It was fun watching the freak out that summer, from those unaware of Bat's long and varied history in the comics. Just like the media freaked when Robin was killed off, (by a vote taken by fans) they mistakenly thought it was Dick Grayson. The fans knew what they were getting into in 1989.

I haven't been into mainstream comics since the 90's, so I can't say I've ever Superman done really dark.

Haven't seen the movie yet, but Adult Swim's brief critique cracked me up. They called it "the longest episode of Dragonball Z ever".