>>51787
He handed over obscure alien technology to a renowned scientist who had been all over the media complaining that superheroes were selfish for holding back technology that could massively improve life for the people. The scientist tinkered with the device carelessly and it ended up releasing a plague that spread through sound waves and killed a lot of people, mostly children. His guilt over the fuckup, and also thinking of the things the media and people would say about him, was what made him snap completely. But it's implied throughout the story that it was bound to happen sooner or later, that there was a dark side to him that he had been reining in the whole time

>>51788
The way he was written, and going off some of the author's notes on the first issue (which were empathetic towards the protagonist), I don't think he was intended to be a sociopath, his concern for others seems genuine, not like an act. I think his issue was more that he expected rewards for his good deeds rather than increasingly severe punishments. "No good deed goes unpunished". He believed so much in that simple system of moral behavior and just reward that after enough evidence had mounted up that that's not how it really worked at all, it broke his mind. It's also clear that he had some sort of neurological/psychiatric issue from birth or a predisposition to it, just not plain psychopathy. At least that's how I interpret the character. I realize you were talking in general terms and not about him specifically though. Also, as the title of the book implies, he's past the point of redemption once he starts killing for pleasure. There's no debate to be had anymore at that point, you have to kill the wolf asap