Re: ... wow, Devin.
I'm not interested in defending an author I wasn't aware was under attack, I'm defending a story and arguing why I read it the way I do.
Of course it's right there on the page. She says she's offering comfort, how on earth could that not be on the page? Tarantula is seeing a scene that doesn't exist. It's a dissonance. I think it's deliberate, you think it's not.
You're not answering my comments that the setting of the pages - and especially the last page of Nightwing 93 - make it look like Dick is drowning and trying to distance himself and failing. The shots of Tarantula only make her and the situation look more oppressive.
On another note, as unbelievable as it may seem, it's possible for an author to write a sympathetic villain and not share their views. See Lolita.