Since when has 'heroic' become 'dark'?Really?
I never saw the comic book hero as 'dark'.
That is a liberal concept.
Batman of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s was never dark. Kids of that era (including me) would never buy comic books like that. The dark era of Batman came much later to reflect the degeneration of modern society into a cesspool of hate and violence.
Ever see John Wayne in "The Searchers"?