Interesting article. I remember from the late 70s/early 80s a Batman issue where the Riddler had Bats at bay with a machine gun (it might have been the one with Swashbuckler, the nephew of the Vigilante, in his one appearance). Riddler tells Bats to back off and shoots the ground in front of him. I remember as a kid thinking that the Riddler wasn't such a bad guy after all - I'd assume he'd try and kill him.
Villains were always trying to knock off the heroes. Captain Boomerang once lashed Batman to a huge exploding boomerang, and celebrated when it blew up in the air (Bats used the fiery exhaust to burn through the rope). Despero was always out to kill the JLA with his silly chess games (even before he was turned into a big pink monster). And Metallo was salivating over ripping Superman apart with gravity when his kryptonite heart was replaced with a black hole (Bats saved the day, smashing his chair into machinery keeping the black hole in check).
And you know what? I like grim 'n' gritty. I love Miller's DKR. I loved Cable's assumption of responsibility for the New Mutants. I like Byrne's Superman, where Luthor had a kryptonite ring and threw Superman out of his office by the scruff of the neck like trash. I thought the Mutant Massacre in X-men in the mid-80s, where Nightcrawler and Colossus were hospitalised, was awesome, and that Wolverine skewered Phoenix rather than let her kill Selene in cold blood. I like the fact that Hal Jordan turned evil, that Aquaman lost a hand, that the Flash died and isn't coming back and that the Anti-Monitor crisped Supergirl. I liked the fact that Hulk broke his leg in Secret Wars. And I liked Batman becoming obsessed with his war on crime.
The writing became exciting. These people with their powers were fighting desperate and evil adversaries. Sometimes bad things happened. And I think comics were better for it.
