"Grim 'n' gritty" is the roiling cloud that settled over the comics industry after
Frank Miller's
The Dark Knight Returns became a runaway success. Like a resolute storm front, it has moved on to menace other media. Miller used grim as satire, and gritty as provocation, but for so many others they're empty buzzwords, dull style guidelines with scant meaning and stunted wit.
Total Recall, 2012 edition, is ...