It’s now Jason Todd’s turn to have the Hush-style spotlight shone on him for an issue. He wasn’t around (well, sort of) for the original storyline when just about every other Batman character got theirs, so he needs to make up for lost time. The way these generally go is we get an overview of who the character is, and then a sort of “best of” mini adventure that covers Batman’s relationship with them. For Jason, that “best of” is unfortunately the same argument he and Bruce have been having since Jason came back from the dead almost two decades ago.
In the original Hush story, Jason Todd, the second Robin who had been murdered by the Joker, “came back from the dead” only to turn out to actually be Clayface the entire time. When writer Judd Winick read that scene, he decided that it was too good of an idea to pass up and started working on a story that would bring him back for real. That’s what led to the 2005 story Batman: Under the Hood. He would even retcon it so that the “Jason” that Batman fought in Hush actually was the real Jason, but switched with Clayface at the last minute. However, this story seems to retcon that retcon, as Batman mentions how the “Jason” he fought in Hush wasn’t actually him.
In Under the Hood, Jason Todd returns from the dead as the eponymous “Red Hood”. He then takes over Gotham’s underworld thanks to the training he received from Batman but without any of the hesitation for killing. Part of this was to prove he could do what Batman never could, but far more importantly it built up to a confrontation where Jason admonishes Batman for never killing Joker after what happened to him. The story’s climax involves Jason trying and failing to force Batman to finally kill the Joker in an ultimatum. It’s an emotional scene, but seemingly not one Jason has been able to move on from.
The reason I bring up this little history lesson is because Batman #159 goes to great lengths to try and recreate that scene all over again. Batman already has Joker in custody, but that’s not enough to try and match the drama of the first time he and Jason fought over him. No, for that Batman needs to be trying to save his life.
This setup is something that’s happened a few times in Batman comics before, and it’s almost always a huge eyeroll. Yes, Batman has his no-killing rule that’s baked firmly into the character, but it’s always such a huge stretch to go from that to “I must save Joker at all costs”. I’m not saying that he should get away with a Batman Begins-style situation where he clearly sets someone up to die and intentionally does nothing, but why is Joker getting special treatment? I don’t exactly see Batman making sure that every single Gothamite’s medical bills are fully paid to handle any procedures they might need.
Most of the time when writers need a “wouldn’t it be crazy if Batman had to save Joker’s life?” scenario, they at least come up with a justification like Joker being the only one with the code to stop a bomb or something. None of that happens here. As far as I can tell, he just feels that letting Joker die would be playing into what Hush wants. Sorry, but that doesn’t feel like enough of a reason to go to these lengths. After a brief stop at Leslie Thompkins’ clinic so that she can get her own brief introduction and character recap, Bruce takes Joker to his cave. That’s when Jason shows up.
All of this setup is just so that Jason and Bruce can have the same argument they’ve been having since he came back from the dead. “Why won’t you kill him? Don’t you know what he did to me? Crowbar!” It’s honestly tiring. Worse than running in circles, this is actually a regression for Jason. I have plenty of problems with the way his character has been handled over the past couple of decades, but at least there was something. He mostly moved on from directly fighting Batman and became a mostly-ally who even shows up to help with bat family adventures. In fact he literally just did that in the most recent issue of Detective Comics. Now we’re completely back to square one so that this story can continue its “playing the greatest hits” approach.
There is of course one way this improves on the original Red Hood confrontation: it realizes that it would be sick as Hell if Batman fought with guns. That’s right, folks; after all the belabored anguishing over Batman’s strict adherence to his personal code, he gets to break this one as a treat. His no-killing rule is so inviolable that he will go to the ends of the Earth to save Joker’s life specifically, but he’ll start shooting at Jason if it gives him the advantage of being “unanticipated”. I guess as long as he’s not going for a kill shot it’s fine. This moment really takes the melodrama to the absurd.
Do you know what the best part is? After all that yelling and shooting over whether Bruce should have killed Joker when he had the chance, Jason doesn’t kill him when he has the chance. He eventually runs off with the Joker after knocking Batman out by cold-cocking him with the butt of a gun (never mind the fact that Batman had just explained that his cowl is armored so this shouldn’t work) and Batman says Jason wasn’t here to kill Joker but to help Hush. If that’s true, then what was any of this for? Why are you even fighting? You can’t get mad at Bruce for not killing Joker and then do the exact same thing because you’re working as part of Hush’s master plan for the second time (or possibly first depending on how much of that first time was retconned).
So long as you can ignore everything that’s actually happening, Jim Lee’s art is still impressive to look at. If last issue fell short of big, spectacular splash pages, this one certainly makes up for it. You’ve never seen Jason yelling at Bruce drawn so well. In fact there are a number of pages that are reminiscent of pages from the first Hush (though at times maybe a little too reminiscent). There is, however, one major exception.
We get our first look at the Riddler in this story as part of a teaser for a subplot involving Dick and Barbara, and it’s a strong contender for the worst outfit he’s ever worn. Lee seems to have fully embraced his 90s roots with leather, military-style jacket and boots, a question mark tattoo over his eye, studded metal knuckles, and plenty of unnecessary straps and pouches everywhere. On a character more oriented towards brawns rather than brains this might work, but this is the Riddler we’re talking about.
Recommended If
- You never tire of Batman and Jason fighting
- Batman should value Joker’s life over all else
- You think Batman and Jason should shoot at each other over Joker
Overall
Batman #159 is a rehash of every argument Batman and Jason have had over the past twenty years in the worst way. It would be exhausting enough if it were just the same conflict as always, but this is actually a major regression of their relationship to recreate its status quo from when Jason was first resurrected. In order to get to that point, it requires everyone involved to act in absurd ways so that every ounce of melodrama can be squeezed from them. What results is a story that will only upset fans of the characters.
Score: 3/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
COMMENTS
