(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.
Regardless, the next half of the page has Jason surrounded by a bunch of Ma's students--all clearly street kids like Jason--and Ma Gunn is lighting another cigar, as she is wont to do. She asks her set of pupils: “Who wants to snuff the little stoolie for old Ma?" Since he was dropped off by Batman, Ma Gunn is under the impression that Jason is a rat or an undercover agent for him. The students all offer up their own awkward euphemisms for beating him up, including such gems as, "We'll learn him how to hold his breath under water for an expensive period of time," demonstrating that--at least this kid--hasn't learned a whole heck of a lot while in her care since he used the word "learn" and "expensive" in the entirely wrong context.
Jason beats the crap out of them all without much effort, until Ma sicks some more of her boys on him. While Jason is being tackled, she reprimands the kid who used "learn" and "expensive" incorrectly by what I can only interpret as pulling on his ear. The way the image is drawn, the poor kid looks as though he has a door handle for an ear that Ma can get such a good grip on it. She then remarks that Jason is a "spunky little bloke" and Jason yells that he "ain't no stoolie!" once the boys have quit piling on top of him and hold him by the arms. Jason explains to Ma that he agreed to go to the school so that Batman wouldn't send him to social services or have him arrested. Ma, in a rather strange and abrupt change of heart, tells her boys to get him a bunk and that there was "always room at Ma's for a promising pupil."
And here's where I sidetrack for just a moment for a bit of commentary. There have been a small number of claims that I've seen regarding Jason's inability to handle the position of Robin--that he wasn't good enough, couldn't hack it, didn't have the skills, etc. If anything, what we've seen of him so far--all pre-Robin costume--would be enough to contradict that idea. Not only has Jason been proven clever enough to steal the car tires off of the guy who has criminals so scared that when they know he's coming on a specific day, they all make sure to stay on their best behavior...but he also smacked that same guy with a tire iron and then took on a group of thuggish boys by himself. If Jason didn't "have the skills" to be Robin, then Dick certainly didn't, either. The only thing, at least pre-New 52, that Dick had in the way of skills was his acrobatic abilities. Dick went on to grow and train to hone those natural abilities and learn new ones, but Jason very clearly is capable of taking care of himself right off the bat. That isn't to put Dick to shame or anything; all of the Robins came into the role with distinct strengths and weaknesses and I love that about them. I'm just pointing out that while Jason did have a tendency to overestimate his abilities or be a tad impulsive, he didn't lack in physical skill or the capability to handle the role of Robin.
Even Ma Gun--a lady who we'll see later on is off her rocker--sees that there's a natural fire in Jason that makes him a "promising pupil." The interpretation here could be that Jason is a blank slate; he's someone that has natural abilities and those abilities could be molded into something good or evil, depending on who he's supposed to be emulating. But we see a few pages later that Jason doesn't have a desire to be a criminal. He doesn't want to steal, he has to in order to survive, and he recognizes that Ma Gunn isn't someone he wants to be associated with. Jason's moral code isn't necessarily the same as Batman's, but he does have one, and I think that's important to remember for future reference.
Anyway, continuing.
As all of this is going on, Bruce is busy trying to track down Jason's mother. I'm not sure what his point is in doing this, other than he doesn't believe Jason when he says his mother is dead. He has an employee at a local clinic track her down through the last name Todd despite the fact that I'm pretty sure clinics don't just hand out information on their patients to any millionaire philanthropist that walks in the door needing it. The employee says there was a woman named Catherine Todd who died of an overdose the previous February and Bruce asks for all of the information on her to be printed out.
Once they're gone, Ma reveals their actual lesson by presenting a wall covered in various types of weaponry including guns, saws, knives, and even a damn grenade. She asks the boys what are the differences between revolvers and automatics, which would have been kind of interesting if the information wasn't being relayed by young kids. The boys explain and she corrects their grammar as they do, so at least they're getting a decent English lesson out of all this.
Then, in a hilarious set of panels, she yells at a kid for smoking weed, saying that she's told them I-don't-know-how-many-times not to smoke dope. But instead of moving on, she tells them all that alcohol is the way to go, even going so far as to say, "It was good enough for my sons--rest their souls--and it's good enough for you."
It's only hysterical insofar as it sick.
Ma tells them they will need clear heads for their "tour of the museum" later on. Jason remarks in his head, "This dame is batty," which I think is great, because this woman is indeed batshit nuts. Instead of joining them on their "tour," Jason sneaks out of the school that night and runs away.
Batman is busy tracking down more information on Jason's parents, this time consulting Jim Gordon for background info on Willis Todd--a petty criminal who worked his way up in the ranks and began working for Two-Face. According to Gordon, Willis is believed dead, supposedly murdered by his boss after double-crossing him. Through this exchange, it's made clear that Batman is interested in Jason for more than just his boldness and skill; he sees a commonality between them. Like Bruce, Jason lost his parents to crime. His mother is now confirmed dead from an overdose on drugs and his father was killed not just by a random mugger but by a high-profile, mentally-ill gangster. We then switch to Crime Alley where a couple of college kids pick the wrong dealer to get drugs from. They get jumped by a bunch of guys, prompting Batman to show up and kick the crap out of the instigators. One of the thugs gets him from behind, but Batman whirls around and kicks him into a wall. Once he's finished his business, Batman walks off and we get another bit of foreshadowing about Jason being Robin as he thinks to himself, "Guess I didn't realize how much I was coming to depend on Robin watching my flank." The real reason Bruce is in Crime Alley is that he intends to check on Jason, but when he gets to the school, the lights are out and he doesn't want to bother them. Instead, he runs into a guy who has had his tires stolen. The guy laments about never getting them back, but Batman says he might be able to help, obviously knowing who stole them.
He goes back to Jason's shoddy house and says that Jason didn't keep his end of the deal. Jason gets mad and says that the school was a scam--it was teaching kids to commit crimes. Jason says, "I don't wanna learn to be no crook. I just boost what it takes to survive." He tells Batman what happened as he puts the tires back on the guy's car, but Batman is hesitant to believe him. Jason throws it back in his face by saying that, "Just because I'm a kid from Crime Alley don't make me a liar! Not all adults are saints, y'know!"
There's another thing I'd like to comment on, here. It's obvious that Jason is a bit of a punk when it comes to his mouth, but if we look at the context of this conversation, this free-flowing thought is coming after Batman challenged Jason's integrity. Without even asking him what happened, Batman automatically assumes that Jason left the school without reason, and this is what makes him mad (I mean, aside from the fact that Bats has now shown up at his house twice uninvited, which is kind of creepy) and prompts him to toss the criticism about adults not being all saints. In Jason's eyes, Batman is condemning him as a criminal because he's from Crime Alley and a kid. He doesn't give Jason credit, putting an expectation of something on him based on his age and circumstances. As I mentioned before, Jason has a moral code that matters enough to him that he would keep it even without any adult supervision. Batman challenges Jason's integrity, and so Jason gets defensive. This becomes the staple of his character later on--he is incredibly defensive of not just his own merits as a person, but those of others who were victims of the world like he was, in particular women.
Detour over. Back to the story.
As Batman talks to the guy asking him to let him handle Jason, Jason disappears and the next panel introduces the "tour" of the museum by Ma and her students that was mentioned earlier. There's a two-page spread of the kids and Ma in a room full of cartoonishly-huge jewels as they ask her how they're going to steal them. Ma says they're not stealing the jewels, but the Smile of Death--the same necklace Joker stole in the previous issue. He's having his "minions" purchase the necklace through her for him while he's locked up in Arkham. She starts to show them how to deflect a laser alarm with mirrors until Batman shows up. In a sadly poor choice of words, Ma orders her boys to "Drill him!" but they, of course, lose against Batman. Ma gets mad and smacks him with her purse, but then he turns around and punches her in the face. It's glorious.
 |
| Oh, Batman, you smart ass. |
What I like about this origin for Jason, aside from the gags and humor they get out of his stealing of the Batmobile tires, is that they make Jason earn his position as Robin. Whereas Dick was taken in after his parents were killed, Jason didn't win Bruce over right on the spot. Bruce's research (*cough* stalking *cough*) on Jason probably helped him make the decision to take him under his wing, as it showed that they both had some common ground in terms of emotional damage and loss. But Jason still proved that, despite all of his brashness and attitude, he had a good heart--and that's what mattered the most to Bruce.
Overall, this set of issues worked well as an origin story. While the artwork on Jason, Vicki, and Ma Gunn tended to be a bit inconsistent, most of it fit well with the story and the pacing felt smooth.
It's hard to say how people initially felt about Jason, but many of the letters to the editor in the back of later issues praised the creativity and clashing of Jason's character with not only Dick, but Bruce as well. As the issues progress, they build more on his character and it starts to become obvious where he began to "get away from the writers" as Denny O'Neil once remarked.
Until next time!
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