Batman and Speedy

Speedy is a character that is currently being put through the wringer. First he drops his own identity to become Red Arrow, a virtual carbon copy of his mentor. Then his young child is killed and he loses his arm. That was enough to turn me off to his mini-series, and I am glad I did because in it he apparently went back on drugs and was so out of it he was using dead cats as weapons. Ugh. Sometimes I wonder what editorial is thinking over at good old DC. Yes, I know this is probably leading to some redemption story down the line, but does it have to be such an ugly path getting there?