There is room for a successful argument that mainstream comic book superheroes have never been heroes and have always been champions of the status quo. I get this argument and can even see its merit. This is not my argument however.
My argument is that once Miller’s Dark Knight stuff broke all sales records there has been a constant downward spiral of even this level of “heroism” and that post-Miller mainstream superheroes are today essentially just sociopathic costumed clowns.
Not my main turn off but it ties into my main reason for why I’ve never cared for comics in the long term. Comics were written specifically to be episodic and "indefinite*. Indefinite things have no defined end, and no matter how good your source material you eventually just rehash the same old shit. So then you change the superhero somehow to make it fresh again and start over but eventually you rehash all THAT same shit. You can’t ever deviate too much either because you need your antiheros for future rehashing. So joker always has to live. And he always has to escape. And he always has to be “a step ahead” so batman can overcome and catch him and be the hero and do it all again next week.
The best comics/movies/books/shows etc to me are the stories that have a distinct end. They can be short or long but the author(s) should know the ending before the first episode ever releases.
Yep. The only comics I really enjoy are the indie series that have a clear beginning and a clear end. Because they can actually tell a story, not just a narrative.