can you clarify the timelines you are thinking about? The really campy stuff doesn't start until the 60s after the pushback from the book "seduction of the innocent," (where criticism of superhero books was included along with other violent comic books) sparking a moral panic and the comics code. As a result of the code we see for example the classic campy Adam West Batman of the "silver age" (which was significantly less dark than some of the early "golden age" Batmen") before the gritty turn in the "bronze age".

My hunch is your mental model starts in the silver age which would be a mistake since the campy superheros were a reaction to earlier comics.