Jason Todd: Robin, Arkham Knight, Red Hood Appreciation 2018

[EMarie]

I'm inclined to believe Willis is mostly being honest with the possible exception of not knowing who was to blame for Jason's health issues.

I think the medical issues being on Jason rather than Catherine works since the point is Jason is the one thing Willis is proud of. With Catherine you could argue it was because of her addiction while Jason could be ill because of his parents actions making it more tragic. Willis got out of drug dealing but gets back into crime for his son.

[Zaresh]

I too think it's more likely that Willis is telling the truth. It's not rare either. I think the unreliable narrator is still a solid possibility for Jason, though.

[EMarie]

True. It's not that Jason is a liar but he might not have the whole picture. We know Jason has trouble believing Bruce and the others care but that doesn't mean they don't care.

[Aioros22]

I skimmed through some of it. They said he was abusive and while I recall that I don't remember him hurting Jason. It took me a second to recall any mention of it. I do remember Jason telling Duela that his dad beat up his mom for wasting money on cigarettes. I think it could still work with Willis reaching his breaking point with his henchmen job, Jason's medical bills and them blaming each other for his illness.

Aka: fuckers don`t need to be carboard level characters. What do they thought the issue about the humanizing henchemen was for?

You can actually include all in without crying any BS (which of course Tumbrl will because a good deal of them are entitled viewers who care more about projecting their headcanon that to debate what is actually in the published material and what could be better) and still come up with a rounded character, which glady he is on the way of becoming.

But sure, you can call it retconing if you wish to. Before Wills was just there, now he`s got character. Apples and oranges.

[Aioros22]

The thing about Jason`s ileness is to clearly address how he could not have survived since he was a kid. Or in short, the Dammed Prince of Gotham has been a survivor since day one!

[G-Potion]

The thing about Jason`s ileness is to clearly address how he could not have survived since he was a kid. Or in short, the Dammed Prince of Gotham has been a survivor since day one!

That's a really good point.

[G-Potion]

I wonder if him surviving the operating table was also a miracle in line with his ressurrection.

[thebluefeline]

Oh man what if he's been granted with immortality o.o Farfetched i know but it would make for really interesting possibilities. Or maybe it comes back to the idea with his soul? That maybe it's different than normal people and it's been sent back constantly from death's doors for that reason. Would love to see if it has to do with Death the Endless >v <

[EMarie]

I think you mean Jason not Willis? I remember the possibility was talked about after the Futures End issue. I do think he's changed because of his death. There have been possible hints at it throughout Lobdell's run.

[thebluefeline]

Yea I meant Jason. That's interesting. Didn't catch the hints in the Future End issue. I'll go back and read it later.

[kiwiliko]

Aka: fuckers don`t need to be carboard level characters. What do they thought the issue about the humanizing henchemen was for?

You can actually include all in without crying any BS (which of course Tumbrl will because a good deal of them are entitled viewers who care more about projecting their headcanon that to debate what is actually in the published material and what could be better) and still come up with a rounded character, which glady he is on the way of becoming.

But sure, you can call it retconing if you wish to. Before Wills was just there, now he`s got character. Apples and oranges.

I'm really into this addition to Will's character too. I've seen a few times on tumblr where there's this idea that media adds too much to a villain's backstory for sympathy points and that antagonist leaning characters don't deserve humanizing because this misleads the audience into forgiving an abuser.

I highly doubt this arc is going to be about forgiving anyone considering we literally see Jason under tables with the dog trying to avoid his screaming parents but humanizing can do so much for a narritive.

This issue really did it well, Will is still not a good dad and none of these letters change the fact Jason's been living out his parents consequences since birth. But I also think Jason has a history of equating that actions directly show how another person feels about you. There's a few early examples where he takes Bruce's physical fights with him to mean 100% Bruce has lost all love for him. I think Will's letters really shoved in his face that Will is one character where he treated his son very badly but clearly had positive feelings for him. It's just that as Will said "love didn't fix anything" and I think this is a good stake to toss in Jasons direction. It's on some level making Jason face that people who contributed to his traumas are human and may even have held positive feelings for him. If we're correct that Artemis' past mission did kill Jason's biodad then theres a good chance Jason's going to be facing this internal conflict again. Will likely isn't getting forgiveness more than Jason is getting closure from this arc but it looks possible we may potentially be setting up to see the fallout of something Artemis did in the past that (unintentionally) hurts Jason now.

[kiwiliko]

Oh man what if he's been granted with immortality o.o Farfetched i know but it would make for really interesting possibilities. Or maybe it comes back to the idea with his soul? That maybe it's different than normal people and it's been sent back constantly from death's doors for that reason. Would love to see if it has to do with Death the Endless >v <

There's a neat fic out there with exactly this premise and I believe a few crossovers for DC/Sandman exploring this as well. I really wouldn't be surprised if we get some discussions of immortality given Lobdells hints at soul business but man they're always so sad. As an older sib he's probably not going to handle watching the younger ones out-age him well.

[EMarie]

I find it funny because I remember a lot of people being mad at Willis being portrayed negatively in the #0 issue. This is giving Willis depth it's not saying he was perfect. He admits he's failed and the letters are supposed to let Jason know he was loved but he still had terrible parents. That's it because Willis doesn't know if he's going to make it out alive at this point.

With Bruce I think it's partly because Bruce is so bad at expressing himself with words and sometimes actions are the only thing Jason can use. At this point Jason doesn't even know how he feels about Willis. The conflict with Artemis will be brutal.

[G-Potion]

Yea I meant Jason. That's interesting. Didn't catch the hints in the Future End issue. I'll go back and read it later.

He said things like, ordinary people don't know the "joy" of immortality. But framed in the context, it could be interpreted either figuratively or literally.

[EMarie]

There was also the bit where he said it took three days to recover from what Roy did and it looked like he shot Jason through his helmet. I think he also blew Jason's hoverbike up or Jason fell from a long distance.