Much like how people claim Taylor's a good writer of DC characters when he isn't' writing their poorly conceived Injustice versions for a video game tie-in, Taylor's Nightwing series will decidedly mediocre but will be eaten up because it's largely coming off Ric Grayson.
Last edited by Gaius; 01-25-2021 at 05:18 PM.
Cheshire should be treated with the same amount of sympathy that Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy get these days.
Well, first we are going to straight out their histories and find out what they did and didn't do.
Is Cheshire still guilty of blowing up a country and committing mass genocide?
How many murders has Harley Quinn been an accessory to?
Is Poison Ivy feeding innocent people to plants still canon?
I'm in favor of treating all of them as villains.
But as long as they seem determined to soften up Harley and Ivy, regardless of how ill advised I think that is, they should spread the same consideration to Cheshire. The only reason they don't is because Harley and Ivy are more popular. Despite the fact that most of their popularity comes from being villains, not heroes.
Harley helped mind rape Tim Drake in the DCAU on top of her going along with everything else Joker did in that continuity, in Injustice has a body count higher than Nazi war criminals, and in the current continuity has at least 300+ murders to her, and in all of those is presented as either sympathetic or as a good person ultimately.
Yes, Cheshire can be portrayed sympathetically if we're using Harley as the standard.
Last edited by Gaius; 02-06-2021 at 10:51 AM.
Don't forget the lack of redemption arc for Harley where she has to grapple with what she did-- NOPE! She left the Joker and everyone just brushes all those murders under the rug. Hey, she's a victim! Nevermind all the thousands of people she victimized and left broken in her wake-- it wasn't her fault!
The main issue with Cheshire is that while Harley actually is a victim, Cheshire was always in control of her actions. Whereas with Harls I don't think they've ever been able to convince me she deserves to work with heroes, she did become less ruthless after leaving Joker. He acts as her get-out-of-killing-thousands free card because she was hurt too (again, nevermind the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters left to grieve as a result of her crimes and those she directly put in the ground). Cheshire doesn't have that. She was even willing to give up her daughter on the grounds she can make another.
I don't think Cheshire can be walked back. Harley can. Harley has the Joker acting as the hinge for a redemption arc. Look, they don't have to redeem Harley. She can continue being who she is, but Batman should throw her out of the cave and refuse to work with her until she has been redeemed.