Re: DC's "Suicide Squad" (August 5th, 2016)
It all comes down to execution. Let's examine, say... Carnage. Easily one of the worst characters to come out of the 90s. He's Joker with powers, minus the occasional philosophy lesson. So, when you see him appear in a book, all you'll get are some cheap "scares", blood, awful laughing, and cheesiness. That's what I consider "edgy dark". Just using mature themes, but going so over the top, that they become comical instead of thought provoking or dreadful. Which, according to the things I've heard, is what SKWAD suffers from. Same as the Nu52 Vol that it was based on.
Now, if you look at Carnage's current book, you'll see that he's become a three-dimensional character. He has opinions, a defined character, motives, and actually has a plan, one that has scope. This time around, he's a mix between Childress and John Doe, instead of B-Movie Killer. Now this is what I call "true dark", as it has a morbid theme and sticks with it, without losing its meaning. TDK was like that, and in a way, BvS as well. If it had done away with certain scenes and decisions, it was on the right track. That's how the original SS book by Ostrander was. It had its light and dark moments, but there was a balance.
TL;DR: Sometimes, a dark backdrop is used, like here, but the execution is so different and ueven, that you end up with a disjointed film, book, game, which doesn't have a clear identity.
It all comes down to execution. Let's examine, say... Carnage. Easily one of the worst characters to come out of the 90s. He's Joker with powers, minus the occasional philosophy lesson. So, when you see him appear in a book, all you'll get are some cheap "scares", blood, awful laughing, and cheesiness. That's what I consider "edgy dark". Just using mature themes, but going so over the top, that they become comical instead of thought provoking or dreadful. Which, according to the things I've heard, is what SKWAD suffers from. Same as the Nu52 Vol that it was based on.
Now, if you look at Carnage's current book, you'll see that he's become a three-dimensional character. He has opinions, a defined character, motives, and actually has a plan, one that has scope. This time around, he's a mix between Childress and John Doe, instead of B-Movie Killer. Now this is what I call "true dark", as it has a morbid theme and sticks with it, without losing its meaning. TDK was like that, and in a way, BvS as well. If it had done away with certain scenes and decisions, it was on the right track. That's how the original SS book by Ostrander was. It had its light and dark moments, but there was a balance.
TL;DR: Sometimes, a dark backdrop is used, like here, but the execution is so different and ueven, that you end up with a disjointed film, book, game, which doesn't have a clear identity.
