I have a kind of fascination with retired villains, and they are characters I enjoy very much in a Pale Rider kind of way, and I feel like the most intimidating heroes are the ones who used to be bad guys, because even if they are not evil now, they have that in them.  They have done horrible things before, and they could again, if you push them.  And of course, what fun would the story be if you didn't?  I find DC's Orion character a mesmerizing idea, because he is the son of the very worst villain, and even though he was raised to be a good guy, he has that primal fury and darkness inside him, ready to be let loose.

A lot of parents end up having this kind of conversation with their children, and it is always difficult because when we are young we do things without a care for how they will sound later when we tell someone about them.  Many people have lived to regret choices made in their youth when they have to justify them to their children, and I think a lot of people struggle to fit their former ways into the self-image they have of themselves now they are older.  It was a tricky line to walk, because Russ did horrible things when he was young, but I don't want to dwell on them to the point that we recoil from his character.  He was a villain, sure, and some people may feel like he should never have been allowed to escape from crimes like his, but I hope that by this point we have been with him enough to sympathize with and care about him.  It helps, I suppose, that his crimes were spectacular super-crimes against strangers.  We have a lot more sympathy for the bad guy with flair and panache than for some schlub who murders his wife and kids.  Russ has spent twenty-some years trying to be a good husband and father, and I think that should count for something.  He can't undo the things he did, and even if he wanted to, turning himself in and being tried would serve no purpose that he can see.