Look, we're not saying that you should spend your spare time confronting violent criminals -- it ends badly more often than not. We're just saying that it's awesome when it works.
It's easy for us to hide the bad things from our kids that appear in works today. Things get a little trickier when classics of children's literature suddenly let fly with the sort of out-of-the-blue casual racism usually reserved for old Southern men after a few too many drinks
Just like sitcoms had "very special" episodes that tried to build awareness of serious real-world issues (like the one where Punky Brewster decides to get breast implants -- no, seriously), comics have occasionally wandered into 'after school' territory. And who better to handle serious and complex political issues than comic book superheroes?
Some ideas for 'super heroes' should have never been spoken aloud, and when they were the creator should have been laughed out of the room, preferably through a tenth story window.