Have a couple of minutes before I have to leave on a very long day, and I've been thinking about the big "news" with the death of Spoiler in the Bat-books.
Now, I haven't read the book, and don't plan to do so until it comes out in TP form, but I'm troubled by this story, and it finally struck me why.
Stephanie's story in War Drums and War Games was a very nice little tragedy, not in the common maudlin sense, but in the formal literary sense. Perhaps her pride was not to the level of Oedipus, but in her pride, the seeds of her downfall were sown. Not a pretty death, but it gave her entire story structure and meaning.
Now, with one little revelation, the entire story is transformed, away from being about "the fall of Spoiler" to being about "the relation between Batman and Leslie." The entire "fall of Spoiler" is pushed to the side and made secondary.
Now, you could argue that the "Fall of Spoiler" is just a prelude to the "Fall of Batman", in a greek sense, and that might not be so bad, but at this point, I just find myself bothered by the marginalization of Spoiler and her death.
"Those who the gods would destroy, they first make proud," had such nice resonance.
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