Soooo....Jason Todd....

[kept back]

Does anyone else really hate that they brought him back? From Superboy punching him back into existence to calling him Red Hood to his entire character in general. I really look at JT as an indicator of why I cannot stand DC anymore. I felt like his death was a great, defining moment in the Batman canon and bringing him back was just pure crap.

[Nostalgiabuff]

yeah, I thought bringing him back was stupid as well. he was always a whiny annoying PITA anyway

[palitoy]

I think it's funny how hated a character he was. I didn't read much Batman then but I remember going "ewwww" when I read him. The writers claim they weren't gunning for that at all.

[Nostalgiabuff]

the death in the family storyline is really the first major gimmick storyline I remember reading. his death really had meaning and made a significant change in the the whole family of Bat books for years afterward. of course DC rebooted everything anyway so having him back now really does not matter. not that I read any of the modern DC books

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think it's funny how hated a character he was. I didn't read much Batman then but I remember going "ewwww" when I read him. The writers claim they weren't gunning for that at all.

I've never really bought that. Jim Starlin practically handed the readers that crowbar. He hated the concept of Robin in general, and Jason in particular, and wanted him out of the book. Editor Denny O'Neil felt that they had mad a major misstep with the new Jason being a street tough, and dismissing Dick Grayson like they had. The emergence of 900 numbers solved both of their problems.

I think it was a mistake to bring him back. He served a much great purpose as a reminder of the dangerous business heroes work in.

Chris

[thunderbolt]

Heck, didn't Frank Miller kind of write his history in Dark Knight Returns?

[samurainoir]

I always feel like any character has potential under the right creative team.

Folks always forget Jason saved the day here:


and taking it out of the context of the comic book Superboy Prime retcon punches, I think Under the Red Hood is dramatically one of the best Batman Animated Movies as a character piece for the inner turmoil of Jason Todd and how it brings him into conflict with his former mentor Batman.

[samurainoir]

Spoilers... the climactic scene really creates one of those wonderfully dramatic moments where no one is exactly "wrong" and both sides have emotionally valid motivations to the conflict they find themselves in.

[madmarva]

I didn't like the meta-infinite-Crisis-Superboy-punching-him-back-to-life aspect of the story, but like Samurai Noir, I think having a batson-gone-bad was/is interesting and is a nice thorn in Bruce's side. His greatest mistake as a living adversary not just memorial in the Batcave works and shows "Batgod" really is just a fallible man. It also gives credit to Dick Grayson and his parents that he came out of being Robin as well adjusted as any character that wears tights to fight crime, and shows that Robin isn't just a lab experiment bruce can replicate any time he likes.

To me the Lazerus Pit revival/retcon works within the batman mythology. Ras is my favorite bat villain so I don't mind the supernatural or super science aspect of his regeneration.

Now, I really like Tim Drake as a character, at least before the new52, but it really didn't make sense for Bruce to have taken on another protege following the tragedy with Jason. That doesn't work for me, but I overlook it because I like Tim.
With so many creators working on so many Batman stories, it's impossible for it all to stack up neatly or work to everyone's tastes. Some of it you just have to overlook or grudgingly accept.

In hindsight, it probably would have been better just to introduce Damian or A different version of Bruce's son as the second Robin, but for a long time the graphic novel where Talia conceived wasn't considered canon.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I'll admit, the Red Hood film was pretty good. And I liked the pre-Crisis Jason. Heck, despite what they did to Dick, I was fine with the post-Crisis Jason, until Starlin started intentionally writing him as an unstable brat.

I still like Jason's original look, pre-Robin name. I think if they'd allowed him to have his own distinct look, that would have helped him weather the naysayers, and he would have eventually been accepted in the role by readers.



This is a piece I did YEARS ago for an online fanzine called Fanzing. I cringe a bit at it now, but I still like the basic composition, and it was fun drawing that costume.

Chris

[samurainoir]

I'll admit, I liked what Morrison tried to do with Jason Todd as the Red Hood as an antagonist/rival to the Dick/Damian Batman/Robin team. Making Red Hood and his sidekick ideological cracked mirrors is always a fun comic book trope for me. Wish it would have stuck as opposed to what got spun out int the new 52 as Red Hood and the Outlaws.

[The Bat]

It really doesn't bother me that they brought Jason Todd back. Everybody comes back from the dead in Comics. Like the always say in the X-Men: "I thought you were dead?"..."I got better."

[kept back]

I did like "Under the Red Hood." I think if the comics had gone more that route I would have been more OKish with it. I do wish they had ultimately called him Deathwing as I really hate the "RedHood" moniker. I also would have preferred Redwing to Red Robin for Tim.

Jason had the misfortune of showing up right around the original Crisis. He went from a complete clone of Grayson, down to origin, to something original but ultimately unlikable.

[The Bat]

Does anybody remember that DC "re-wrote" Jason's origin early on? First he and his family were Circus Folks(like Dick)and then I think it was killer Croc that killed his family.

Then DC just decided to re-write Jason as delinquent thief, that Batman catches trying to steal the wheels off the Batmobile...and takes him in.

[kept back]

Yeah, that's what I'm referring to. He was a circus kid with red hair whose parents were killed by Waylon Jones. Then suddenly he was a black haired street kid trying to steal bat wheels.

The first origin was just a copy and paste of Grayson and the second turned out to be incredibly disliked.

I have to agree that a distinct look would have helped. I think Drake getting a new Robin costume helped with his introduction.