Thoughts on Mike W. Barr writing Batman – the ‘80s #1...

[whitesycamore]

I wasn't all that enthused for the new DC retroactive series, but the description for this one caught my eye.

Mike W. Barr did some wonderful work with Jason, and I hope this new comic will remind us that, once upon a time, Jason DID have some upbeat moments and he did have a good relationship with Bruce. Quite apart from my affection for the character, I think painting him as such an obvious bad seed right from the start makes Bruce look like a damn fool for not spotting that. I also prefer characters to be multi-faceted - it's not fun OR realistic to paint Jason as never having known a happy moment or a friendly relationship with anyone in the world ever...



After Jason is shot by the Mad Hatter, Bruce explains to Dr Thompkins why he decided to make Jason Robin.





Bruce tentatively suggests that possible death is better than growing up lonely... (not sure I'm with him on this one, but still very touching in context).








And Jason affirms that being Robin is still what he wants, more than anything.





(I'm not really sure what the significance of the Walt Whitman quote is, other than that the human body is pretty awesome and it's cool that Jason didn't get broken beyond all repair).

I love this comic for being a rare, positive take on Jason-as-Robin that still stays true to his post-crisis origin. It's dark in tone without being gritty, and acknowledges the potentially destructive side of Jason's anger without making anger *all* that he is.

Still, we all know what Jason's direction is right now. Personally, I feel there'll be nothing clever or interesting in constantly dropping anvillicious hints about his dark future, although it wouldn't surprise me if editorial have decided to swing it that way. :/ However, if Barr stays true to his original depiction of both Jason and Bruce then this (56 page! :D) one-shot issue of DC Retroactive: Batman - the 80's should be a delight.

Comments

[kamino_neko]

My main thought 'wow, they're really de-aged Leslie lately, haven't they?' She looks 10-20 years older than she generally does now.

(Jason, conversely, seems to have gained a decade and change, despite his era only being probably 5-7 years ago, and his being dead for most of that.)

[blackruzsa]

All the hope they put into Jason's character and BAM, death,
isn't a nice thing to think about.

[icon_uk]

Sigh... whitesycamore ol' buddy, we may disagree about many things... many many things... many many MANY thi... (Okay, you get the idea! ;) ) but as regards to the awesomeness which was the Barr/Davis teams' take on the Batverse (and Jason in particular, he's just so damnably CUTE (and I mean that in a completely non-pervy way, he's just adorable)) in those sadly too few Detective issues, we speak with one voice.

I can only hope that the Retroactive issue ignores the present and stays happily in the past.

[omgwtflolbbqbye]

I guess this would be a good time to ask if anyone could post scans from Leslie's debut in DC 457.

I've never ever seen anything from that story before and I don't know any tpb that reprinted it.

[retro_nouveau]

That's awesome. Bruce, Jay and Leslie completely from another universe time.

"Anvillicious" is a great word. I see "anvil" + "vicious", and it fits perfectly in your context.

[wonderwomanhero]

Leslie Tompkins....wasn't she directly responsible for Steph's death during War Games? And then she was banished or something?