I liked Lobo: The Last Czarnian, but it's very "love it or hate it".
edited 7th Jun '11 6:30:46 AM by brc2000
The Darkness is pretty good and still going, though I don't know the quality of the comic when it was running in the 90s.
@Zeal: I actually remember that one fondly. 'S actually on my list.
@Everybody: Good stuff all 'round, from some of what I've been hearin'. Still gotta track down the rest of The Maxx, too...and most of the pre-Shattered Image Wildstorm stuff...
"Dude, I'm not taking religious advice from ANYBODY named 'Darth'!"Even though no one has posted on this tread in a while, I hope no one would mind me offering my own opinion on this subject. I believe that the following are well-done examples of this trope in various forms of fiction. I say this based on them being downplayed and/or reconstructions (or in some cases parodies) of the archetype that avoid being over the top or then at least, to quote Joss Whedon, "Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke."
- Anime and Manga: Alucard, Guts, Hiei*, Jack* note , Revy, Saito Hajime*.
- Comics: The Authority, Azrael note , The Darkness, Deadpool, Hitman, Lobo, and Warrior Nun Areala's "Shotgun" Mary Delacroix*.
- Film: Riddick*, T-800* from Terminator 2 Judgment Day
- Live Action TV: The Ninth Doctor, Faith
- Video Games: K', Needles Kane (AKA Sweet Tooth)*, Kratos* Squall Leonhart, Scorpion*
I give special mentions to Alucard and K'. (Asterisks indicate examples that may be disputed as being N.A.H.s).
Maybe because he wasn't really redeemed as a character until his series with Deadpool, in 2004, which had him without all the Liefeldian pouches and big guns that made him the poster boy for the Ninties Anti Hero?
Then again, maybe I'm the only one who feels that way.
the best example of how to do this trope correctly
◊.
granted this isn't western comics but he fits the archetype to a t so...

Okay, first off, I actually LIKED the dark age, same way I like some of the more mindless action flicks. It's just entertainment (not to mention being the comics that actually got me INTO comics in the first place)...and all that. But then I got to thinkin': after our local comic shop shut down (yeah, actually DURING the 90's) I missed out on a hell of alot of comics. I've started tracking down a few titles I remembered liking back then, but now I call out to the troper-peoples...
I wanna know, what stuff did the 90's anti-hero RIGHT? ESPECIALLY the stuff that actually SURVIVED the 90's and managed to stay in print for a while.
"Dude, I'm not taking religious advice from ANYBODY named 'Darth'!"