#character thesis

[margarettherelentless]

[dchuntress]

rereading comics of both helena bertinelli and helena wayne, it does become apparent that it is difficult to write a huntress without dissecting and reflecting on darker yet everyday themes like the normalisation of violence even at homes and in safe spaces, domestic violence, and specifically, the treatment of women and other marginalised populations most vulnerably affected by patriarchy, implicitly. why crime occurs at all, when children truly learn to get scared, how the asymmetry occurs in various, often times intersecting yet distinct hegemonic systems, and how it leads to hypervigilance even when the everyday life looks normal for people, to the point that even safety measures like holding your keys tight is seen as irrational, unnecessary, a personal affront. why imperfect victims still matter. how prey and predator often mirror each other in the desire-fear for survival, the world is more than a narratively linear war of two sides; it is an ecosystem. that's why the huntress is needed to be morally grey and yet, empathetic and understanding, both towards the people they hunt and the people they protect, because the huntress is just as capable of carrying on the cycle of violence she emerged from. history must, thus, be embodied - as a lifelong lesson, in everyday life. not a shallow legacy.

some references:

huntress year one, huntress cry for blood, huntress 1989, detective comics 2016 run, batman huntress secret files, lazarus planet dark fate;

worlds' finest 2012 powergirl/huntress, various pre crisis comics of helena wayne;

the background of how and why both these comic characters were created at all, latent understanding of the complexity of selina kyle, gotham, and other morally grey women;

[thewitchofwonders]

[martyrbat]

batman: gotham nights #1

[ID: two of the same image (for scaling). In them, Batman is mostly concealed in shadow with only his yellow chest emblem visible. His features are blocked except for his white cowl lenses as he demands, “I want the child, Pack! Where is the child?!” END ID]

[marley-manson]

[markiafc]

[peggyolsongf]