Headscratchers / Astro City

• Why exactly did Simon Says reform after finding out who Starbright really was? Okay, so Starbright was really one of the only jocks in school who didnt go out of his way to make Simons life a living hell, how did that change anything? He still went out of his way to protect Simons tormentors, how is he any better? Anyone can be nice when they're privileged, rich and have friggin SUPERPOWERS on top of everything. In fact, by the end of the story, it kinda feels like Simon just reforms so there'd be a nice, positive ending just for the sake of it, she didnt really have a reason to do so.
  • Simon Says was already planning to reform before finding out who Starbright was. Simon Says was born out of your traditional mad scientist mentality, turning your back on the world and becoming an outcast. As such, Simon Says assumed that only another outcast could be such a compassionate superhero. Heck, we see Simon explain their motivations and plans to go straight to their close friend, the crippled Afro-American, Rick (because Simon assumed Rick was Starbright.)
  • However, going straight presumably meant just no longer being a villain. What prompted them to become a hero (or more specifically, the second Starbright) was the discovery that it was Chet who was Starbright. Simon spent a lifetime of being misjudged and scorned and so he misjudged everyone else when becoming Simon Says. As such, the idea of that the straight, white and well-off quarterback Chet was compassionate did not enter Simon's mind. This meant that Simon misjudged someone who was trying to help him out the entire time. If someone like Chet could believe in Simon, then Simon should believe in himself. Furthermore, it's likely this shattering of their world-view that gave Simon the courage to transition into "S" and becoming who she wants to be. She didn't need become a hero to stop being a villain; her becoming a hero is probably due to wanting to take the compassion that Chet/Starbright I gave her and apply it to become a better person and fulfill their full potential.
  • It's the realization that privilege doesn't necessarily make you a Spoiled Brat. Which is to say that a major source of Simon's anger at the world was removed. Basically, they had the exact opposite of your view that privilege = being good. It was the view that someone good can only be from a societal reject.
• Why would Amanda/Hummingbird II not allow the Peruvian Gods to cure of the curse that will eventually TURN HER INTO A BIRD? If it was just about wanting to remain a superhero she could have used her mother's equipment!