Friday, November 5, 2010

Red Hood: The Lost Days #6(of 6)

Overall: This issue gets started with a flashback of Batman warning Jason Todd(back when he was Robin)about the danger of the Joker, and how Joker's unpredictability made Joker Batman's most dangerous foe. From there we head to a grown up Jason, who has managed to locate Joker and is in the process of eavesdropping on the Clown Prince of Crime. It seems Joker is keen on buying some chemical that when mixed with water and exposed to air bursts into flames. After watching a demonstration, Joker agrees to buy the chemical and sets up a meeting at the Port of Los Angeles. Now knowing where to find Joker, Jason heads out to the Port and sets up his trap. Phase one of Jason's plan works perfectly, as he distracts Joker's guards and gases Joker's men. Joker makes a break for it, but is shot in the leg by Jason, who goes to retrieve the fallen Joker. Before he can take Joker away for hours and hours of fun torture, Joker's men have donned gas masks of their own and are chasing Jason down. Not having the time he wanted, Jason carries Joker into an abandoned warehouse and sprays him with gasoline. Finally having Joker where he wants him, Jason pulls out a lighter and lights it, but is unable to throw the flame on Joker... Instead he leaves and Joker's men rescue him from his predicament. Later on, Jason meets up with Talia Al Ghul and explains that he couldn't kill Joker without Batman also being there. Without Batman there to witness the act, Joker's death, although satisfying would have been meaningless to Jason. Talia tells Jason that she doesn't want him to kill Batman(which Jason doesn't think he wants to do anymore anyway), and tells Jason to punish Batman for his offenses by taking away what was most important to Bats, Gotham City. From there Jason and Talia have a quick roll in the hay, and when Jason awakens, Talia is gone, although she has left him more money, as well as a message to meet up with a new player in Gotham by the name of Hush. Jason meets up with Hush and confirms what Hush had already suspected, that Batman was Bruce Wayne. From there, with Bruce's words ringing in his ears about how dangerous Joker was due to his lack of predictability, Jason prepares to play the role of the Red Hood for the first time.

This is easily one of the strongest mini-series I've read all year. I'd go so far as to say that it may very well be THE best mini of the year(definitely from DC). As dumb as it may sound, my biggest complaint with this particular issue(and the reason I couldn't give it a perfect score)was the fact that we all knew how it was going to end. The meeting with Joker, which was what the past two issues was leading to, HAD to end with Joker surviving, thereby making the whole meeting a moot point. Even still, Judd Winick(writer)did a very good job with the meeting between the two. I just can't help but be bothered by the fact that Jason DIDN'T kill Joker when he had the chance... Yeah, he wanted Bruce there when he did the deed, but there were still ways to have involved Bruce in Joker's death. Why not kill Joker, decapitate him and send Joker's head to Wayne Manor? That would have made the point as strongly as if Bruce himself had been there. But in the end it doesn't matter, since I loved the eventual meeting between Bruce, Jason and Joker from a couple of years back. As for Talia and Jason... That was interesting. Their bedroom escapades didn't bother me(Talia was mad at Bruce at the time, as was Jason)as it happened kind of naturally. Plus their tryst also opens up several doors to future storylines that could impact the Bat-family. So even with a few missteps here and there, overall this was a fantastic mini-series, and I'm BEGGING DC to either give us some kind of sequel, or better yet, a Red Hood ongoing. Come on DC, make this happen!

Score: 9 out of 10.So much for that famous Bat-family secrecy!

16 comments:

  1. You would think with the 800 new Batman books out, the Red Hood would finally get his own ongoing. I can't believe how many people like this character. You know how you guys were saying Conan is boring? That's how I feel about Red Hood. I don't think he's horrible, I just can't(/won't ever) see why so many people identify with him.

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  2. I hear ya Kello. There are just some characters who you'll never be a fan of/be able to get into. I mean personally, I find it easier to relate to somebody like Jason than you know, a barbarian. :P Jason is like the textbook definition of that whole, middle child syndrome. He was never as good as his older "brother" and wasn't as respected/loved as his younger "brother". He's just the OTHER Robin. The rebel Robin. I think(for me anyway)that's a major part of his appeal.

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  3. Lol @ a barbarian. I loved this issue as you guys may recall. I've also been saying Jason is Damian's dad for a while, so this fuels my thoughts, I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't but I'm glad to have some ammo for that gun.

    I'd agree with what you said X. That's why I like Jason so much. He isn't the perfect son, the one that took over for Bruce. He's not the detective either, he's the anger, he's the upset child that fought back. In a way he's more like Bruce than Dick and Tim are.

    Also, the fact that so many people dislike Jason due to the fact they think he failed annoys me, he didn't fail. The guy died trying to save his mother after she betrayed him. To me that means more than anything about him being a hero. So I hate when people say he failed as a Robin (not you Kello) just because he died in the line of duty. Rant ended :D

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  4. Dude, exactly! Once I read this and they had the scene with Jason and Talia, and especially with Talia gone before Jason woke up, I was like, "well, that gives JT more ammo for his whole, 'Jason is Damian's father' argument."

    Yeah, in a way the first three Robin's are all different aspects of Bruce. You have Dick's unwavering optimism, Jason's anger at the world, and Tim's sensibility. That's actually pretty cool. I doubt DC did it on purpose, but it really worked out quite nicely.

    What hero hasn't failed? Seriously? They've all failed at one time or another.

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  5. Exactamundo. So now you can't tell me Jason isn't Damian's father until they come out and say it themselves.

    Yeah, I've also had conversations about Robin's having the same mentality as Bruce, it is pretty cool how that worked out. I think for that fact alone that it would be awesome to see the first three Robin's team up, hell even adding Steph and Damian to the mix would be very interesting.

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  6. I seriously wonder if DC would ever go and say that Jason is Damian's father. I mean since Damian was artificially aged in a tube, anybody Talia was able to acquire... ehem, samples from could be his father. I don't think it'll happen as long as Grant is working for DC, but I still maintain that when/if Grant does eventually hop back over to Marvel, DC will pull that little switch-a-roo. It's all just TOO obvious. I don't think that Grant cares for Jason as a character, so like I said, I can't see him becoming Damian's dad for at least two years, but if a Jason-backer like Judd were to take over, who knows...

    That's the thing about Damian though, he's pretty much a modern day version of Jason's portrayal of Robin. I mean he's everything Jason was back in the 80's, but worse! Oh, and I'd LOVE for some sort of weird little one-shot story that forced the first three Robins to work together for some reason... But what could that reason be... Hmm, JT, give me a reason. Now!

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  7. That's exactly how I feel dude, I couldn't agree more, so I can only hope Grant decides he wants to go write The Hulk or something and go the hell away.

    Haha, lets say... Red Robin, Red Hood and Batman each try to save Babs whose been kidnapped by The Joker due to them each having different relationships with her and him. All of them arrive at the same place and are forced to team up to save her? Eh, not good but I was on the spot! :P

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  8. That's exactly how I feel dude, I couldn't agree more, so I can only hope Grant decides he wants to go write The Hulk or something and go the hell away.

    Haha, lets say... Red Robin, Red Hood and Batman each try to save Babs whose been kidnapped by The Joker due to them each having different relationships with her and him. All of them arrive at the same place and are forced to team up to save her? Eh, not good but I was on the spot! :P

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  9. HA! Please let him go and write the Hulk! That would be great! That way I wouldn't have to read his work and Jason might get some decent face time.

    Hmm... Nice try, JT... I guess... :P

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  10. Screw face time, just give him some more Black hair with a cool white streak time! :P

    Lol @ I Guess, alright smart guy, YOU come up with a scenario.

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  11. I'm with you with the black hair, the white streak though? I can do without that...

    Um, hmm... Since it's 12:27 and I've got to get up in a few hours, I'm gonna play the, "I'm too tired to come up with a story right now" line! :P

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  12. The white streak was BAD ASS, lol. It was so cool, made him look even cooler, plus, it would be complimented by Rose's white hair or Huntress's black hair whenever he gets hooked up with one of them like I wish.


    Excuses excuses... go ahead now! You can even wait and email it!:P

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  13. I don't know, that streak should be reserved for my boy, Nate... What's with your guy trying to copy my guy's look? :D

    I'd be SO for a Jason/Huntress hook up. Even Ravager would be cool, especially since she tried and failed to hook up with Tim. That would be a nice shot at him by Rose.

    Hmm, well now it's even later, so I'll have to pass again! :D

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  14. Lol nah, until your guy has an animated Movie, my guy wins by default :P

    Excuses Excuses X! It's ALWAYS LATE :P And yeah, I REALLY want a Jason/Huntress team-up that leads to a hook up. Hell either way he's getting someone Tim turned down or someone Dick turned down...

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  15. HA! Well THAT'S not fair! MY guy had the treak going first! :D

    Hmm, I STILL haven't gotten to work on that... *shrugs*

    So in other words you want Jason to wind up second fiddle again? Wasn't it enough he was always considered a poor man's Dick Grayson?! Now he can only get with a girl who was turned down by one of the other Robins? Poor, poor Jason...

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  16. "treak" eh? Your guy's streak is subpar. My guy's streak is legendary, like Undertaker's.

    I'm sure you'll type it on PSN when you accept my friend request :P

    Lol you agreed! Well hell, Dick's bagged nearly every chick. Who can we give Jason... Power Girl?!

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