Superheroes are supposed to save the day and make things better for everyone. When it comes to darker tales or media, one does not usually think of superhero comics, although they contain a surprising number of them. And few do dark arcs better than DC, which is known for its cast of morally ambiguous characters that walk the line between good and evil, as well as layered and complicated villains.
Several Batman comic books have been made into live-action films over the years, but some themes are simply too dark to be translated. Some stories are so strange that no amount of animation or live-action can ever portray them. The following are nine Batman storylines that are simply too depressing.
Batman has been known as the “Dark Knight” for decades and has appeared in thousands of comic books over his crime-fighting career. DC Comics’ creators, on the other hand, have occasionally put pen to paper to create truly dark comics that are violent, explicit, and sexually suggestive. This movie examines some of the most ominous Batman-related comics ever published.
Many of Batman’s and other Bat-family comics are gloomy, but the volumes listed below, among other things, deal with serious subjects including child abuse, sexual assault, substance addiction, blood and gore, and psychosis.
Although dark stories have become increasingly popular, they are not for everyone, as indicated by the polarizing critical response. Some of these melancholy works may not have been “great” in the eyes of the reader, but they were certainly memorable. So sit back, relax, and prepare for the darkness as we bring you 9 outrageously mature and ultra-violent Batman tale arcs today.
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
While Batman’s name has become synonymous with the superhero genre, another name has been synonymous along with it, the institution: Arkham Asylum. The mental asylum has evolved into a haven for the criminally insane, yet no other film has gone as deep into the asylum’s dark recesses as this one.
Although Batman doesn’t make much of an appearance in it, Living Hell has a terrific name that tells you everything you need to know about what’s in store. Living Hell is a narrative about the day-to-day life of Warren White, an Arkham convict who thinks pleading insanity when he’s not in Gotham is a smart idea. It’s dark and twisted, and it takes the reader on a journey.
We largely follow White, who is a stand-in for Tobias Beecher and acts as our fish-out-of-water character, completely new to his quite terrifying surroundings which is a fact that the plot doesn’t shy away from hammering home to great humorous effect. We learn the ins and outs of White’s new surroundings as he does.
The agony he undergoes transforms him into something new over the course of six chapters, similar to the transformation Beecher made over numerous seasons of Oz, only White’s breaking bad metamorphosis occurs over a shorter time span and the end outcome is far more terrible. But then, what do you expect from Arkham?
We meet other inmates and even the Arkham staff, in addition to White. Yes, there are appearances from A-list villains, but the comic thrives when it concentrates on the underdogs. It’s fantastic to see Slott and Sook humanize these people, who are usually either background extras or casualties in the ordinary Batman comic.
It makes the environment of Gotham feel so much deeper and more alive, and it’s wonderful to feel anything for these guards instead of seeing them as the punchline to Arkham’s “revolving door.” We see how Arkham staff feel like captives through individuals like Cash, a security officer, and Carver, a resident psychiatrist. It is dark and heart-breaking, exactly what you would expect in a place filled with all the criminals from a crime-riddled city like Gotham.
Batman #452–454 (Dark Knight, Dark City)
Fans of the 1989 Batman film sought additional avenues for the character, which led to a major increase in readership for Batman comics in 1990. Due to the popularity of Batman, the show was moved to a bi-weekly schedule over the summer. ‘Dark Knight, Dark City,’ a three-part story that ran from Batman #452-454, featured Peter Milligan and Keiron Dwyer.
This is a supernaturally dark Batman comic that plays into the satanic hysteria of the time. The first few pages establish this with a late-1700s demonic ritual involving Thomas Jefferson and several of Gotham City’s founding fathers. Cutting back and forth between the past and the present, we learn that their purpose is to raise a monster named Barbathos and gain power from him.
Instead of the Dark Knight’s usual hero/detective notions, this one is a horror thriller. By presenting these images through the diary entries of a man present at the rite, Milligan skillfully instills terror in the reader. It’s a powerful approach to add fear because the entries build up in the reader’s mind what can’t be seen on the page. By enveloping the scene in shadows, Dywer achieves this.
At the same time, colorist Adrienne Roy uses spooky pinks and oranges to fill whatever light is available. Dwyer can concentrate on the terror of those there since the horrors are shrouded in the shadows. His panels are densely packed, allowing for a vivid expression of emotion while yet seeming claustrophobic. Overall, the combination of all of these aspects creates a truly creepy scenario.
‘Dark Knight, Dark City is a storyline that ought to be read more often than it is. While the fact that the book has been out of print for a long time is not an indication of its quality, it does add to its underappreciation. Milligan and Dwyer have created a haunting Batman story arc that alternates between supernatural terror and high-octane action.
Batman: The Cult
Deacon Blackfire leads a cult in Batman: The Cult, a short four-issue narrative from 1988. It was written by Jim Starlin, who not only penned A Death in the Family, a pivotal narrative in the Batman universe but also invented Thanos. Blackfire is a charismatic sociopath who claims to desire to cleanse Gotham of evil because God told him to. Bat is psychologically broken into becoming one of Blackfire’s mindless followers after days of torture, malnutrition, and drug-laced slop.
He’ll be back on the streets soon, ready to dish out Blackfire’s messed-up brand of justice. While in the Cult, Batman is brainwashed in great detail, and it is one of his most difficult positions to overcome. The cult is widely regarded as one of the cruelest and bleak comics ever published. Worse, in The Cult, Batman is depicted possibly shooting and killing people.
Even for late 1980s Batman comics, this is a disturbing Batman story. This is one of the few situations when the Dark Knight, Batman, gets brainwashed into becoming someone else’s tool. Deacon Blackfire, who puts on such a nice, caring persona yet is one of the most messed up villains ever, adds to the creepiness.
What makes The Cult so good, and why many people may prefer Batman to other superheroes like Superman or The Flash. The reason is that he is simply a man who, like in The Cult, succumbs to mortal obstacles like drug abuse and psychological abuse. But, no matter how desperate or hopeless the situation, Batman and Bruce Wayne always rise above and overcome their concerns, if not always in one piece.
Batman: The Black Mirror
Scott Snyder wrote and Francesco Francavilla and Jock drew Batman: The Black Mirror. It follows Batman, Dick Grayson, as he deals with Gotham as a living thing attempting to overthrow him. Commissioner Gordon is dragged into the fray when an old ghost comes calling, and there’s murder and mayhem around every corner.
The fact that Black Mirror feels like a noir novel sets it apart from other Batman stories. Dick and Commissioner Gordon become entangled in the same case, and the story is portrayed from their perspectives.
Dick is having nightmares and is investigating a mysterious organization known as the Mirror House. Dick is determined to stop wealthy Gotham residents from buying the souvenirs of infamous criminals from a man known as The Dealer.
The story features James who is a terrifying antagonist who is depicted as a complete psychopath. His friendship with Dick is similar to Bruce’s friendship with Joker. He is Dick’s ‘dark mirror,’ a cold-blooded monster who battles a man who cares about everyone and wants to see the good in others.
Dick is not the same Batman as Bruce. He meets Gordon on a rooftop to discuss leads in a touching scene. When Gordon looks up and sees Batman still standing in front of him, he says he needs to grow accustomed to seeing him there.
Although the story’s conclusion is unknown, it is hinted that James was successful in corrupting a new generation. There’s a sense that Batman failed to save the day, which adds to the story’s realism. The art of Jock and Francavilla is fitting for such a terrible story. Both contain gothic inspirations, although they are expressed in distinct ways.
Death of the Family
One of the most visceral Batman stories of all time is Batman: Death Of The Family, written by Scott Snyder and illustrated by Greg Capullo. During the New 52, Death of the Family is a crossover event featuring the majority of the Bat family.
After having his face ripped off, the Joker made his triumphant comeback in Death of the Family. He refuses to have it reattached and devises a horrible trap for all of the heroes, culminating in an explosive finale. Death of the Family is clearly a reference to the 1988 controversial narrative Death in the Family, in which the Joker murders Jason Todd, but the contents are considerably different; nonetheless, Jason Todd as Red Hood does appear in Batman’s version.
A LOT happens in this one starting from Joker kidnapping Alfred to involving the entire Bat-family and infecting most of them with Joker toxin, including Bruce. One particular scene is terrifying where Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, and Barbara are seated at a table with Bruce. Their faces are bandaged, and Joker orders dinner to be served by a toxin-infected Alfred. Each dish is cracked apart to reveal a dismembered face.
The Clown Prince of Crime is at his most unhinged and unpredictable, and the relationship between Batman and Joker is given new complexity. The climactic combat between Batman and Joker takes place near a subterranean waterfall, with Joker hanging over the brink.
When the Dark Knight apprehends him, the Joker quips that he’ll never let him go because Batman is too invested in their game. Batman responds by claiming that he is no longer like the Joker, that he picks his family, and that he knows who the Joker is. Joker breaks loose and disappears into the darkness before Batman can say his actual name.
The frightening and tense-filled return of the Joker, not just the metaphorical but also the visual reappearance, is what makes the story so good and dismal. Give it a try; you won’t be disappointed.
Batman: Venom
Batman: Venom is a dark comic book that tackles Bruce Wayne’s addiction to the super steroid Venom long before Bane got his grubby hands on it. During this time, readers are immersed in Bruce’s worst thoughts as he tries to wean himself off it. This isn’t a fun comic, but if you like dark stories, this is the one for you.
Venom begins with our hero racing to free young Sissy Porter, who has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a sinking tunnel that is flooded. Batman watches the girl drown as the water rises above her head because he is unable to remove a big slab of rock that is blocking his path. When Sissy’s father gives him the chance to improve his strength, the Dark Knight hesitantly accepts, determined to never be held back by a physical constraint again.
Even when O’Neil’s script lags or Braun’s faces come out a little odd, Russel Braun does a wonderful job on the pencils and even has some great panels, Trevor Von Eeden is hands-down the star artist here, whose exciting layouts propel the story forward even when O’Neil’s script lags or Braun’s faces come out a little odd. Von Eeden, Braun, and co. do a good job of telling a plot without it being too distracting for the readers.
Denis O’Neil makes a bold move by making Bruce Wayne weak enough to succumb to Venom’s addictive properties in Venom, which takes place during Bruce Wayne’s early years as a crimefighter. However, O’Neil gets it exactly right when he says that no matter what problem Batman and Bruce Wayne encounter, they will conquer it.
Batman: Night Cries
Batman: Night Cries delves into a very serious subject: child abuse. Batman and James Gordon collaborate to bring the abusers to justice, but they arrive at a frightening realization: terrible people will continue to do awful things in private, and they will never be able to stop it all. In Batman: Night Cries by Archie Goodwin, Scott Hampton, and Tracy Hampton-Munsey, Batman ponders the nature of the depravity that plagues Gotham City and the abyss that which he’s dedicated his life to cleaning up.
This narrative takes place at the start of Commissioner Gordon’s tenure as Commissioner and digs into a series of heinous killings that at first hint at a drug war raging over Gotham, but quickly escalate into much more when a link to abused children is revealed. These types of stories frequently come across as heavy-handed or overly simplistic, risk-making light of the issues, but that isn’t the case here.
A serious and respectful tone is established through Goodwin’s narration and language, as well as Hampton’s brilliantly dark-painted artwork, giving the story the seriousness it requires to be effective.
Hampton’s artwork is delicate, dark, and evocative, elevating the storytelling to a new level. His work has an ephemeral, almost fable-like quality to it, which makes everything feel like a dream or a nightmare. It’s as if you’re seeing what might be through a fog, and it’s perfect for Batman. Child abuse is terrible, but there’s something reassuring in Hampton’s Gordon and Batman’s fight against it.
Batman & Dracula trilogy
Three Elseworlds stories feature a Batman who confronts Dracula early in his career, and they appear to be bleak and dark like other comics from the nihilistic 1990s at first glance. There’s a lot of blood, cynicism, and gore in this film. However, the simple fact that Batman and Dracula are in the same book should give you a hint that it will be darker. Batman is bitten by a vampire and gradually transforms into one, obtaining the required strength to take on the Dark Lord himself.
As though trapped in a more horrific version of Tim Burton’s Batman, Jones takes Batman and his supporting cast into the realm of surreal terror. Bruce Wayne was notoriously dark in the 1990s, but he appears almost fatalistic and miserable here. This is a version of Bruce Wayne who has fully abandoned his humanity. Of course, he becomes a vampire in the tale, but Moench and Jones appear to be making a more scathing critique of the time’s comics trends.
Needless to say, Batman violates his oath not to kill any person by impaling Dracula on a tree before committing suicide. This one is quite dark and must be read. The first book in the series is called Red Rain, and it’s probably because there’s a lot of blood in its pages.
Batman develops into a feeble skeleton inside the iconic cape and cowl by the end of the third volume, Crimson Mist — the Batman iconography remains, but the work has withered and decayed. Being a vampire, it’s due to a shortage of blood, but Moench and Jones appear to be portraying a Batman who has sacrificed Bruce Wayne to pursue his own dark ambition, grim indeed. An avatar that DC and Batman fans of today have not experienced ever before.
Batman – The Killing Joke
One of the most well-known Batman comics, as well as one of the darkest. The Killing Joke is a complex tale in which the Joker paralyzes Barbara Gordon, with some speculation that he may have sexually assaulted her while she was paralyzed, and then kidnaps James Gordon and takes him on a horrible journey through an abandoned amusement park.
In this comic, the themes of violence, insanity, and the frailty of the human mind are central. Some portions are eerily realistic, while others are outrageously trippy, and they’re all brilliantly written and done.
The way one page set in the present leads to a scene set in the past on the next page is cinematic to the point that most Hollywood directors would give in their union cards and retire. The contrast between the muted colors of the flashback scenes and the brilliant colors of the present-day left no doubt in the readers’ minds about what they were reading.
This book altered the DC Comics landscape as well as provided what many fans consider the ultimate Joker narrative. The author intended for the book to be a standalone novel with no ties to the Batman universe. The story’s sales, reviews, response, and acclaim disproved that theory. DC declared the event canon a year after The Joker wounded and paralyzed former Batgirl Barbara Gordon.
Oracle, one of the greatest crippled comics characters of all time, was born as a result of this. Babs Gordon assumed this identity and became the DC Universe’s information dealer and tech genius. This is a gloomy and dark story not only because of The Joker but also because of the unclear finale between Batman and the Joker. This is a must-read as far as dark comics centering around the much-loved caped crime-fighting superhero goes.
With that, we come to the end of our list of insanely grim Batman story arcs. Which one have you read?