The Jason Todd Chronicles: Batman #409

(My intention was to upload one of these at least once a week, but several days ago I was struck with an awful head cold that had me miserable and unable to do much of anything for three or four days--and that I am still recovering from. 'Tis the season. *sigh* As a result, I needed to wait until I was a bit more…functional in order to write this overview. So, I’m a bit late, and this is probably awful writing, but here it is!)

Batman #409 starts out right where the last issue left off, with the first page offering a brief synopsis of what happened in a very epic way: “And on one such night, one such year, the Batman’s annual nocturnal pilgrimage to the site of his parents’ murder has proven particularly satisfying. Because he has been able, this night, to place an orphan of the streets into the hands of those who might insure that young Jason Todd not become…JUST ANOTHER KID ON CRIME ALLEY.”

The irony of this is intentional, as we were left off last time seeing Jason surrounded by a bunch of kids who were ready to attack him with Ma Gunn off to the side smoking a cigar. My biggest nitpick is the use of “on” instead of “in” Crime Alley…but I’m assuming that’s just the way they wrote in the 80’s and complaining about it is pointless.

I'd also like to give a gold star to Max Allen Collins for using the phrase "nocturnal pilgrimage" because it's..it's just amazing. 

The next page gives us a tiny summary of what happened last issue with Batman explaining how he ran into Jason when he tried to steal his car tires and then commenting on how he had street starts but needed a conventional education to get anywhere beyond those streets—and that's why he sent him to Ma Gunn’s school. The dialogue mentions that her methods were “unorthodox,” which makes me curious as to what exactly Bats thought she was doing at this school that was odd but not necessarily dangerous enough to worry him.

The Jason Todd Chronicles: Batman #408

You can read the introduction to this endeavor here.

And so we begin with Jason’s first appearance in Batman #408.

Well…technically this wasn’t his first appearance, either as himself or as Robin, but after Crisis on Infinite Earths, many of the books and characters that had been involved were reconstructed or redefined to new or more interesting dynamics and simplification in their stories. The concept worked for all of like, five minutes because it didn’t take long for things to get messy again with continuity errors, retcons, and Elseworlds stuff.

Jason was one of the characters to have his personality and background changed in a significant way after Crisis. As a result, he got a brand-new telling of his origin in Batman #408, which is why this is written as a first appearance. He was basically a brand-new character. Pre-Crisis, Jason was a circus performer like Dick and so much like the original Robin that, aside from his red hair (that Bruce made him dye because reasons), readers couldn’t tell them apart. Which is great if you had problems with Dick no longer being Robin and turning into Nightwing, but not so much if you’re looking to tell fresh, new stories.

Pictured: Originality

The comic is titled “Did Robin Die Tonight?” which I think is a pretty great title as it has a bit of a double meaning here, as we’ll see in a minute. It’s also a great attention-grabber, although considering that the Joker pops up in page one, I think it’s safe to assume that it could have been titled “Batman and Robin Watch Paint Dry” and people still would have been excited.

Context is Important: The Jason Todd Chronicles (Intro)

(I promise at some point this blog will contain things other than my fan-gushing and rambling about Jason in some form or another. I DO have other interests, I swear.)

I’ve written at length about the crafting and marketing of Jason’s character from post-Crisis until his death in 1988, but despite all of my venting and searching for explanations, there’s still a vast majority of people who either choose to accept that Jason had always been a snot-nosed punk or haven’t read his appearances to form an opinion. After seeing many panels of him from his appearances post-Crisis, it’s easy to assume that the soul-crushing hatred had a legitimate reason to exist. But the problem is most of those panels or pages are taken out of context of the larger story that was being told. When you go back and read his appearances in the comics surrounding certain events or decisions, you get a far more complete picture of those events or decisions and the character motivations behind them. As a result, Jason ends up looking a bit more sympathetic as a tragic figure rather than a pain in the ass.

Basically, context is important.

With that in mind, I’m going to spend the next few weeks delving into the full run of Jason’s appearances starting from post-Crisis and ending with his death. This will include just the issues from Batman (#408-#429) for a couple of reasons:

• His controversial character/revamped backstory are told in Batman. All of the “big-name” events he was involved in also happen here, including his death.
• Detective Comics was inconsistent with his characterization and most of his appearances there treat him as Dick 2.0.
• Because of his short-lived tenure (in real world time, he was only around for about two years in his PC form), there aren’t many times where he pops up in other books or stories.
• Tackling more than one book would be too brain-twisting and headache-inducing.

I’ll include analysis when I feel it’s necessary, but for the most part my goal is to provide people with a way to absorb his history without having to go out and purchase twenty different comics. If you find, at the end of this adventure, that you still don’t like him or don’t see why other people do, that’s fine. But I want people to have an informed dislike of him rather than going by the hatchet-job of his characterization between 1988 and 2011 or on the word of some very sour comic readers.

Enjoy the ride.

Source

A Quick "Defense" of the New 52

The following piece was written while I procrastinated and stressed about my finals. It also took about two hours compared to the three or four that I can spend nit-picking every detail of the things I typically post. Basically: it's not my best work here, but it's representative of my thoughts on a subject that's been floating around in my head for a while and wanted to get out. Read with caution.

 
I want to take a minute to discuss a topic that may seem outdated, but keeps appearing the more that I browse the web and lurk on comic book community social media outlets: DC’s New 52 Reboot.

The general consensus of readers falls into two camps: People who absolutely and passionately hate it, and people who have accepted its existence and choose to move on with their lives by reading the good titles.

I would like to stress here, before I elaborate on the title of this entry, that neither opinion is wrong or bad. Everyone has a right to think or feel a certain way about the direction of a company’s platform and approach to their product, especially considering that we are all consumers of said product and should be making educated purchases based on our tastes and overall quality of the work.

That being said, however, I’ve noticed that there continues to be—despite the fact that it’s been almost four years at this point—a considerable amount of complaining, bashing, insulting, and general angst hurled at the New 52 reboot and, to a lesser extent, those who read the titles and enjoy them without any real knowledge of the cannon that came before it.

I’m going to clarify right away that I don’t fit well under either readership label. The first comic I ever purchased on my own and read wasn’t a specific issue—it was a graphic novel—and it was from the 80’s. I have done a decent amount of research and investigation on my own of DC’s history but have read few comics between 1990 and 2011. The ones that I have were close enough to the reboot date that it practically doesn’t even matter; most of what happened in them (in least in Batman’s case) is still in continuity. I am more actively involved and, you know, reading things from the New 52 than I am with the pre-boot.

Part of this is a practicality issue. Volumes of comics before 2011 tend to be either nonexistent, hard to find, or pricey. In the case of Stephanie Brown’s Batgirl volumes, they’re upwards of $50 used. I’m assuming this is because of her “character-in-limbo” status that’s become a bit of a sad inside joke amongst DC readers as she has yet to appear in continuity. But still: fifty dollars?! $20-$30 for a volume is the average for most. Though it may not seem like much, when I can get a New 52 volume for $8 or $9…there’s just no competition. As much as I'd love to read some awesome stories, I do have food and gas and clothes to pay for. Pre-boot volumes typically collect a story arc, event, or crossover rather than individual issues of one character’s comic, which means that even purchasing those volumes I'm bound to be missing chunks of the mundane, non-epic comics (and I like those). Which is a shame, because I have heard wonderful things about Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl run and would love to read it, but I’m not paying $50 for what is essentially six issues and maybe two hours of continuous reading material. Action Comics doesn’t even appear to have volumes outside of the New 52, and Superman is their flagship character next to Batman.

And as much as I think digital comics is a fantastic idea…when there are no volumes and I want to read a large amount of them instead of one or two, $1.29/$.99 adds up fast. I’m also not inclined to buy digital comics—visual mediums like this work better, in my own humble opinion, when you have them in front of you as a tangible object. It’s a personal preference, I know, and I don’t decry or judge those who love digital comics; like a said, it’s a great idea on the whole. It just doesn’t do much for me.

With all of these things being said, I think that the way DC approached the New 52 was a smart business decision. If you look at the state of the comic book industry at this point in time (and even back in 2011), it’s obvious that a large portion of investment has and will continue to be given to the films/television shows that are being made because they are garnering more attention and money than the comics themselves. There is a new generation of audience members that are being introduced to these characters through cinema/television, and both Marvel and DC are attempting to take advantage of this. The New 52, in many ways, is reflective of this shift. The entire idea behind the New 52 was to take characters back to basics so that the younger/newer audience less familiar with what had been going on in comics before could more easily get on board. They wanted to make them fresher and more accessible. Barbara Gordon is known more to the general public as Batgirl? Put her back in the role. No one, other than comic readers, was aware that Dick Grayson spent over a year as Batman? Return his Nightwing mantle. People think that the JLA are a bunch of boring, perfect demi-gods? Start back at the beginning and establish a new dynamic. I’m not saying these were all good changes, but they were certainly intentional.

What’s great about the New 52 is that is functions well as a jumping off point. People often ask, when they’re interested in getting into comics, what a good place to start would be. This is where the reboot helps out a lot. Rather than having to wade through decades of continuity, figure out who everyone is and where they stand, someone can pick up the first volume of Superman or Batman or Green Arrow or Justice League and start reading. After all, Action Comics and Batman were at issues #904 and #713, respectively, when they were restarted at #1. Even after almost four years of continuous storytelling, most of the rest of the DCU is still only at issues #36 (for the core group of comics). This is much, much, much less intimidating than 900 or 700-something. Readers have the option to read back issues from before the reboot because they want to, not because they have to.

What?! What do you mean someone doesn't like me?

Once someone has started reading parts of the New 52 and has become invested in certain characters—and their relationships with others in their particular circle of people—it makes it a lot easier and less stressful to go back and read comics from the pre-boot because they already have a foundation. Yes, some of the characters differ a great deal from their New 52 incarnations, but if someone enjoys New 52 Green Arrow and doesn’t like the pre-boot one, what exactly is lost? Does it make them less of a Green Arrow fan because they prefer the “new” interpretation of the character over the “old?” It still gave them a way into the comic and character, and maybe liking one book will encourage them to read more.

I’m not saying that all of the elements of the New 52 are perfect. I’m not bowing down and worshiping the ground any writer or artist walks on or planning to get a tattoo of the New 52 logo on my arm. There is no one on this earth that can ever tell me the five-year timeline makes any level of sense or that Jason Todd’s origin as some weird “creation of the Joker” isn’t kind of contrived and silly. There are good books and there are bad books. Good writers and bad writers. Good ideas and bad ones. Just like in every other medium, there are going to be variations in quality.

And yes, the pre-boot had some terrible things in it as well. Let’s not forget that All-Star Batman and Robin was a pre-boot book, and no one likes to remember that even exists.

Robin is cuter than Miller's attempts at being a good writer.

The reality is this: The comic book industry has always been eager to reset their universes in order to attract new readers. As I said in a previous post, DC and Marvel are still businesses and they want to make money. If it wasn’t the New 52, it would be something else. Give it another few years and I’m sure they will reset everything again. And I get it: it’s frustrating to constantly have to readjust and re-learn things and deal with change on a regular basis. If DC and Marvel want to continue to be a successful industry, then they have to change. They can’t stay stagnant because people don’t stay stagnant.

But despite all of the change, all of the screwing around with characters and origins and whatnot, it doesn’t mean that the books you loved are gone from existence. I’m sure as time goes on, more volumes of certain characters will be put together and become available. You can continue to love Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain even if they never appear in a single New 52 book (which they really should, but that’s beside the point). The New 52 isn’t the be-all-end-all of comics, and neither is the pre-boot. If the New 52 functions as a great jumping-off point, than the pre-boot becomes more accessible and can grow a person’s love for this particular universe. That’s what it did for me. And isn’t that what’s important—that people can find a way into an awesome medium that has traditionally been known to scare new readers away with its complexity?

Be nice to people who like the New 52 and accept that it’s probably going to change again in the near future. If worse comes to worst, head cannon is a lifesaver.

...seriously, DC, put Steph and Cass in a book. Please.