Just Stay at Home

What is the most shocking news of the past week?

Might it be President Obama's surprise release of his long form birth certificate?

Or perhaps it is the astonishing announcement that terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden has been killed?

I submit that neither of these is the most surprising event of the past week. Here's the real winner: DC Comics won an award... for Rise of Arsenal.

You remember that story, right? It's the one where Roy Harper goes crazy, gets back on drugs, and then hallucinates that a dead cat is his daughter.

It was not a pretty story. But that doesn't mean that the award might not have been well-deserved. After all, it's a PRISM Award, and Rise of Arsenal got it for its "accurate portrayal of mental health/drug issues."

Is that an accurate assessment of Rise of Arsenal? It's hard to say, as I've never been addicted to heroin. When I say that I mean it in all seriousness: I don't have any personal experience with such a situation. I can only assume that the people who choose the winners of the PRISM Awards do have some expertise in that issue.

And if so, drug addiction is far scarier than I ever imagined it.

Well, there's nothing like a nice long weekend to rejuvenate you. Or so they say. In reality, my first day back at school has been exhausting. As such, I'm not going to write a big long post for tonight.

Still, let's talk about severed limbs.

Specifically, I want to talk about what happened in Cry for Justice. The now infamous "severing of Roy Harper's arm." It was a pretty graphic scene. I'm not sure it was entirely necessary and I don't know if the character direction they've decided to go with is the right one.

What I do know is that far too many people are simplifying the matter. I heard grousing about how it wasn't a big deal as he was once on a team with a guy who had multiple cybernetic limbs. Seeing as he was going to get a new arm, having his arm removed wasn't a big deal.

Those people were right about one thing: he did get a cybernetic arm. From the looks of it it's Cyborg's technology as well. That certainly makes story sense; the guys are good friends.

But as the solicitation says, "getting a prosthetic arm doesn’t make him whole again." The trauma of what happened to Roy Harper isn't merely physical. Such things never are. And though I'm still not sure they took the right direction (in fact, I think they probably didn't) that doesn't mean that they can't turn it into an interesting story. I really hope they do, even if I probably won't be reading it...