Jason Todd

Earthlings!!

Right.  So moving on...

Were you alive to remember Jason Todd's original run?  The two origins?  The 900 number?  I WAS THERE!!!  #whippersnappers

First off, the picture is just more brilliance from Jim Aparo.  He and Neal Adams are two of the first people I think of when it comes to Batman artists.  Their ability to bring emotion to the page was, and is, unparalleled. 

Fourthly, I thought the right decision was handed down at the time.  Kill off the little punk.  Since then, I have become less radical/emotional in my desire to see fictional characters put down.  In this case I am glad it happened.

If Jason Todd would have lived and continued on as Robin, two things would not have happened...

1.) Tim Drake (the best Robin there was).
2.) We would not have the Jason Todd we know today.

His character as the Red Hood has been amazing.  One of the brighter spots in the Bat-verse in the last 11 years.  That's right, he has been back for 11 years.  Crazy, huh?  His first appearance was in 1983, and was killed off in 1988.  He has more than doubled his life span this second go-around.

DC's Rebirth has reverted back to the origin of him being a kid that stole the tires off of the Batmobile, fixing the New 52's origin. He has new "outlaws" with him for Rebirth, Artemis, and Bizarro.  Cray cray, I know.  #sorryaboutthecraycray

Jason has been no angel since coming back, there's no question about it.  His presence adds depth to the Bat-family, and I am glad that he is out there.  It's one of those cases where the death of a character worked, in hindsight.  Of course, when he died back in '88, the death of comic characters weren't so ridiculously overdone. 

I have not done the math, but I would imagine that there are more DC/Marvel heroes that have died than haven't (A and B-listers, anyway).

Check out Rebirth's Red Hood and the Outlaws.  It's worth a read!

#hashtag

The Killing Joke

Let's start here...

The Killing Joke is a heavily anticipated animated movie brought to us from our friends at DC Comics.  If you are not familiar with the source material, let me introduce you to Barbara Gordon.  Barbara is the daughter of Gotham City police Commissioner Jim Gordon.

In real years, she is 48 years old, having her debut in 1967.  She was created for both the comics and the Adam West Batman series simultaneously, and has been a fan favorite ever since.  In March of 1988, as depicted in the beautiful Brian Bolland artwork above, Ms. Gordon was shot by the Joker, to be left paralyzed.  In the following panels, the Joker starts to undress her so he can photograph her.

Pretty gruesome stuff, right?

In the years that followed, Barbara Gordon would become an integral part of the DC Universe as Oracle.  Her prowess behind a keyboard assisted more than just the Bat-family over the years.  And yes, in true comics fashion, she eventually regained the use of her legs, becoming Batgirl, once again.

The movie, set to debut later this year, is either going to knock it out of the park, or it is going to inspire Batman v Superman levels of critique.  Obviously I hope it does well.  It is the iconic Joker story.  Ask any comic fan to name one story that comes to mind when they think of the Joker and The Killing Joke will top the list.  A Death in the Family would probably be second (Joker, less than a year later, kills the Jason Todd version of Robin).

How could this movie fail?  Well, the voice acting will not, as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and Joker, respectively.  See?  We are off to a great start!  If they deviate from, or dumb down the source material, then a lot of die hard comic fans will be up in arms.  If they do not deviate, the armchair activists are going to get upset all over again over the treatment of Barbara Gordon.

This is a controversial story to animate, and I look forward to it.

Steve's prediction: too early to tell.  I'm not predisposed to hate things (like critics and DC movies).  :)

Red Hood and the Outlaws

After issue #1 of this series, especially if  you are a fan of these characters before the "new 52", you might want to stop reading this series altogether.  My problem is I let books stack up so I can enjoy them all at once, or in the case with novels, to make them last longer.  Reading, to me, is like episodic television.  It is not uncommon for me to be reading 3 or 4 books at once.  I am currently reading Extinction Agenda by Marcus Pelegrimas, Sandstorm by James Rollins, and Star Wars: Survivor's Quest by Timothy Zahn.  It's like turning the channel.  AND IT'S HOW I ROLL.

So it goes with comics.  I let Red Hood and the Outlaws stack up, and I am glad I did.

Jason Todd's Most Precious Memory

Jason Todd is the Red Hood.  Todd, you might recall, was the 2nd Robin to be under Batman's tutelage.  Back in the day, there was a storyline where readers could call into a 900# (not that kind of 900#...so disappointing) and determine whether or not Jason Todd would live or die.  The readers decided Jason needed to go.

The character was becoming a loose cannon, and as a result, Robin got to die at the hands of the Joker, via explosives.  The story was quite sad, and really shaped the Batman character for years and years to come.  Anyway, he's back.

Roy Harper, the former sidekick to Green Arrow, is also in the book.  Roy Harper, formerly known as Speedy had a name switch to Arsenal when DC finally realized the name Speedy was inherently stupid.  The character gained some fame in the 70's as the sidekick who turned to heroin in the infamous Green Lantern/Green Arrow series.  Social relevance and all that.  Dated stories, but man were they great. To this day I will still break them out.

The last Outlaw is Starfire.  She was a Teen Titan regular, former girlfriend to original Robin, Dick Grayson, and current slut with a selective memory.  This was the character that made me want to throw the first issue into the fireplace to use as kindling.  It became clear to me that I do not have a fireplace, so I had to scrap the idea.  

After finishing the 1st five issues, I suggest you go out and buy it.  Some minor dialogue annoyances and predictable formulas aside, I am interested in the story, and I am interested mostly in what happens to Jason Todd.  A very fun book. 

4 out of 5 Red Hoods.