Review – Robin and Batman: Jason Todd #1 – Robin's Rage
Ray: Jeff Lemire is making a big comeback at DC, and part of that is his return to the stories of Batman and Robin. In this second chapter, he turns the focus on the second Robin, Jason Todd – and to say it's a bumpy start would be putting it lightly. Lemire's Jason is an angry, haunted child – he lost his mother to illness and his father to Two-Face, and he's thirsting for revenge. When we first see him and Batman in the field, he breaks from Batman's orders, hunting down a D-list villain named the Cuckoo and trying to beat him severely. But his overconfidence sabotages him, the villain gets away, and he and Batman have a nasty falling-out back at the cave. Even Alfred starts to wonder if this is what Jason needs, but Bruce is confident he can reach the boy. A brilliant nightmare segment shows Jason's trauma from a new perspective, and is one of the best pieces of Nguyen art I've seen in a while. Ghosts. Via DC Comics.
While Bruce was more of a stern taskmaster when it came to Dick, this issue shows he's trying to be more understanding of Jason – and ironically, that may be what he doesn't need. Jason's pushing the limits doesn't come from exuberance but from trauma, and his obsession with the villains makes him a danger. The ending of the issue is brilliantly tense, as Bruce chooses to trust Jason to track down the Cuckoo, who is drunk and currently harmless. And as Jason stalks him, we can tell this is going to go terribly wrong – and it does, but not the way many people thought. Instead, this issue brings in an obscure but very significant Bat-villain who makes a fantastic foil to Jason. With fantastic art and great characterization, this could be the reinvention of Jason's early years that DC has needed for a while. But I'm already excited for this creative team to work on Tim Drake's origin next.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
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