So over in Detective Comics (a Batman story), [spoil] Kate Kane kills Clayface to stop him from going on a rampage and killing numerous people [/spoil]. This prompts the expected indignation from the rest of the Batfamily, particularly Bruce and Tim who make the usual arguments ("There is always a choice", "We have to be better than than").
What has bugged me lately is how these two arguments never pop up when it comes to other actions a superhero can commit that are far more illegal or at least unethical than killing. Killing can be justified in certain instances like in self defense or defense of others (which describes Kate's actions) while stuff like torture, privacy violation and child endangerment. Torture in particular has been employed by Batman throughout his existence. No one ever seems to make an argument about him needing to find a better way despite torture being deemed a heinous crime in most civilized societies.
Going further. Remember when Huntress got booted off the League for trying to kill Prometheus, a man who almost killed the League, almost started WW3 and would later one go on to commit a crime that, had it occurred in real life, would have surpassed 9/11 as the most devastating act of terror in U.S history. Killing him could be argued as justifiable homicide. Meanwhile, Brother Eye, Bruce's foray into mass surveillance, which ended up killing thousands of innocent people, including the Amazons, somehow wasn't enough to keep him off the League despite his actions being far less justifiable and more harmful.
Basically, the way in which superhero writers and fans approach morality is just plain odd.
What has bugged me lately is how these two arguments never pop up when it comes to other actions a superhero can commit that are far more illegal or at least unethical than killing. Killing can be justified in certain instances like in self defense or defense of others (which describes Kate's actions) while stuff like torture, privacy violation and child endangerment. Torture in particular has been employed by Batman throughout his existence. No one ever seems to make an argument about him needing to find a better way despite torture being deemed a heinous crime in most civilized societies.
Going further. Remember when Huntress got booted off the League for trying to kill Prometheus, a man who almost killed the League, almost started WW3 and would later one go on to commit a crime that, had it occurred in real life, would have surpassed 9/11 as the most devastating act of terror in U.S history. Killing him could be argued as justifiable homicide. Meanwhile, Brother Eye, Bruce's foray into mass surveillance, which ended up killing thousands of innocent people, including the Amazons, somehow wasn't enough to keep him off the League despite his actions being far less justifiable and more harmful.
Basically, the way in which superhero writers and fans approach morality is just plain odd.