5 Lame Attempts To Make Comics Appeal To Modern Audiences

Even Sabrina's kooky aunts Hilda and Zelda were put through the belt-sander and emerged all gritty, transformed into the bastard offspring of the ghosts from Poltergeist and Mama. As for Sabrina, she definitely became more morally ambiguous during her Chilling Adventures, like when she hexed a boy to fall in love with her. Now, magical date-rape may pale in comparison to hitting Hooters and grabbing some wings with The Fallen One, but it's still a darker place than we're used to finding Sabrina.

Archie Comics
This cover is a close second, though.

Best described as an alien biker with the personality of a heavy-metal album cover, Lobo is an immortal, chain-smoking dirtbag, who at age 17 murdered the 5 billion inhabitants of his home planet and has been working hard to beat his high score ever since.

DC Comics
He managed to make white-dude dreads look badass.

The Insane Reimagining:

In Justice League #23.2: Lobo, it turned out that this guy was a fraud. He was just some asshole who stole the name and reputation of the actual new Lobo, for which he was about to get his head ripped off by the real deal, thus cleverly clearing the way for a brand-new interpretation of the character. Unfortunately, this is that interpretation.

DC Comics
"Screw us" indeed.

What was once a hairy-chested, muscle-bound parody of over-the-top comic book violence, now more resembled a futuristic John Travolta in Grease: a pretty-boy rogue with laser weaponry instead of his trademark metal chain and hook. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Twilight of comic book reboots. What Stephenie Meyer's book did to vampires, so DC did to one of their most beloved characters.

The Insane Reimagining:

Doctor Light was updated, but his powers were not. Brad Meltzer's 2004 miniseries Identity Crisis starts off with the murder of Sue Dibny, the wife of Elongated Man. However, what seems like a typical murder mystery in the beginning soon spirals into something much more sinister when it turns out that Sue Dibny was once brutally raped on the Justice League satellite.

By Doctor Light.

DC Comics
Second page of this scene not shown because holy fucking shit it just goes on like this.

After Light infiltrated his enemies' headquarters, he didn't take that opportunity to plant bombs or steal files. Instead, he decided to sexually assault the Elongated Man's wife, which made no sense based on his history as an endearing, lovable loser. But it didn't end there. During the next four years, Light would go on to metaphysically "rape" (his own words) the female Doctor Light, which is disturbing on 48 different levels, and he even attempted to assault a bunch of women dressed as the Teen Titans. Finally, the DC version of Ghost Rider decided that perhaps a laser serial rapist wasn't the best dude to leave roaming around your continuity, and the character was killed off ...

DC Comics
... then came back. As a rape zombie.

Ultraman is an evil Superman from another universe. He and his Crime Syndicate (the evil version of the Justice League) have been a mainstay of comics for many years. And, all this time, Ultraman has had the same role: to keep Superman in check by showing him what he'd become if he ever gave in to his dark side. Sort of like a reverse Superman.

DC Comics
Which you can see by him wearing his underwear under his clothes.

The Insane Reimagining:

Screw metaphors: In the Forever Evil crossover Ultraman is literally the reverse Superman. For example, Clark gains his incredible powers from the Earth's sun, so, obviously, the Forever Evil Ultraman must be weakened by sunlight, essentially making him a flamboyant vampire. That's why one of the first things his new incarnation does is move the moon between the Earth and the sun to create a permanent eclipse.

DC Comics
"I'll get to being weakened in a minute; let me just fly into unfiltered sunlight
and push around a quadrillion tons of rock first."

Now, just like all the other versions, Ultraman isn't hurt by kryptonite. On the contrary -- it's what gives him his power. But the way he "absorbs" it in Forever Evil is a tad different. See, this version of Ultraman grinds kryptonite into a fine powder, and then heats it up with his laser vision so that he can inhale it, because what would superhero comics be without clumsy drug analogies?

DC Comics
"I'll have what he's having." -crackhead behind the rubble

And that's the main problem right there. This Ultraman is just, well, too evil. There's no way that Superman would ever look at Rudolph The Green-Nosed Reindeer and think: "Yikes, I better be careful so I don't end up like him." He's more likely to think: "Hey, even if I carved my name into the moon, I still wouldn't be as bad as that guy."

Now, let's see what the Ultimate Universe did with him.

Marvel Comics
"Make sure he goes ribs first. We still need to be able to show off Wasp's tittaaays."

Oh. He's a cannibal. We guess there's really no other way to make being really fat super dark and badass.

Next, we have Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. In case you aren't one of the 17 billion people who've already seen Age Of Ultron, let us give you a crash course on the characters. One can run fast; the other does whatever the plot needs at the moment. They are mutants, only sometimes they're not, and they are evil, but not always. Also, Magneto is their dad, unless he's not. But no matter what, the two have always remained brother and sister. That's the one constant thing about them, and that's what the Ultimate Universe decided to ruin. So the two are still siblings in the new comics, but now they're also fucking each other harder than Lannisters at a family reunion.

Marvel Comics
"You didn't see that cumming?"

Finally, there's Red Skull, a Nazi supersoldier with a messed-up face. You might remember him from the first Captain America movie. He was the guy with the red skull.

Marvel Studios
On the right.

So, how did the Ultimate Universe make a scarred Nazi edgier than he already was? By having him cut his own face off. "No, that's not dark enough," said one of the writers. "Let's also make him Captain America's son!"

Marvel Comics
"I knew that watching all those daytime soap operas would pay off one day!"

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Also check out 5 Superheroes Rendered Ridiculous By Gritty Reboots and The 7 Most Offensive Adaptations of Classic Comic Books.