In the case of Jason Todd, as the Batman Annual #25 at the end of this trade shows, it's not that Jason didn't die, it's just that Superboy-Prime's reality shift resurrected Jason - in his coffin. What follows is a terribly creepy, but incredibly effective origin of the Red Hood. Fans of Jason's demise in Batman: A Death in the Family get to keep this tale, while at the same time Jason returns from the dead. Inasmuch as this story could have left a bevy of fans feeling cheated, I was especially impressed with this solution.
Winick writes an older Batman, more George Clooney than Christian Bale, and the take on Batman is most fitting considering his enemy. Winick does a great job demonstrating why the Red Hood is a dangerous villain for Batman - because he makes Batman doubt himself. The scene where Batman and Jason fight side-by-side (and, prior to this, where Batman is frozen, unable to decide whether to help Jason or not) shows a Batman uncharacteristically shaken and unsure - and people around him get hurt and die because of it. Winick conveys the sense that, whenever Batman is fighting Jason, he'd just as soon be letting Jason get away, and this makes for a very compelling story. I'd hardly think the Red Hood character could hold up a series on his own, but I'm not sorry to see he's getting more exposure in the post-Infinite Crisis DCU.
The nits in this trade are small and far between - Doug Mahnke and Tom Nguyen provide excellent art as always, and Shane Davis's Batman annual steals the show, but I might've preferred more Mahnke and less Eric Battle in the middle. And, even as Winick provides a perfectly good explanation of how Jason Todd can still be alive, his explanation plays continuity hash with villain Talia Al Ghul's timeline, enough that her role is mainly worth ignoring altogether. But these are, again, small issues with an overall great story - an excellent effort from a writer working under crossover constraints and coming out on top.
Article comments