Since Frank Miller introduced the modern darker side of Matt which I think was a great benefit to DD,how was the character before that? Was he just kind of floating around the MU with no clear direction? I know he had a regular title, obviously. And was there always a least a hint at the darker side even then? On a side note, DD has had the fortunate benefit of having a lot of great writers even till today. If memory serves, I think Stan Lee stayed on the book for a while but still a little less than Spider-Man and has said that issue 47 was his favorite issue that he'd done.