There's definitely a lot more death these days.
I have mixed feelings on this one.
Let me use He-Man, for example.
Stories I found entertaining when I was kid are nice to look over, but can be boring. I can't seem to make it through my MOTU box dvd sets without dozing off, but I still try and watch for the fun of them. The characters are universal and familiar. But now I notice in a big way that He-man and She-Ra never really punched anyone that wasn't a robot, or never really went after anyone with their swords. The threats from the bad guys are a little lame. It was definitely aimed at a kid audience. Not very much violence at all. Sure, there's a constant struggle....but my son laughs at it. He's blowing people up on the X-box.
There's potential in the MOTU series - it could be a very dark, violent, action-packed series. They could completely flip that format and make it a thing of "grown-up" entertainment. I want that. I want a series that can go further with me now that I'm an adult. And at the same time, I'm not sure I'd ever want to see a series where He-Man's snapping necks and Skeletor is raping Teela.
And this, for me, sorta applies to the DCU as well. I'm glad that my favorite characters can keep me entertained at 30, but I'm a little squeamish to see how far things go sometimes. Characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are worldly, if not universal icons. They mean things to people who don't even really read comic books. They're symbols for "good". But you can only be entertained by mild-violence story and a "g" rating for so long. It's definitely a sacrifice.
I will say, I sorta do enjoy a more violent medium - but the padding for trades is almost unbearable. I wish comics would get back to BIG stories between a lesser number of issues.
