[[Comicbook/FantasticFour http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/FF.jpg]]
[[caption-width:300:Yeah... it was kind of like that. Also, why does the Invisible Woman have two navels!?]]
->''1993 was the year [[TheDeathOfSuperman Superman died]] and Venom got his own series. Just keep that in mind.''
-->--Marvel Year In Review, 1993

->''It's time to talk about a period of'' '''bleakness''', ''a period of'' '''twisted humanoid aberrations''' ''and the'' '''decay''' ''of human'' '''morality!''' ''This is also known as the Dark Age of Comics.''
-->--[[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Linkara]]

->''I tend to think that I've seen a lot of things over the past 15 years that have been a bizarre echo of somebody else's bad mood. It's not even their bad mood, it's mine, but they're still working out the ramifications of me being a bit grumpy 15 years ago.''
-->--'''AlanMoore''' on what he partially set in motion.

The Dark Age, also known as the Iron Age, the Rust Age, the Lead Age or the Chrome Age, was the culmination of the move towards an older audience for {{Comic Book}}s, including superhero books, that had started in the BronzeAge. It was encouraged and supported by the semi-coincidental rise of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_market "direct market"]] comic book shops, which were not covered by the ComicsCode and thus could sell books that did not have Code approval, and which also served as a convenient gathering place for fans of the medium to meet and discuss them. The Dark Age is a controversial period amongst comic book fans, usually characterized as a DarkerAndEdgier period with an increased emphasis placed on sex and violence -- which was, [[YourMilageMayVary depending on who you ask]], either a welcome breath of fresh air after the medium languishing so long in its own version of the AnimationAgeGhetto, or a period of grotesque excess and immaturity. [[TakeAThirdOption Or both.]]

The DarkAge is usually agreed to have begun proper in 1986, although some works with DarkAge sensibilities such as [[AlanMoore Alan Moore's]] ''VForVendetta'', and [[FrankMiller Frank Miller's]] ''Ronin'' had debuted a few years previously. A watershed year in comics, 1986 saw DCComics produced both FrankMiller's ''TheDarkKnightReturns'' and AlanMoore's ''{{Watchmen}}'', both of which proved to be well-received, notable works which went on to become classics of the genre in their own right, but were particularly seminal inspirations for what followed. The former a return to Comicbook/{{Batman}}'s roots as a dark and gritty crime-fighter, the latter a {{deconstruction}} of the {{Superhero}} genre as a whole, both were notable for infusing the genre with increased political, character and thematic complexity which had rarely been seen in previous works, in particular with their implications and depictions of superheroes as being neurotic, psychologically and sexually tormented {{Anti Hero}}es whose violent methods masked a whole range of psychological problems. Whilst the BronzeAge had already seen superhero comics become more serious, challenging the restrictions of the ComicsCode in the process, these works in particular kick-started a trend for creating superhero-themed comics for a more adult audience than had previously been targeted. 1986 also saw the wholescale [[{{Retcon}} rewriting]] of TheDCU [[PostCrisis following]] ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', and as editors began to pick and choose what stayed and what was discarded, it seemed increasingly clear that more of the LighterAndSofter elements were being removed.

In order to do so whilst still nominally keeping their main universes kid-friendly, the main companies began to set-up and use "imprints", sub-publications of a company that specialized in specific content for people with certain interests. One of the most successful imprints was [[DCComics DC's]] VertigoComics, which specialized in a [[{{Revision}} re-imagining]] of obscure characters from TheDCU in DarkerAndEdgier contexts. Whilst this was nominally to distinguish works aimed for more adult audiences from works which were still aimed at children, the mainstream universes were in many ways also becoming more complex and grown-up.

Also around this time, creator-owned companies began to gain prominence following disputes between creatives and [[ExecutiveMeddling executives]] over issues such as creators' rights and the restrictions of the ComicsCode, the influence of which was steadily weakening. Whilst most were [[SturgeonsLaw ultimately of little consequence]], several would go on to become successful and important to the material that would consequently be produced. In 1986, Mike Richardson formed DarkHorseComics out of his chain of same-named comicbook stores in Portland, Oregon. [[DarkHorseComics Darkhorse]] would prove to be one of the most versatile comics companies, publishing licensed works such as comics set in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse, along side popular and critically acclaimed creator owned comics such as {{Hellboy}} and SinCity, [[DarkHorseComics Darkhorse]] was also an early distributor of English translated manga such as {{Akira}}. In 1989 Jim Shooter, Marvel's former editor in cheif, and other top writers from Marvel formed ValiantComics following the failure of ''TheNewUniverse'' (itself debuting in, of all years, 1986). [[ValiantComics Valiant]] was founded on the same principals as TheNewUniverse, namely, a comic book universe focused on Hard SciFi, internal consistency, strong character driven storylines, and a lack of ComicBookTime. These would go on to pave the way for the creation of ImageComics, a key source of the bulk of the DarkAge's most influential and commercially successful content, in 1992 following a dispute between seven of MarvelComics' top artists over creator's rights. Image, founded on the principles that [[ProtectionFromEditors creators were entirely in control of their own product]], were entirely free of the ComicsCode and with some of the most popular creators of the time on board, they became known for two things: comics that relied heavily on sex and violence, and comics that sold like wildfire. Naturally, the success of Image prompted the other companies to sit up, take notice, and try their hardest to catch the same lightning.

Meanwhile over at Marvel, the change was more subtle and gradual. A major milestone came in 1990, when RobLiefeld -- a key figure in the DarkAge -- began his run on the {{X-Men}} SpinOff ''[[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} The New Mutants]]'', which introduced the character of [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/New_Mutants.jpg Cable]], a major TropeCodifier for the NinetiesAntiHero; originally designed as a villain, Liefeld re-used him to fulfill an editorial mandate calling for the introduction of a [[BadAss "man of action"]] to act as a foil to Xavier's more gentle style of leadership.

The result of all of this was comics that adopted more adult sensibilities and began to focus on mature themes and content, breaking free both of the old constraints that had held comics back and the age-old stereotype that comic books were a medium solely for children. The nature of this content has been hotly contested by fans with regards to it's quality. Certainly, this age produced a lot of widely-acclaimed and notable works by creators who used the new lack of constraints to transcend the old limitations and develop stories that were interesting, imaginative, complex and mature, embracing the possibilities of the medium and going beyond the traditional literature in the process. NeilGaiman's ''TheSandman'' debuted at VertigoComics in 1989 and was widely acclaimed for it's richly imaginative and complex characters and dreamlike narrative, while GrantMorrison [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs was exploring reality, fiction and the difference between the two]] in works like ''DoomPatrol'' and ''AnimalMan''. Independent creators were using the freedom given to them to create interesting and exciting new characters without having to tie them to the old corporate universes, such as Todd [=McFarlane=]'s ''{{Spawn}}'' and Erik Larsen's ''TheSavageDragon''.

However, [[YourMilageMayVary some]] ([[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch mostly fans of the Silver Age]]) argued that in too many cases "mature" content was actually closer to "adolescent"; while many creators were taking inspiration from ''TheDarkKnightReturns'' and ''{{Watchmen}}'', many had completely missed the point, focussing [[MisaimedFandom merely on the surface details]] in order to FollowTheLeader without coupling them with the depth of narrative and the thematic and psychological complexity that had made these works unique and well received.

Many of the characters introduced in the period seemed to be [[NinetiesAntiHero deeply disturbed and unpleasant 'heroes']] who were frequently accused of being little more than psychotic thugs. More than a few of these works were poorly-written or -drawn; this was perhaps connected to the popularity of the work of RobLiefeld during this time, who was so frequently imitated that even his shortcomings as an artist began to appear in the work of other creators.

The characterisation and physical depictions of [[MsFanservice women]], [[MaleGaze rarely at their most mature to begin with in this genre]], began to plunge to [[MostCommonSuperPower ever]] [[{{Stripperiffic}} more]] [[BoobsOfSteel absurd]] [[OverTheShoulderPose depths]], frequently making the works look immature or even misogynistic in the process, for example, durring the DarkAge there arose an entire sub-genre of "Bad Girls" comics, featuring female characters (usually [[TheVamp Witches, Demons, Vampires,]] etc.) in highly {{Stripperific}} outfits, in borderline pornographic, supernatural themed storylines. There was a time when the smaller company AvatarPress featured allmost exclusivly "Bad Girls" comics, some comics of this style, such as Jim Balent's TarotWitchOfTheBlackRose are still around today, and elements of the "Bad Girls" genre can even be found in [[AlanMoore Alan Moore's]] Promethia.

The mood of the books began to become much more cynical as creators overtly rejected the more cheerful and optimistic tone of previous ages to make the works darker and bleaker, even in works which such a DarkerAndEdgier tone was completely unsuitable for. While not always a {{deconstruction}} of the SilverAge, it was certainly a [[StopHavingFunGuys deliberate opposition]], and although touted as being more adult and mature, in too many cases the works produced during the age were accused of being no more sophisticated than or superior to earlier, 'immature' works -- merely nastier.

This was also the age of the Big Event and the CrisisCrossover, wherein the characters were frequently brought together in order to boost sales and reconstruction of the status quo, usually making things DarkerAndEdgier in the process. The age saw big events such as Comicbook/{{Superman}} [[TheDeathOfSuperman dying and being replaced by feuding alternatives]], Comicbook/{{Batman}} [[{{Knightfall}} having his back broken and]] [[AntiHeroSubstitute replaced by a considerably more psychotic individual]], the SilverAge GreenLantern turning evil and Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} being replaced by a clone. Even WonderWoman and the {{Flash}} were briefly replaced by darker doppelgangers, and {{Aquaman}} lost a hand and [[GrowingTheBeard grew a beard]]. However, many of these events were poorly received by fans, who didn't appreciate their favourite characters being altered beyond recognition, and the constant crossovers tended to interrupt the flow of stories in individual titles (thus making a jumbled mess of ongoing storylines), requiring readers to purchase numerous different books -- including titles they may not particularly like or usually read -- in order to follow the narrative.

While the content of the Age would itself generate great controversy, outside forces would also have a significant impact on the comics of this era and the industry as a whole. The Dark Age is also notable as having coincided the age of the comic collector boom, which would have drastic impact on the industry. Over time, the earliest published comics had appreciated considerably in value, as those who had read the material disposed of the bulk of it, leaving only a few rare copies in existence. Selling rare comics to collectors had been around for decades, but suddenly, mainstream attention began to focus on the profit potential of it.

And the industry soaked it up -- numerous marketing tactics designed expressly to appeal to this collector's market began to appear. Series were relaunched with new #1s. Issues were printed with multiple variant covers so that completists would buy multiple copies of a single issue. Some issues came bagged in mylar, so that one could either read the comic or keep it pristine. Gimmicks like trading cards and holofoil covers would appear whenever the editor thought a series needed a sales boost -- indeed, the latter gimmick was so common that some refer to this as the Chrome Age. Alternate covers began to appear on some books to encourage collectors to buy one of each -- or ''two'' of each, so that they had one of each to collect and one of each to read.

Unfortunately, this was only a short-term benefit, which [[YouFailEconomicsForever ignored one basic economic fact]]: the old comics were only selling for such high prices in the first place because they were difficult to get a hold of, being extremely rare. Conversely, the ''new'' "collectibles" were being churned out by the truckload. Millions of people had bought comics like ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}} #1'' in hopes it would become a rare collectible, but since there were millions of copies floating around, it naturally wasn't rare at all, and anyone who wanted to collect it could get it for a song. And to make matters worse, a lot of the material that was trying to become collectible using these gimmicks was the kind of poorly-written [[RobLiefeld Liefeldian]] rubbish that few believed worth collecting in the first place.

When the public realized this, the bottom fell out, and the market collapsed. Many of the smaller publishers went bust or were [[ExecutiveMeddling bought out]] (including ValiantComics), and two-thirds of all direct market comic book stores went out of business.

Even Marvel, one of the big two, wasn't immune, and filed for bankruptcy protection in 1997; whilst the comics crash was certainly a key element in this, they had also lost many of their top talents to [[ValiantComics Valiant]] and [[ImageComics Image]], resulting in [[SoBadItsHorrible the ill-conceived Onslaught, Heroes Reborn, and Clone Saga storylines]]. [[ExecutiveMeddling The marketing department being given editorial control]] and the suggestions that then-owner Ron Perelman acquired the company through junk bonds and dummy corporations and then ransacked the company for the purpose of lining his pockets probably didn't help matters either.

As well as the material being produced and the nature of the industry, all of this also impacted the consumer base of the medium, which moved increasingly from the mainstream public to a smaller niche market of fans and collectors. The dominant stereotypes of the readers of this Age, fair or otherwise, are of the "comic book teenager", an [[FanDumb insecure fan]] who hated any hint of '[[StopHavingFunGuys silliness]]' in his comics and demanded that they be "adult" and [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness taken seriously]], even though the shocking content of said comics only implied immaturity; and the "collector" who obsessively and joylessly maintained his collection in pristine condition, with little or no interest in the actual content. Ultimately, the recurring theme of this Age may seem to be short-term gains that lead to long-term harm for the series, company or even industry.

[[BrokenBase Opinion is divided]] on when -- or even if -- the Dark Age ended. At earliest, the ModernAge is said to have begun in the mid 1990s, with the release of the critically-acclaimed love-letter-to-the-SilverAge ''AstroCity'' in 1995; the release of ''KingdomCome'', a brutal barefisted {{deconstruction}} of the [[DarkerAndEdgier direction that comics had been going]] in for the past 10 years, in 1996; and the debut of a new version of the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica in 1997, with a line-up that echoed the best parts of the SilverAge and the BronzeAge. Later estimates place it at the turn of the millennium, with the introduction of UltimateMarvel via ''Ultimate Spider-Man'', offering a fresh take on the Marvel Universe unfettered by decades of continuity and modernized takes on old stories and characters.

However, while the extremes and excesses of the era have largely disappeared except for the purposes of parody, deconstruction or reinvention, many note that a DarkerAndEdgier atmosphere continues to permeate and even dominate comics: characters and works with Dark Age themes continued to be released after 1997 (including ''MarvelZombies'', ''Captain America: Truth'', Winter Soldier, X-23, ''Spiderman: The Other'', ''HouseOfM'', ''Decimation'', and most notoriously ''CivilWar''), and in 2005 DC’s ''InfiniteCrisis'' was intended to partly "fix" some of the trends described here ([[CharacterDerailment such as Batman being too obsessed and grim]]), which indicates that [[WallBanger some writers thought there was something left to be undone]]. The Big Event and CrisisCrossover certainly haven't faded away, either.

As for the men who arguably started it all, at least one later appeared less-than-impressed by what followed. AlanMoore 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 LighterAndSofter tone in order to balance the extremes of this era. The other, Frank Miller, seems to be more on the fence, with his later works, including ''TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'' and ''All Star Batman And Robin'' either [[SelfDeprecation openly making fun of his own earlier work]] or [[SoBadItsHorrible providing a terrible example of its worst excesses]], [[YourMileageMayVary depending on who you talk to]].

Meanwhile, if [[ComicBookAdaptation the movies]] are anything to go by, then we may not have seen the last of the Dark Age. Back in TheNineties, even as comics were getting DarkerAndEdgier, the films based on them were getting LighterAndSofter; witness how TimBurton's dark ''BatmanReturns'' was followed up with Joel Schumacher's lighter ''BatmanForever''. With few exceptions (''{{Blade}}'', ''{{Spawn}}''), the big comic book movies of the late '90s and the TurnOfTheMillennium were comparatively family-friendly fare like ''Film/{{X-Men}}'', ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'', ''Film/FantasticFour'', and ''Film/IronMan''. Then came the release of ''TheDarkKnight'' in 2008 and TheMovie of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' in 2009, both of which brought a much darker take on superheroes. (Rather fitting, knowing [[{{Watchmen}} what]] [[TheDarkKnightReturns comics]] kicked off the original Dark Age.) Already, adaptations of ''JonahHex'', ''Lobo'' and ''{{Witchblade}}'' are in the works, a DarkerAndEdgier undercurrent seems to have infused the recent ''[[Film/{{X-Men}} X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'', and ''[[Film/IronMan Iron Man 2]]'' will apparently emphasize Tony Stark's alcoholism.

See also NinetiesAntiHero and DarkAgeOfSupernames. Do not confuse with DorkAge (although, in the minds of [[BrokenBase some fans]], a lot of material produced in this era belongs there as well; YourMileageMayVary).
----
!!Notable series of the DarkAge:
* ''{{Spawn}}'' (The scion of {{Image}} and the model for its many imitators)
* ''{{Watchmen}}'' (Along with ''TheDarkKnightReturns'', one of the kickoff series of the Age)
* ''ThePunisher'' (This pre-existing ultra-violent AntiHero VigilanteMan's stock went way, way up)
* ''Comicbook/{{Batman}}: Year One'' (Went hand-in-hand with ''TheDarkKnightReturns'' in defining Frank Miller's vision of the Caped Crusader)
** Other notable Dark Age ''{{Batman}}'' stories include ''The Killing Joke'', ''A Death in the Family'', and ''{{Knightfall}}''. The first modern [[Film/{{Batman}} Batman movie]] also came out during this era.
* ''{{Wolverine}}'', like the Punisher and Batman, was a preexisting hero who attained new heights of popularity because he fit the grim and gritty trend; his regular series began in 1988, and WolverinePublicity spread like Kudzu.
* The one-off ''[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Comicbook/Doom Doom]]'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yc5bnOrSc comic]] wasn't exactly ''notable'', but it perfectly illustrates the excesses of the age.
** Bonus points: "There's nothing wrong with you I can't fix with my hands" is directly ripped from ''{{Batman}}: TheDarkKnightReturns''.
* Lobo, though a character and not a series, was created as a parody of [[NinetiesAntiHero this kind of hero]], and quickly [[MisaimedFandom gained popularity]] ''[[MisaimedFandom as]]'' [[MisaimedFandom one]].
* ''MarshalLaw'' was also a parody of this era's excesses.
* ''{{Witchblade}}'', one of the few long-lasting books of that time period, which spawned a TV show, anime, and manga, with an upcoming movie.
* ''JudgeDredd'' was another example of Misaimed Fandom on a pre-existing character. Unfortunately, the US fans and Hollywood missed what was blatant to the original 2000 AD readers: that Dredd was a rare satirical character played straight instead of for humor.
* ''Supreme'' started out as a straight example about "What if Superman was a huge jerk", but when Alan Moore came on, this trend was parodied with "Grim 80's Supreme" as one of the previous incarnations living in the Supremacy. Later they would introduce his archenemy Grim 80s Demented Tittering Transvestite Serial Killer Darius Dax (Dax is normally Lex Luthor with hair, so you can tell how big a stretch that characterization is) and Grim 80s Traumatized Diana Dane.
* ''DeathMate'' the crossover that is often blamed for the comics crash.
----
Usually accepted as lasting from the publishing of {{Watchmen}} and TheDarkKnightReturns to modern times.

<<|TheAgesOfSuperHeroComics|>>