Jason Todd: Robin → Red Hood Appreciation 2023

[RedBird]

https://twitter.com/JorgeJimenezArt/...61134251892977

RED HOOD.



I'm currently fluctuating between, 'ooh yay nice art' and also 'OH GOD DAMN IT, what now?!'

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

And the whole mind rape has effectively been written away.

Now if only they could do the same with the goddamn mk costume.

[Frontier]

Yeah, the MK suit kind of kills the cool factor.

[Jackalope89]

Yeah, the MK suit kind of kills the cool factor.

I'll take the MK suit for a bit longer if it means no mind rape, personally.

[K7P5V]

I'll take the MK suit for a bit longer if it means no mind rape, personally.

Same here. Still not a favorite, but it's kinda grown on me a bit...

[out of control]

By MK Suit, you mean Mortal Kombat right ? because Jason looks just like a Mortal Kombat Ninja in this new costume. lol I am glad DC got rid of the guns though... There was no way I could except him to the Bat Family like that because Batman would never tolarete guns and a murderer vigilante in his city. So i was endlessly complaning about that with every chance, everywhere. lol I hope i had a tiny impact on DC getting rid of Jason's guns. lol

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

I'll take the MK suit for a bit longer if it means no mind rape, personally.

The mind rape was enabled by the lack of armor in the MK suit tho

[Jackalope89]

By MK Suit, you mean Mortal Kombat right ? because Jason looks just like a Mortal Kombat Ninja in this new costume. lol I am glad DC got rid of the guns though... There was no way I could except him to the Bat Family like that because Batman would never tolarete guns and a murderer vigilante in his city. So i was endlessly complaning about that with every chance, everywhere. lol I hope i had a tiny impact on DC getting rid of Jason's guns. lol

Well, better get rid of Batman's Grapple Gun. And all iterations of such a device that they have. But, keep the green rock that poisons his best friend, the bullet that causes speedsters to have seizures, or the weapon that makes Wonder Woman fight hallucinations to her death.

[out of control]

Well, better get rid of Batman's Grapple Gun. And all iterations of such a device that they have. But, keep the green rock that poisons his best friend, the bullet that causes speedsters to have seizures, or the weapon that makes Wonder Woman fight hallucinations to her death.

Grapple Gun is not for killing people. Batman only uses Kryptonite to subdue Superman, Batman would never use it kill Superman. If there is anyone who can be trusted with a piece of Kryptonite, that is Batman. I have heard about the rest for the first time from you and none of them make Jason Todd's guns ok in any way.

[CorDaytona]

My issue is DC feeling the need to always tie Jason down to Gotham and the Batfamily at large, as much as I love the idea (mostly in theory, seeing the quality of the stuff we tend to get).

I just feel like there are fantastic venues to explore with him outside Bruce's overbearing presence and that the guns were cool visually and thematically, as dumb as they made some of his fights. At the end of the day, he still gets the "black sheep"/outsider treatment, so they might as well let him keep his approach. Now, of course, he is a Batman character, so it's a delicate balance. And sticking close to his family is what gives him some degree of relevance, at least now that he's got no outgoing (whether we think that's good or bad, on account of he is usually handled in these stories).

Ultimately, the decision to ditch the guns doesn't seem particularly driven by the narrative. I don't know if it was indeed some merchandising policy that prompted the change, but I'd buy that theory considering that, some moments aside, nothing particularly prominent, impactful or interesting has yet been achieved after Cheer in this respect.

Anyways, DC doubling down on the stupid crowbars makes this more annoying tbh. At least give him some cool signature weapons, like Future State:

[K7P5V]

^^^Personally, Jason was at his most interesting during the time he had both the All-Caste & the All-Blades

[Mantis-Ray]

Same here. Still not a favorite, but it's kinda grown on me a bit...

Personally I think the MK costume can be improved by giving him a regular sleeved jacket.

Cause I don't know why exactly, but the whole sleeveless jacket looks weird.

[RedBird]

My issue is DC feeling the need to always tie Jason down to Gotham and the Batfamily at large, as much as I love the idea (mostly in theory, seeing the quality of the stuff we tend to get).

I just feel like there are fantastic venues to explore with him outside Bruce's overbearing presence and that the guns were cool visually and thematically, as dumb as they made some of his fights. At the end of the day, he still gets the "black sheep"/outsider treatment, so they might as well let him keep his approach. Now, of course, he is a Batman character, so it's a delicate balance. And sticking close to his family is what gives him some degree of relevance, at least now that he's got no outgoing (whether we think that's good or bad, on account of he is usually handled in these stories).

Ultimately, the decision to ditch the guns doesn't seem particularly driven by the narrative. I don't know if it was indeed some merchandising policy that prompted the change, but I'd buy that theory considering that, some moments aside, nothing particularly prominent, impactful or interesting has yet been achieved after Cheer in this respect.

Anyways, DC doubling down on the stupid crowbars makes this more annoying tbh. At least give him some cool signature weapons, like Future State:

What's weird is that Jason had better interactions and dynamics with the Batfamily when he was still in full on 'anti hero' mode and using guns, and now that he has dropped them, outside of some short stories here and there, he seems like more of an outsider now than ever before, with interactions with the batfamily being either standoffish or downright mean spirited against him. The whole ditching of the guns make no sense, and amounted to nothing.

[CorDaytona]

Seeing all the little Superman: Legacy updates got me thinking about a potential Jason appearance in Gunn's DCU again.

I'm not super optimistic if I'm honest. Dick is very likely, but Jason and Tim might get the shaft, especially the latter if they want to trim things down (him being the only LGTB Robin could help his chances though). Imagine if they set Jason's death up in Brave and the Bold (and use such tragic background to develop Bruce and Damian's Robin) to then adapt UtRH down the line. With a tall-ish/muscular actor if possible.

I wonder if James Gunn even likes Jason (if he's not indifferent to him).

What's weird is that Jason had better interactions and dynamics with the Batfamily when he was still in full on 'anti hero' mode and using guns, and now that he has dropped them, outside of some short stories here and there, he seems like more of an outsider now than ever before, with interactions with the batfamily being either standoffish or downright mean spirited against him. The whole ditching of the guns make no sense, and amounted to nothing.

Yeah, that's the thing: his status quo hasn't changed whatsoever and, as you say, it's actually gotten more toxic in a way. Like, what was the purpose of Cheer? Or #52's ending? Why are we dropping such a defining character trait that was the source/consequence of his conflict with Bruce just to keep repeating the same **** ad nauseaum with TFZ and the main Batman books?

I'm not against conflict; in fact, I welcome it! But that's only to the extent of its quality, and it's not just quality that's usually hard to find in these stories: it's the fact that it all goes back to the same schism we've been lectured about since UtRH, all while often enough not quite giving Jason the best portrayals.

Like others here iirc, I also think Jason could really thrive if given some degree of freedom outside of Gotham, even without an ongoing series. Much like Dick and Tim have/had the Titans... just let the guy explore some of the world, expanding his network of relationships with the heroes and villains of the DC universe at large. The Outlaws was that in a way, but you can definitely use the guy in existing corners of the DC beyond Gotham, even if he's obviously expected to come back ocassionally for the big events, Bat character as he is.

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

For what is worth, Martinbrough is finally giving closure to the cliffhanger in #52 in the mini.

And yeah, I agree, the biggest problem with Jason right now is that he keeps being stuck to Bruce's shadow and that means that he is stuck spinning his wheels rehashing UTRH over and over. Is baffling that Lobdell is the only writer who realized that for Jason to grow as a character he must be away from Gotham and Bruce (for a while at least). That is why I think he is still the best writer to handle Jason, everyone else is just happy with UTRH rehashes.