In the Dark Knight Returns, Batman has aged, he is now in his fifties and retired.  A group of criminals, the Mutants, bring him out of retirement.  Throughout the story are news casts on the world criticizing Batman and blaming him for destroying Gotham.  They no longer like Batman, but despite his critics, he comes out of retirement to help stop the Mutants. He is able to defeat the them, but it takes a toll on his body. Even though Batman has done a great deed for the city, people are still calling out for his arrest, seeing him as a villain.  Meanwhile, people are releasing the insane criminals Batman put into jail, reflecting the post-modern world this comic was written in.  People no longer saw the Joker or Harvey Dent as criminals, they had been healed.  What happened in the past does not matter because it was not the present time.  They were wrong, neither of them were healed, and when they were brought to the public they both took advantage of the situation and reverted back to their old ways. Their release sparked something in Batman, they were his villains, he needed to be the one to defeat them. 

            This violent Batman brought about another change in the superhero genre.  The superheroes had calmed down and had become somewhat of a joke, Alan Moore shows that in Watchmen. Batman has gone rouge; the government had taken over superheroes.  Wonder Woman had gone back to her island and Superman now is a government official.  Superman even confronts Batman about his actions, warning him not to keep going. Bruce Wayne has grown, he has grown older and is depressed. Being Batman gets him out of his depression. Bruce Wayne and Batman are truly two different people, even though Batman is the one in costume, Bruce Wayne wears the mask. The comic covers deep topics, reflecting on Bruce Wayne’s past and being very graphic in content. Both the Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen have violent characters that are, mostly, fighting for the side of good, despite their brutal ways.  These progressive books brought the comic book industry back to the harsher reality they used to portray before wars forced them to make a joke of their superheroes.