Only one short bit of humor is endearing, lampshading the ridiculousness of an eye-mask being able to conceal a superhero's identity.

Through the gaps, moonlight bulkened into a ghastly squatting outline.

to prune a budget, or an essay

She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.