War Games and a Pet Peeve Aggravated
A couple of days ago, James Meeley posted about the Batman and Robin comic and brought up something interesting about all-age material and warnings, and well, the argument's there if you want to read it. (I'm pro-warning, anti-censorship, for the record. :-))
But it reminded me of something that pissed me off, so I'm going to talk about it. Lucky you. :-)
See, I liked War Games in general. It was uneven to say the least, and parts dragged or went too damn fast. But in general, I thought it was an exciting arc. I didn't mind the characterization of Steph (she's always been a little incompetent IMO, but what makes her better than Jade is that we always saw her train with others and try to improve, but I digress.)
I didn't even mind them killing Steph. I was sad, of course, but sometimes characters die. I didn't mind the torture scene either, I can take seeing torture, and I liked that through it all Steph never gave in.
But there was one thing about it that bothered me.
They put that in *Robin*. Why? I know Steph got her start in Robin, but her torture/death was written for Batman's angst after all. She was neither Robin by that point, nor was Tim Drake in that scene...
And Robin's the one comic of the set that's most likely to be read by younger folks I think. It's one I'd actually have recommended for my 13 year old cousin. It's one I *have* recommended for my 13 year old cousin actually.
And while *I*'m okay with seeing a young girl tortured with power tools in a storyline, I'd really rather she not see that. Especially as Robin's only one of the comics taking part in the story arc. Why couldn't this scene be in Batman?
Look, I understand the necessity of the scene for the storyline purposes. And I wouldn't even mind Robin having a scene like that if it's the logical culmination to a storyline that existed solely *in* Robin. But in this case, it wasn't necessary to put the scene in *that* comic.
But they did. And that ticked me off. Hmph.
Okay, rant over. :-)
But it reminded me of something that pissed me off, so I'm going to talk about it. Lucky you. :-)
See, I liked War Games in general. It was uneven to say the least, and parts dragged or went too damn fast. But in general, I thought it was an exciting arc. I didn't mind the characterization of Steph (she's always been a little incompetent IMO, but what makes her better than Jade is that we always saw her train with others and try to improve, but I digress.)
I didn't even mind them killing Steph. I was sad, of course, but sometimes characters die. I didn't mind the torture scene either, I can take seeing torture, and I liked that through it all Steph never gave in.
But there was one thing about it that bothered me.
They put that in *Robin*. Why? I know Steph got her start in Robin, but her torture/death was written for Batman's angst after all. She was neither Robin by that point, nor was Tim Drake in that scene...
And Robin's the one comic of the set that's most likely to be read by younger folks I think. It's one I'd actually have recommended for my 13 year old cousin. It's one I *have* recommended for my 13 year old cousin actually.
And while *I*'m okay with seeing a young girl tortured with power tools in a storyline, I'd really rather she not see that. Especially as Robin's only one of the comics taking part in the story arc. Why couldn't this scene be in Batman?
Look, I understand the necessity of the scene for the storyline purposes. And I wouldn't even mind Robin having a scene like that if it's the logical culmination to a storyline that existed solely *in* Robin. But in this case, it wasn't necessary to put the scene in *that* comic.
But they did. And that ticked me off. Hmph.
Okay, rant over. :-)
posted by kalinara @ 1:20 AM
3 Comments:
At January 10, 2006 4:04 AM,
Anonymous said…
When I buy robin it's for something lighter in my super hero detective choices.
Yeah nobody as robin and the brutal torture of a girl.
Thats kinda different from what I wanted.
At January 10, 2006 8:33 PM,
Centurion said…
I agree that the torture shouldn't have been put into Robin - something like that would have belong more in Detective Comics or Gotham Knights i think connection wise, though Batman would have worked just fine....Batgirl doesn't need spoiler action, really.
I also read Robin as a more light-hearted take on the Batman saga of the DCU.
I seem to remember Robin, as well as other sidekicks, designed to pull younger readers into comics. Shouldn't the sidekick title also aim for those younger readers content wise? Maybe I missed something, somewhere, about that concept...
At January 11, 2006 12:59 AM,
kalinara said…
I don't mind the occasional darkness in Robin. Tim's had some serious issues/situations before. But there's a difference between the off-panel murder or the death of a punk that Robin's trying to save and a torture scene like that.
I don't recall if GK was part of the War Games event, but Detective Comics certainly was. They could have put it there. And just went with the next issue with Stephanie's funeral.
And yeah, it's a sidekick book, which means it's something I'd recommend to younger readers. Younger readers can deal with many complicated issues...but they shouldn't have to skip an issue just to skip a damn outright power tool included torture scene.
Post a Comment
<< Home