose interest in his works since they know, based on the track record, things will never turn out for the better.

* This is a frequent criticism of the works written by Creator/BrianKVaughan. Vaughan is known for his affinity for common [[{{DarkerAndEdgier}} Darker & Edgier]] and TrueArtIsAngsty tropes in his various comics; including (but not limited to): AnyoneCanDie, DownerEnding, WorldOfJerkass, [[{{GreyAndGrayMorality}} Grey-&-Gray Morality]], [[{{SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism}} Extreme Cynicism]], and [[{{SirSwearsALot}} Characters Swearing to the point that even sailors would find it excessive]]. It is not uncommon to see in many of his comics, such as ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' and ''[[{{ComicBook/Saga}} Saga]]'', to have it appear that things will [[{{HopeSpot}} improve for the main characters]]... but in an issue or two later to have that [[{{Main/YankTheDogsChain}} taken away]], [[{{Main/SurprisinglySuddenDeath}} have a major character killed rather spontaneously]] (typically one of the more nice & likeable characters), and now [[{{FromBadToWorse}} things are worse than ever for everyone]]. Unsurprisingly, all of this has caused many readers to lose interest in his works since they know, based on the track record, things will never turn out for the better.

* This is a frequent criticism of the works written by Creator/BrianKVaughan. Vaughan is known for his affinity for common DarkerAndEdgier as well as TrueArtIsAngsty tropes in his various comics; including (but not limited to): AnyoneCanDie, DownerEnding, WorldOfJerkass, GreyAndGrayMorality, and [[{{SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism}} Extreme Cynicism]]. It is not uncommon to see in many of his comics, such as ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' and ''[[{{ComicBook/Saga}} Saga]]'', to have it appear that things will [[{{HopeSpot}} improve for the main characters]]... but in an issue or two later to have that [[{{Main/YankTheDogsChain}} taken away]], [[{{Main/SurprisinglySuddenDeath}} have a major character killed rather spontaneously]], and now [[{{FromBadToWorse}} things are worse than ever for everyone]]. Unsurprisingly, all of this has caused many readers to lose interest in his works since they know, based on the track record, things will never turn out better.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': The ''[[UnwillingRoboticization Metal Virus]]'' arc is a ZombieApocalypse in the ''Sonic'' universe played completely straight, and arguably the bleakest ''Sonic'' tale ever told. While the idea of Sonic and friends being powerless, even helpless for once is an interesting one, what readers actually get in execution is a depressing slog where the heroes '''constantly''' lose whatever small victories they can get, Dr. Eggman and Starline continually make huge strides, and beloved characters undergo a FaceMonsterTurn almost once an issue ([[spoiler:[[WouldHurtAChild even Cream isn't safe!]]]]). So much emphasis is placed on the loss and suffering caused as a result of said robo-zombie apocalypse that a lot of fans just felt burned out by the time the DarkestHour hit and Team Sonic finally started clawing their way back from the brink... [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids and one can only imagine how the target audience must have felt.]] While [[EarnYourHappyEnding things obviously get better for the heroes eventually]], the one-arc-a-year policy results in [[ArcFatigue eight straight issues]] of nonstop loss and misery, which unsurprisingly makes for a very draining read. Not helping issues is that of the villains involved in this plot, one has JokerImmunity and the other is a KarmaHoudini despite gleefully bounding across the MoralEventHorizon—he [[ForegoneConclusion has to survive]] to headline the ''Bad Guys'' subline.

* ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' is obviously not meant to be a light-hearted comic, being set in a ZombieApocalypse, but even for the genre it gets progressively darker over time. Every single gain the characters manage to find is always ruined, many characters continually die in dark and gory ways, and the ones who've managed to stay alive become more and more traumatized until Rick declares [[spoiler: "[[TitleDrop WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD!]]"]] And since the zombie apocalypse is global with no known cure, there seems to be no end in sight. In addition, as usually happens in these kinds of stories, [[BewareTheLiving the humans are more evil and a bigger threat than the zombies.]]

* Creator/BrianAzzarello's ''Loveless'' is a {{Western}} comic about the failure of [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Reconstruction]], and is utterly devoid of sympathy and hope even in comparison to Azzarello's already-quite-dark magnum opus ''Comicbook/OneHundredBullets''. The Northerners are imperialistic bullies, the Southerners are violent, backwards hillbillies, both are disgustingly racist, and by the end there isn't a single major character that hasn't committed either murder or rape, even the ex-slave who might otherwise be the most sympathetic character. Halfway through, the DecoyProtagonist dies a pathetic and pointless death, and focus shifts to his vengeful wife who swears a [[Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet Sweeney Todd]]-esque vendetta to [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery murder the entire town as payback for his death]]. And unlike Sweeney, ''[[KillEmAll she succeeds]]''. The series was quickly canceled and the final three-issue epilogue arc resolved little but the fates of a few minor characters that escaped the slaughter, none of which were pleasant.

** ''ComicBook/KickAss''. Anyone who seems to be in the right is quickly revealed to be naive or secretly an asshole; the main character is a spineless worm who's deluding himself into thinking he can be a hero, while the primary hero character [[spoiler:is an utter tool who has turned his daughter into a violent criminal to live out his own dreams]]. And yet the people they fight against are even worse. There's a reason a ''lot'' of people prefer the [[Film/KickAss movie's]] significantly more idealistic take on the story.
** ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies''-- {{Funny Animal}}s get raped and abused as [[FisherKing their world is transformed]] by their KarmaHoudini serial killer/child molester creator. While some read it in horror and disgust, most who read it in the years after its publication find the comic to be a painfully dull example of the SubvertedKidsShow, with most of its humor derived from pure shock comedy that quickly bores more than surprises due to how constant and unrelenting its dark jokes are. It's telling that Miller himself would [[OldShame go on to disown the comic]] and refuse to even talk about it when asked.

* The ComicBook/{{Arawn}} graphic novel series tells the story of the eponymous EvilOverlord that rules the underworld and details how he came to be this way. It's hard to get invested already as it is, due to the ForegoneConclusion stating that he lost everyone he loved and was betrayed by those he trusted in the prologue, but as the story unfolds, virtually none of the supporting cast come out in a sympathetic light since they commit some truly heinous atrocities or make the situation worse than it already is. Not even [[DistressedDamsel Deidre]], who is most likely to garner sympathy from readers is above crossing the line when [[spoiler:[[MoralEventHorizon kills her innocent son]] to spite his father in revenge for [[RevengeByProxy killing her child with Arawn]].]]

* As brutal as ''Series/TheBoys'' can be, [[ComicBook/TheBoys the comic was much darker]]. But even with people who like dark... well... see above about the difference between conflict and ''meaningful'' conflict. When you've got BlackAndGrayMorality taken to the point that the closest thing to 'good guys' we've got amounts to "every faction is a bunch of amoral killers, but when ''that'' bunch of amoral killers are tearing people into chunky salsa, it's to people worse than themselves often enough that they ''sometimes'' seem like the lesser evil," and every issue trying to out-horrify the last, do you have a compelling story where a lot of bad stuff happens, or is it total bleakness that makes it easy to say the EightDeadlyWords?

* ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' is obviously not meant to be a light-hearted comic, being set in a ZombieApocalypse, but even for the genre it gets progressively darker over time. Every single gain the characters manage to find is always ruined, many characters continually die in dark and gory ways, and the ones who've managed to stay alive become more and more traumatized until Rick declares [[spoiler: "[[TitleDrop WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD!]]"]] And since the zombie apocalypse is global with no known cure, there seems to be no end in sight. In addition, as [[BewareTheLiving usually happens in these kinds of stories]], [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters the humans are more evil]] [[EvilVersusEvil and a bigger threat than the zombies.]]

** ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies''-- {{Funny Animal}}s get raped and abused as [[FisherKing their world is transformed]] by their KarmaHoudini serial killer/child molester creator. While some read it in horror and disgust, most who read it in the years after its publication find the comic to be a painfully dull example of the SubvertedKidsShow, with most of its humor derived from pure shock comedy that quickly bores more than surprises due to how constant and unrelenting its dark jokes are.

** ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies''-- {{Funny Animal}}s get raped and abused as [[FisherKing their world is transformed]] by their KarmaHoudini serial killer/child molester creator. While some read it in horror and disgust, most who read it in the years after its publications find the comic to be a painfully dull example of shock humor that gives you little-to-no reason to care about any of these characters and the horrible things that are happening to them. It's telling that even Miller himself has disowned the comic and refuses to speak about it.

** ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies''-- {{Funny Animal}}s get raped and abused as [[FisherKing their world is transformed]] by their KarmaHoudini serial killer/child molester creator. Most who read it find the comic to be painfully dull remnant of mid-2000s internet ShockHumor that gives you little-to-no reason to care about any of these characters and the horrible things that are happening to them. It's telling that even Miller himself has disowned the comic and refuses to speak about it.

** ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies''-- {{Funny Animal}}s get raped and abused as [[FisherKing their world is transformed]] by a KarmaHoudini serial killer/child molester human. Um, yay?

* UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, with its heavy use of BlackAndGrayMorality was prone to this. The villains were all absolutely detestable, but the [[NinetiesAntiHero "heroes"]] ranged from dysfunctional {{Jerkass}}es to murderous borderline psychotics.

[[AC:Creator/DCComics]]
* ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'': The lead character is a murderous SociopathicHero who insults and attacks pretty much everyone around him, including Alfred and Dick Grayson (age twelve), while almost everyone else is stupid, ineffectual, or in the case of Black Canary, as mad and violent as Batman.
* ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' was supposed to mark a shift away from the grimdark that had become (rightly or wrongly) associated with the New 52 era. Instead, it's seen a number of high profile, very dark series, notably Tom King's ongoing ''ComicBook/BatmanRebirth''; the introduction of the Dark Multiverse in the ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' crossover and its fallout in the current Justice League series and elsewhere; the ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'' crossover (in which a hero goes mad and kills a bunch of other heroes); the ''Event Leviathan'' crossover (''also'' in which a hero goes mad and kills a bunch of other heroes); the ''Year of the Villain'' storyline. [[spoiler:''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' seemingly finally makes things right, but not before putting the heroes through absolute hell.]]
** ''ComicBook/BatmanRebirth'' deserves its own entry because its often-cited as the biggest flaw of Tom King's run. After the [[spoiler:failed Batman/Catwoman wedding]], the run saw Bruce take a ''major'' [[TookALevelInJerkass level in jerkass]] that saw him alienate and even abuse several members of the Bat-Family, with every patch excuse for his behavior (the aforementioned [[spoiler:failed wedding]] and the manipulations of a BigBadDuumvirate composed of Bane and [[spoiler:Flashpoint Thomas Wayne]]) either falling flat or making him even more UnintentionallyUnsympathetic. Without a likable protagonist, the run fell into the same pitfall that the above ''All-Star Batman and Robin'' fell into, in that there wasn't ''anyone'' to root for and thus no reason to appreciate any eventual triumphs the characters got.
* ComicBook/{{DC Infinite Frontier}}, and its prototype/sneak peek ComicBook/{{DC Future State}} got this from a lot of DC fans, as the next big phase in DC comics after the last bit of the Rebirth era finally came to an end with Comicbook/DarkNightsDeathMetal is quickly falling into this, with the planned supplementations of many big supers in the verse (including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman), widely disliked status quos for characters and teams (such as Gotham literally turning into a giant futuristic police state, Wally West supposedly being doomed to be possessed by an evil spirit that makes him into a killer or Jon Kent being seen as a jerkass anti-hero) among many others.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hardware}}'' is a deconstruction of the NinetiesAntiHero, in which the titular anti-hero pursues a vendetta against a racist white CorruptCorporateExecutive named Alva, causing all manner of havoc along the way, only to discover that Alva is the only one preventing even worse things from happening, forcing him to work for the villain instead. It's a great treatise on the futile nature of vendettas and anti-heroism, but that doesn't make it a fun read.
* An increasing criticism about about ComicBook/TheJoker is that many writers treat him as less a person and more of an unpredictable, seemingly unstoppable force of chaos who commits acts of gruesome torture (of both the physical and psychological formats) and mass murder, with an ever increasing body count that's often in the four to five digits. Many complain that this not only ruins any comedic value the character is supposed to have, but it also renders Batman's [[ThouShaltNotKill no-kill policy]] absolutely pointless and even a little SecretlySelfish, as it becomes less about him keeping Gotham safe and more about him staying true to his personal code no matter the consequences.
* ''[[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal]]'' was responsible for destroying [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Roy Harper's]] character following his dismemberment at the hands of Prometheus and the death of his daughter in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice''. On the one side there is Roy, reeling from the loss of his only child, grappling with the fact that he may no longer be able to use a bow and arrow, and suffering from impotency and hallucinations (whose source was not clarified as stemming from grief, pain medication, or his infected right arm). He lashes out at his friends and family for trying to help, begins stealing pain killers from Dr. Mid-Nite, goes back on heroin, and turns into a murderous anti-hero after being goaded into killing Prometheus's ally the Electrocutioner (by a hallucination of Lian) then burning down his home. However, on the other side, his friends and family truly don't help the situation that much. They don't seem to have fully understood just what Roy has lost. Dr. Mid-Nite was completely oblivious to the fact that Roy was stealing pain killers, quite easily in fact. Comicbook/{{Cyborg}} designed him a shoddy mechanical arm meant to work around the infected nerve endings in Roy's arm, while simultaneously enhancing his pain and limiting whatever abilities as an archer he had left. [[Franchise/TheFlash Wally West]] does absolutely nothing to help, [[Comicbook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]] stops after Roy accuses her of "whoring around in space with Kyle Rayner" while her husband and son died in a car crash. Though, someone who's gone through everything Donna has should've understood Roy's suffering a little easier. And [[Comicbook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]] consigns to have Roy locked in a substance abuse center for super villains after he has a vivid hallucination while on heroin. Dick does so with the consent of Comicbook/BlackCanary, who washes her hands of Roy and considers him a lost cause. It's hard to root for Roy when he's acting like such an asshole, but given that his family and friends treat his loss with such negligence, it's hard to side with anyone in this comic. [[spoiler:Good thing ''Comicbook/{{Convergence}}'' undid most of the damage.]]
* There's more than a few people thinking that the ComicBook/{{New 52}} was toeing the line on this trope. As an example, the ''[[ComicBook/TheNew52FuturesEnd Future's End]]'' maxi-series (which showcases two increasingly DarkerAndEdgier {{Bad Future}}s and starts with the TerminatorTwosome ''undershooting'' the mark - so the fight to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong is even harder ''because one BadFuture already happened'' - and plenty of evidence that the "lesser" and closer of the Bad Futures - if not both of them - cannot be stopped from happening) and Earth 2's "World's End" (Earth-2 is gonna get blasted so thoroughly to Hell by Apokolips that people will escape from that to ''another dimension'' - "Future's End" shows this, amongst other FromBadToWorse things for the Earth-2 heroes once they arrive to Earth-1, like Apokolips ''chasing after them to finish the job'', "World's End" sees the events leading to them).
* ''ComicBook/OmegaMen'' (2015) is a self-contained SpaceOpera war story starring Franchise/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner in an alien galaxy far away from Earth. On one side is a vast, corrupt, galactic empire that subjugates planets, oppresses its citizens, will murder everyone on a planet for profit, and commit mass murder to keep dissenters in line. On the other side are a bunch of very self-righteous terrorists who feel okay with letting thousands of people get killed if it furthers their goals and kidnap Kyle Rayner to make him into a living bomb. At first you want Kyle Rayner to escape, but then he joins the terrorists side and it's hard to like anybody until the story ends dismally.
* ''ComicBook/TalesFromTheDarkMultiverse'''s mere concept can cause this as it's basically "[[WhatIf What if everything in these classic stories went horribly wrong?"]], including heroes undergoing [[FaceHeelTurn Face-Heel Turns]], plenty of {{Downer Ending}}s, and massive body counts.

[[AC:Creator/MarvelComics]]
* This is the attitude some people have had towards ''Comicbook/AvengersArena''. The promises that the series would feature a lot of deaths by the end has resulted in a heavily BrokenBase, with some people rejecting the book along these lines.
* ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' [[{{Flanderization}} flanderized]] ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} into a {{Jerkass}} and derailed Captain America into being one as well. While the ultimate purpose of the crossover (to undo the damage done in ''Decimation'') was good, the way the crossover was carried out just pissed everybody off.
* Tischman's brief ''ComicBook/{{Cable}}'' run had a sound concept: averting the ReedRichardsIsUseless trope by exploring what would happen if a godlike superhuman intervened in real ([[SpaceWhaleAesop sort of]]) wars. Unfortunately, in execution, the cast consisted of 75% villains (including everyone on both sides of the various conflicts, even the side Cable ostensibly fights for), 21% helpless victims, 3% actually sympathetic characters who accomplish anything, and 1% Cable himself, who is a MightyWhitey played depressingly straight and who flat-out admits that even with all his phenomenal power, he can't really change anything, and that his goal is to make things better for only a handful of people for the immediate future.
* This was the most common criticism about the post-''ComicBook/CivilWar'' Franchise/MarvelUniverse. The heroes, with few-and-far-between exceptions, were written as being either well-intentioned but immensely flawed at the very best or horrible/hypocritical people with flimsy moral standards at worst. Coupled with the villains getting nastier and nastier, it only ensured nobody cared who won. Following the events of ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'', ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' saw Norman Osborn being put in charge of SHIELD and forming his own Avengers team. While the heroes would get small victories here and there, they were still much too divided to do anything to effectively challenge Osborn, who for the most part was always one step ahead of them. It didn't help matters that this era would see the public reach unprecedented levels of TooDumbToLive, blindly eating up everything Osborn and the Dark Avengers want them to believe and demonizing the actual heroes. Thankfully, things began to look up with the resurrection of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, though it wasn't until ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'' that this era would finally be brought to an end, reuniting the Avengers into one team.
* ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' treaded similar ground as its predecessor, the only real change being that it's a debate on whether PreCrimeArrest is a good idea or not ([[spoiler:turns out that the future-seer Inhuman that is central to this plot not only provides ''very'' sketchy information (so a ProphecyTwist is heavily assured), but said visions are only of ''probable'' futures (ScrewDestiny is a pretty heavy possibility, and acting on the visions has a high chance of them becoming a SelfFulfillingProphecy). This information is presented to the pro-PreCrimeArrest faction, who doesn't gives a crap.]]) The whole thing has been written trying to present both sides as sympathetic... [[spoiler:the problem is that this was done by [[StuffedIntoTheFridge stuffing War Machine in a fridge]], and makes both Captain Marvel and Iron Man unable to stop {{wangst}}ing long enough to ask themselves if what they are doing is actually being a WellIntentionedExtremist or just trying to one-up each other]], and on top of this the Inhumans have [[TookALevelInJerkass taken so many levels in jerkass]] that it resulted in a "Mutants vs. Inhumans" storyline. [[ComicBook/MarvelNow2016 the new version of "Marvel Now" that came out of this storyline]] had the MarvelUniverse divided once again (seriously, the TagLine is "Divided, We Stand")... The combination of factors, including it coming up ''very'' shortly after the end of ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', has had some people tossing their hands up and quitting in disgust at what seemed like a new Status Quo, where "LetsYouAndHimFight" keeps happening constantly.
* This is commonly cited as a barrier to entry for ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}''. The series is so dark, and Matt loses so much so often that it's hard to get invested in him as a character.
** Matt falls in love with Karen Page? She moves away to become an actress, gets hooked on drugs, and sells his identity to her dealer. The info makes its way to the Kingpin, who uses it to completely destroy Matt's life. He demolishes the gym Matt's dad went to, gets Matt disbarred from law, and gets him kicked out of his apartment. Matt beats Fisk in a fight? Well, Kingpin knows who Daredevil is... and will forever use it to hurt Matt.
** Karen herself went to resume her relationship with Matt, leave him after he cheats on her with a supervillain, get back together with him again, break up with him again, be told that she's HIV-positive, and then get murdered by Bullseye. A ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' revealed that if she'd survived, Matt would have gone to prison for beating the Kingpin to death.
** Matt has firm {{Secret Keeper}}s, from Foggy, his best friend, to the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk), who makes it a point to not divulge his identity... except to his son, who spreads it among Kingpin's crew. A newcomer gets pissed that Daredevil's allowed to continue hurting criminals, so Kingpin's taken out and Matt is outed in the press. He eventually gets the media to lay off, and he "proves" that he's not Daredevil... and it weighs heavily on his conscious, and people still know he's Daredevil, it's just not in the headlines. And of course, when Matt is being tried for this stuff, the FBI drags its feet, because they want to make an example of him.
** Matt falls in love with, and marries, Milla Donovan. She almost has an emotional breakdown when Matt's in jail, and when Matt busts out, it gets worse. Then, when Matt returns, he's visited by a woman who has the ability to smell like what a person most wants her to smell like; to Matt, she smells like Karen Page. At the same time, Milla's being drugged, and eventually tries to kill the aforementioned woman, but ends up killing an innocent man by accident. She's put in jail, while Matt tries to find a cure for whatever drug is in her system... turns out, there is no cure. The guy who did this, Mister Fear, only did so because Matt was better in law school than him. Fear is incarcerated, but not before transferring all of his assets to the Hood, on condition that he fuck with Matt even more. And Fear has applied the "smell power" to himself, so he lives like a king in prison, while at the same time being safe from all superheroes.
** While Matt is in prison awaiting his never-to-come day in court, he's unable to defend himself, since this would support the FBI's case in proving he's Daredevil. Of course, they know this, and all the criminals know he's Daredevil, so it goes as well as can be expected, and Matt is deemed able to defend himself and put in gen pop. After Foggy visits him, Foggy is stabbed repeatedly, and Matt hears it and tells the guard to help... but he spitefully asks ''how'' Matt knows this, and does nothing. Matt literally hears his best friends being killed, and the Kingpin laughing. It turns out, all of this was not Fisk's plan, but his ''wife's'' (Vanessa), who has done this so that she can force Matt into defending Kingpin in court, so that whatever crime he commits after he's released will be on Matt's conscience. And of course, this will start up their cycle of revenge, which Vanessa wants. Why? Because the two deserve each other and she wants to die knowing that they'll kill each other one day.
** [[Creator/MarkWaid Mark Waid's]] aim for his much LighterAndSofter run on the series was to avoid this, with Waid stating that he wanted to see a Daredevil comic that didn't [[INeedAFreakingDrink drive him to drink.]]
* ''ComicBook/DeadNoMoreTheCloneConspiracy'' has gotten people feeling like this because of two elements: a retcon that during the events of ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'' that Gwen, who'd hated Spider-Man since she blamed him for her father's death, had regain consciousness enough to overhear the Green Goblin call Spider-Man "Peter" and spent her final moments hating Peter, and TheReveal that the BigBad [[spoiler:is really [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider Ben Reilly]], having done a FaceHeelTurn [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil after being killed and resurrected repeatedly by Miles Warren]].]]
* The ''ComicBook/DeadpoolKillsTheMarvelUniverse'' sequel ''Deadpool Killustrated'' [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this as Dreadpool's plan. If he kills enough characters (and their inspirations), people will stop caring about the characters and whether they live or die, thus allowing him to find the oblivion he wants.
* For a one-book example, ''ComicBook/ThePunisherKillsTheMarvelUniverse''. It's basically ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, making for a very bleak story.
* ''ComicBook/{{Outlawed}}'' opens with the apparent death of fan-favorite Viv Vision, the hospitalization of [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]], and the passage of a new law against teenage vigilantism that's also being exploited to harass minority teenagers. The ComicBook/{{Champions|2020}} are now in disarray, the ComicBook/NewWarriors have become government stooges, which is massively out-of-character for them considering how they were victimized during the aforementioned ''Civil War''.
* The two-issue miniseries by Creator/WarrenEllis entitled ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}'', a DarkerAndEdgier take on ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' where pretty much all of the iconic Marvel characters are either dead, horrifically mutilated, corrupt, or insane and Philip Sheldon struggles to get a book about his discoveries and encounters published before succumbing to a lethal virus. There aren't many things as depressingly dark. Made all the worse by Ellis' claim that Ruins was supposed to be a comedy.
* This is a recurring issue with ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', due to Creator/BrianKVaughan's preference for dark stories.
** Throughout the first three runs, the team constantly lost members or were driven from whichever hideout they were using at the time. Their few victories never lasted long, and their failures tended to have more or less permanent consequences, including death. Add in subplots about homophobia, mental illness, and depression, and the series was a hard sell.
** ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'' has the team reforming after two of its members are unexpectedly resurrected, but the old dynamic is not there. Nico is still haunted by the events of ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'', Gert has become so afraid of being abandoned that she is sabotaging her friends' lives so that they won't leave the team, Alex can no longer touch people without repelling them, Victor's wrestling with a SuperpoweredEvilSide, Molly is so lonely that she's begun to pine for her supervillain parents, and Karolina's gradually reverting to a StepfordSmiler. The only Runaway who's actually happy is Klara, and this is only because she chose to get far away from her old friends.
* ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' has ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself as an agent of ComicBook/{{HYDRA}} taking over ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} and ''the world'' in just the first issue. The most powerful heroes have been cast off-world or trapped on Manhattan Island, whoever's left is on the run, kids have been indoctrinated into HYDRA sympathizers (with copious amounts of OrwellianRetcon with their books because of Cap's version of history being mucked about) and everyone was supposed to accept that everything would be set back to normal afterwards? It's no wonder fans were growling out their hatred of this story.
* A lot of Franchise/SpiderMan fans have this problem when his FailureHero status gets a little too out of hand. Howard Mackie's run featured Peter going through one KickTheDog moment after another, losing his job, his wife seemingly dying, and ultimately becoming homeless until fans were all too happy to finally have him off the title. The infamous ''Comicbook/OneMoreDay'' story had him give up his marriage, one of the real good constants in his life, to the equivalent of Satan to save Aunt May and alienated several fans.
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates 3'' and ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' had this effect for the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel comics. ''Ultimates 3'' completely abandoned the superhero deconstruction of the first two miniseries and featured instead a standard story of robot duplicates and a conflict with Magneto. And the awesome cinematic scenes of the first miniseries were replaced by shocking images taken straight from the worst moments of UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. And ''Ultimatum'' was a KillEmAll crossover event that killed off most of the Ultimate cast, usually in cruel, shocking and disgusting ways. This caused a big decline in the interest in the Ultimate comics, which never quite recovered from, even with the surging of ComicBook/MilesMorales and ComicBook/TheMaker.
* A major issue with ''Franchise/XMen'' and all the associated mutant-related titles. Despite major progress in civil rights for racial minorities, women and LGBT people in RealLife during the decades since the ''X-Men'' were first introduced in 1963, in-universe the situation for mutants has remained consistently bleak. Indeed, given the sheer number of canonical {{Bad Future}}s that characters are either predestined to end up in, or in some cases come ''from'', it can seem as if the humans vs. mutants conflict is a ForeverWar with no hope of ever getting any better. This has led some long-time readers to back away from the titles. It should be noted that Creator/ChrisClaremont actually had plans to address this issue decades before Creator/JonathanHickman finally did. With his planned The Shadow King is responsible for the majority of humanity's hatred/fear of Mutants and has been increasing tensions between both groups so he can feed on the Negative Energy it generates.
** The ''X-Men'' franchise is bleak by its very nature, given that they can ''[[StatusQuoIsGod never]]'' stop being feared and hated, but since 2005 this was dialed up with M-Day, an event that reduced mutants from a population of millions to less than 200, with no more on the way. The remaining mutants are reduced to huddling together for protection (inside a walled compound, then inside a different walled compound, then on a tiny island) and trying to avert their own extinction. After years, the thoroughly unpopular plotline was finally resolved, new mutants start appearing again - and then ComicBook/SecretWars2015 happens. When the dust clears, the new status quo is... mutants are on the verge of extinction, no more mutants are being born, and the remaining mutants are huddled together for their own survival. Again. And the less we speak about [[WeAreStrugglingTogether their never-ending desire to be at each other's throats for whichever reason they want to be at each other's throats,]] from love triangles to whoever is the WellIntentionedExtremist-du-jour coming to blows with the ones that aren't so extreme (''yet''), and even the ones that got fed up with all of the crap vs. the ones still aren't (again, ''yet'') and so wish to knuckle down and keep fighting, which is occasionally the reason they aren't as effective against a threat as they should be, with the escalation having reached the point of ''multiple'' '''''consecutive''''' "disbanding" arcs starting with ''Schism'' (if not earlier), the better.
** ''ComicBook/XMenGold'', ''ComicBook/XMenBlue'', ''ComicBook/XMenRed'' and [[ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen Jonathan Hickman's run]] have attempted to address/fix these problems and has even won some former readers back.