This was totally worth killing three good titles for.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Know what's a horrible, beautiful, fascinating disaster?

Specifically today I refer to the actual crossover title itself, the second issue of which came out today. I will spare you the ludicrous and laughably pointless cameo by thong-up-her-ass Dinah and Jim-Lee-idiocy-costume Helena and the ZOMG Black Mask is a dangerous badass!!1! posturing, and go straight to the Batboys nonsense.

As we saw in the preview, Jason kills some people and Dick gets mad at him; Dick follows this by going home and sulking about the legacy, and then we get this hilarious page:



He's so outraged! How dare Tim do exactly what he was about to do!

Meanwhile in Jason's cave, Tim and Selina are poking around and get jumped by Jason, who does not appreciate houseguests. Also, I don't know why I even mention Selina there, because she for some reason doesn't participate in the fight and her presence is just as brief and arbitrary and pointless as the Birds. I will say I like the color choices that make the action and the different players so clear, though.











No words.

However, on the plus side, there is one redeeming panel:



Heh. If they're going to be writing this thing like this, I'm on Jason's side.

(I know some preview pages were posted already, but if I counted right, the issue is 30 pages, not including the Peej preview, so that gives us up to ten.)

Comments

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

... DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:

No. Words.

None.

[mysteryfan.insanejournal.com]

*nods solemnly*

[tahngarth.insanejournal.com]

Oh come on, we know Tim isn't dead. Selina is right there to patch him back up.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Um, what are you talking about? That would be useful. Selina's a woman. Tim's going to carry her out of that cave, still unconscious from the one-punch pistol whip she got from Jason.

Well, if she even shows up again, I mean.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Oh bloody hell.... Jason just isn't that fucking good, Tim would make a much better showing and would be pulling shit like subverting the speakers...

And of all the Robin's Tim is the one who thinks like Bruce, but fights like his own man, having learned from more masters than any previous Robin.

No... just no...

[tsuki_the_geek.insanejournal.com]

While I don't like to defend bad plots, I really don't think we can say that "Jason isn't that good" because we don't know. He supposedly "walked Bruce's path" after he resurrected and learned from a LOT of masters that the other Robins didn't have access to. We just... don't see a lot of it because Jason is written like a dumbass a good percentage of the time. And, though it was a HORRIBLE comic, we do have it in "canon" that Jason is able to kick Tim's ass... when he's not surprised by a kick in the nads.

I'm not saying I like this, but it may be POSSIBLE.

[gargoylekitty.insanejournal.com]

[sistermagpie.insanejournal.com]

Can you imagine Tim being Jason's Robin? It would be like Tim's version of hell. A stupid Batman.

These scans show the problem of putting Dick in the cowl. Look at that hair! It's the battiest thing about him. And that's even the second hilariously OTT posing shot of him, both times with his hair whipping around, presumably hypnotizing the bats that are crowning him their master. (You know, I would actually get a kick out of it if part of Dick's little quirks as Batman was an ongoing relationship with the actual bats.) Most people would worry about bats in their hair, but not Dick!

Also, did Tim write that note with a calligraphy pen? Maybe Dick wouldn't look so worried/angry if he had signed it "Your pal, Jimmy Olsen?"

So I guess the 2 down here are 2 out of Jason's 3 brothers? Well, if nothing else he's earned that get out of jail free card.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Well, if nothing else he's earned that get out of jail free card.

Tim's logic grows more epic by the moment.

[mullon.insanejournal.com]

Of course it would be a fucking crowbar. This is being written by Neil Gaiman? What a disappointment.

[gargoylekitty.insanejournal.com]

Oh no, that's Detective that's being written by Gaiman. This is Tony Daniel.

[halloweenjack.insanejournal.com]

It's an indication of how I feel about Jason that I was happy to see him getting beaten by a crowbar again.

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

It's an indication of how I feel about this storyline that I was happy to see that crowbar. At least that made sense in terms of continuity.

[pyrotwilight.insanejournal.com]

Can we just get Jean Paul back to beat them all up now please?

[tahngarth.insanejournal.com]

Nope, DiDio won't use Jean Paul as long as Joe Quesada is still working for Marvel...

[interrobamf.insanejournal.com]

How did the Batarang inserted into Tim change alignment between panels?

[mullon.insanejournal.com]

I'm assuming that thing inside Tim's chest moved it around a little bit.

[comicoz.insanejournal.com]

Didn't Jason get continously outclassed by random people in 52 or whichever weekly horror series it was he was in? How could he be able to so easily beat Tim, who was able to fight Shiva? Plus a huge part of Tim's bit (when he's not being written as AngstBoyWonder) is that he is very smart. Brute fighting, while he can do, is not his thing. He'd find a way to best Jason's brute force rather than charging in.

Yucky character writing, written to rush to an end we already know.

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

Tim outsmarted Shiva (with sucky writing, but that's not the point). Jason, when gettign the drop on Tim, is apparently able to overpower it (I'll buy that, provided Jason has the element of suprise).

However, I just can't see Tim rushing into Jason's /freaking Batcave/ without careful planning. So, in conclusion, I agree.

[morgana006.insanejournal.com]

I would normally be upset about another one of my favorite characters dying (though Tim hasn't been one of my favorite characters for a while) but all I can do is be indifferent.

[sistermagpie.insanejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think for a second he's dead. Batarang to the chest? 'Tis but a fleshwound.

Though I wonder if it's intentionally mimicing his father's death.

[lipsofpoison.insanejournal.com]

Oh Jason. Embrace your inner Tim love and stop being an asshole. The laughter is very jokeresque. If he's finally losing it, I'll be glad because he needs to lose it to get himself back. This is backing up my theory that Jason is Buffy Season 6. As for Tim, someone is in some serious denial and bad grieving so I can buy that he's slightly unprepared by how badly he's coping.

Also, if Jason is the one who shot Damian, I'm so freaking happy.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Oh yes. It was definitely Jason who shot that beautiful, beautiful bullet. I condemn only that the brat tragically survived.

[13thcell.insanejournal.com]

Catwoman being in this was one of the things that had me excited for this otherwise unnecessary arc, but after this? What a disappointment.

[parsimonia.insanejournal.com]

You know what I found absolutely adorable about this issue?

Where Nightwing is all "I've narrowed down the possibilities as to who you might be. I have you pegged...JASON TODD!" HAHAHAHAHA, no shit Sherlock! I mean, was that really supposed to be a reveal? It's even funnier that the shot before it has Dick standing all proud and triumphant.

I liked the interaction between Tim and Selina. Too bad there couldn't have been more of their team-up.

Jason nearly killing Damian, knocking out Catwoman, and shoving a batarang into Tim...however gun-happy he is, all of those actions go directly against how I perceive the character. (Although, oddly enough, I can see Tim reaching for the crow-bar, if only to slap some sense into Jason.) Maybe Joker-like is what Tony Daniel is going for, though.

I will say I like the color choices that make the action and the different players so clear, though.

It's funny how Tim being in that version of the Batman suit actually has him looking less dark and grim than his Robin suit. I'm guessing Dick's Batman costume will be some sort of visual compromise.

[sistermagpie.insanejournal.com]

Jason nearly killing Damian, knocking out Catwoman, and shoving a batarang into Tim...however gun-happy he is, all of those actions go directly against how I perceive the character.

Honestly, what's the idea supposed to be? He's claiming that he's just taking Batman to the places Bruce was afraid to take him, so he's actually killing criminals instead of just hurting them. So where does shooting Bruce's 10-year-old son and stabbing Tim in the chest come in, exactly?

And I'm assuming that those things were supposed to be lethal, because it hate the way they always try to split hairs with Jason, where he's shooting at people in a non-lethal and yet point-blank way.

So what's Jason's code, exactly? He's got issues with his family--that's great. And he's decided to go against Batman's code--okay. But how do those two work together? What's his idea of right and wrong? I think Winick has made a point of saying that he's a bad guy--not a misguided good guy who can be brought into the fold. But does he want to destroy the Batfamily? Why? Is he trying to hurt Bruce by killing his boys? Without Bruce there I'm not sure how that works. Even if he doesn't like the Batfamily's methods, they help fight crime in Gotham, so why kill them? Unless he really just wants to kill them all and become Batman, in which case he's just a nut that needs to be destroyed rather than a bad guy who can operate on his own.

I don't think he can be Joker-like. Jason really seems like the anti-Joker to me. He's like Bruce--he wants order and justice. Just his sometimes screwed-up version of it. But I always think of him as having a kind of protective streak as well, which killing Damian kind of goes against. We readers have plenty of reason to cheer the kid being shot, but does Jason see himself as a kid-killer?

[daggerpen.insanejournal.com]

*bangs head into wall until she loses consciousness*

Athe-fucking-damn it. You know, at first, when Jason was written badly, I just tried to grit my teeth and bear it, telling myself that he'd find a good writer soon, but now, I'm seriously worrying that the character'll be permanently tainted before that can ever happen.

And that would make me a very sad panda.

[xdoop.insanejournal.com]

I know we're meant to think it's Jason, but I wonder if it really is him.

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

Maybe they've decided to bring back Geoff Jones' idea of a Jason Todd from a different world?

I'll take fanwank theories over what we've got up there any day, really.

[jamubu.insanejournal.com]

To think, a few days ago I was thinking of saving up for this…oh well.

And as stunning as the art is, when I first glimpsed at the second page, upper right fight, Bat-Tim's pose reminded me of ballet…

And, 'Jason's' giving off some big Joker-vibes: I mean the blood covered lips and laughing at pain…

Also, for some twisted reason the ‘JOIN ME. BE MY ROBIN!’ cracks me up…

[zegim.insanejournal.com]

Not to mention all the groan-worthy puns he makes.

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

I forgot to get this! Though that might be a good thing. But I must know, was Steph in it?

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

No Steph. No Cass. No Babs.

[kagome654.insanejournal.com]

As a Jason fan AND a Damian fan I am a very sad panda.

[daggerpen.insanejournal.com]

Seriously, I'm this close to just switching to fanon entirely, staying up to date with canon by looking up the occasional synopsis, and waiting for them to finally get some good writers.

[(Anonymous)]

I never thought I would say this, but I do like how Tim looks as Batman. There is no way in hell DC would kill Tim, they love him too much.
And Jason shooting Damian. Awesome.
Battle for the Cowl overall. Sucks. It's making my love for Dick going down. T_T

[superfan1.insanejournal.com]

So they turn Jason from a misunderstood antihero with issues to full blown gun throttle asshole. This is depressing.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Which part of him was "misunderstood antihero", the one that murdered people in New York while wearing a Nightwing costume, or the one who beat the shit out of Tim whilst wearing his old Robin costume with canary yellow leggings?

[thandrak.insanejournal.com]

A: Oh... look. A pointy thing stuck in the thickest part of the armor of the bat-costume.

B: I hope Jason wins. Then Bruce is sure to come back someday. It's even better if it's years and years from now, so we can see exactly how much everyone loves a Batman who shoots people.

[caeliluminar.insanejournal.com]

All this talk about Jason being Joker-esque is just making me wonder whether the Joker will turn up at any point. Having read the solicitations, I guess not, but still, I was actually looking forward to seeing how he would cope with Batman's death. And he does have that habit of just popping up when least expected. He hasn't been seen at all after Damian drove him off the bridge, right? (And I would be okay even with having the Joker dead before Batman's return, but offed by Damian?)

[kagome654.insanejournal.com]

I don't know, I think the Joker would appreciate the absurdity of it. Besides, it's not like he's actually dead.

[ian_karkull.insanejournal.com]

Wait, what? That's Jason? Why on earth is he wearing the "crazy, devil-worshipping Batman" costume from Morrison's run??
I'm so confused...

Actually, on second thought, don't tell me.

Three good titles?

[suzene.insanejournal.com]

Well...one good title, the good bits of Robin, and the lurching corpse of Birds of Prey, anyway.

Re: Three good titles?

[parsimonia.insanejournal.com]

Tomasi's run on Nightwing was pretty good, too.