I hope, if I have one redeeming feature...

[icon_uk]

it's that I can give credit where credit is due. I'm not a fan of much of Devin Grayson's output, but she can write a darn good character scene, Jim Lee tends to leave me unimpressed, but he can draw a darn pretty Dynamic Duo from time to time.

And so, in the interests of fairness and honesty I have to say that I liked this inteview up at newsarama

In which Judd Winick speaks about his forthcoming arc on Batman and Robin....

Nrama: But this Batman isn't Bruce. This is Dick. What are Jason's feelings about him?
Winick: Jason hates Dick Grayson. He's the good son; he's the one that worked out; he's the one that "Dad" loves best. For me, there's a philosophy behind Jason and Dick that I haven't had a chance to play out fully. I don't think it's going to play out in this story, because it's probably not the place for it. But I don't mind putting the philosophy out there:

One thing that haunts Jason is that he thinks if Dick Grayson who was the one that was about to die, Batman would have saved him.
And worse, if Dick Grayson was murdered, Jason knows that Batman would have killed Joker. He knows that in his heart.

The dark, dark thing for Jason is that he doesn't feel Bruce's refusal to take revenge on the Joker is just about Batman's morals and code that he won't break. He thinks it's about him. He thinks that if Dick Grayson was the one who was murdered, Batman would have definitely killed Joker.

Nrama: So what do Dick and Damian think of Jason as they are forced to kind of team-up with him in this story?

Well, you'll need to go to the interview page to read the answer to that, it's only fair to Newsarama. :)

That's a nice summation of Jason Todd's feelings for Bruce and Dick, and expressed more clearly than I think it has been shown in the comics (IMHO of course). Especially the notion that Jason is convinced that if Dick had died, Bruce WOULD have killed the Joker (The events in "Infinite Crisis" where Bruce pulls a gun on Alex Luthor sort of support that, depending on how you read the original scene) This actually makes me want to read the issues to see how it plays out. Kudos to Mr Winick for that.

For context, the cute, how Jason probably views the role of Robin (These were designed by one of my favourite artists Andy Price for Lego Batman T-shirt that alas, they only made in child sizes, because I would wear the hell out of any of them!)




For fun, the sublime, the history of the Robins, in animated form



Which originated here

And for legality, the ridiculous, in the form of a "Context is for the weak" from "Batman: The Cult"

Comments

[benicio127]

But.... would those news reports say that Superman stopped Batman from killing the Joker? I mean... only the two of them know that. And only the three of them knew about the helicopter scenario. I don't think anyone else was actually privy to that information except those three. (Does Dick even know about what happened in the helicopter and at the UN? Bruce didn't even tell him Jason was dead! And that's Dick we're talking about; the closest person to him, apart from Alfred, Clark and maybe Selina.)

And simply because he's interacted with all of them still doesn't mean that they've told him. Because they haven't. Certainly not in any canon scene I've read. Other than Tim saying, "no one could forget you," and Jason being in the Batcave and seeing his Robin memorial. I think it's kind of like asking the character to be a mind-reader when he doesn't have those abilities. But how is he supposed to glean that Bruce did try to kill the Joker from that?

[icon_uk]

I think that Bruce did eventually talk to Dick about it, and certainly Dick has known what the loss of Jason did to Bruce and could articulate that better than most.

That said, I see you point and now more than ever I want to see Jason encounter Alfred.... perhaps after a little chat with Superman about what went down during the helicopter flight.

[benicio127]

I think that Bruce did eventually talk to Dick about it, and certainly Dick has known what the loss of Jason did to Bruce and could articulate that better than most

Yep, he did... but he still hasn't told Jason about that. (Bruce not telling him, Bruce shutting down, even how Bruce treated Dick post-Jason's death, which was really a lot of hurtful stuff -- I'm thinking about the Marv Wolfman written scene)

That said, I see you point and now more than ever I want to see Jason encounter Alfred.... perhaps after a little chat with Superman about what went down during the helicopter flight.

So do I. I don't think Jason would have anything against Alfred and hopefully Alfred could at least give him a different perspective of which to see things from.

[icon_uk]

I firmly believe that Alfred could do more to get Jason past his obsessions with some well modulated disappointment than Bruce or Dick can with anger or reasoning.

"I expected better from you Master Jason." should stop any member of the Batfamily (even the estranged ones) in their tracks and make them rethink their course of action.