This is only tangentially related but ....it's interesting that you say that.
I happened to be thinking about the Batman Secret Files - The Signal (Duke Thomas) comic i recently read and a particular scene / panel in the comic that significantly reduced my interest in the character before the comic even reached the halfway point in the story. I won't get into what happened here other than to say....i found it interesting that Static / Virgil found himself in a similar situation as The Signal / Duke within a similar amount of pages into the story and yet the Static writer presented Virgils conflict (and the conclusion of the conflict) differently when compared to the Signals book. Considering the books are marketed to a similar demographic i couldn't help but notice the contrast. Which one would i find more appealing based upon these "introductions" if they were my first exposure to the characters?
I wondered about power fantasies, the power of imagery, creative control and creators in general briefly.
I'll leave it at that.
"If you know ..you know."