Do We Need An Origin Story For Every Little Detail?
When I was writing a 1200-word attempt to define the proper length of Batman's ears earlier this week, I mentioned that comic book readers love details. It's true of every fandom, I suppose, whether it's memorizing sports statistics or listening for the differences between the demo and album versions of your favorite song, but with superhero comics, it tends to be a little different. These are, after all, stories that are meant to go on forever, where every story is meant to feel important to the ongoing narrative. Exploring and examining the details is one of the best ways to add significance, giving a deep and complicated history to every single element that makes up a character. Every now and then, though, I think we can all agree that it goes a little overboard.
I mean, it's been a few years since it happened, but I'm still not sure that we ever needed an origin story for Barry Allen's bowtie.