every now and then I’m in the gym and suffering through a new weight and I ask myself something stupid like “would Batman cry in the leg press?” to which the answer is obviously and emphatically no. and then for some reason my brain immediately follows that with “but would Jason Todd cry in the leg press?” and the answer to that is always somehow yes
Hi Anon! I know you're probably being facetious, but genuinely it makes absolute and total sense to me given Bruce's history with Jason!
For all of Bruce and Jason's recurring physical beat-down fights, it's the psychological and emotional abuse that's always felt more insidious to me.
This is the man who purposely tricked Jason into returning to the scene of his own brutal murder in the hopes that he would relive his own death so Bruce could figure out how he came back.
Batman and Robin (2011) #20
This is the man who hits Jason harder than he hits the Joker. Who beats his son so badly he can't even fire a gun a month later, and then only shows up to say "you're not welcome in Gotham, your best friend is dead, and you need the occasional beating to keep in line, but we have each other's backs".
RHatO (2016) #25 and #27
This is the man who sent Jason undercover with literal, actual, known villains conducting extremely unethical science experiments, almost getting Jason killed multiple times. And then, when Jason raised concerns about them letting this operation continue, Bruce ignored him, brushed his concerns aside, and treated Jason as though this was all his fault.
Task Force Z #4 and #6
Not to mention Bruce's habit of consistently *starting* fights with Jason and then twisting it around to blame Jason, to make him think it's his choice and not Bruce's.
Genuinely hilarious how much of a trainwreck Gotham War is at this point.
(Like, I'm not talking about "there are multiple plots at once and I'm confused", I'm talking about each issue directly contradicting the one before it and immediately undermining any drama or tension being built because apparently no one is driving this thing.)
How Much is Zur Really Influencing Bruce in Gotham War?
So, some people have said Bruce essentially giving Jason an anxiety disorder is probably Zur eliminating one of Bruce's contingency plans. And I agree that's probably at least partly true (which will be disappointing if it just gets used as a cop-out to excuse Bruce's behavior with zero lasting consequences). We're certainly being led to think Zur is in control here, anyway: there are the manipulative honeyed words, the lack of concern for Jason's safety whilst pulling him from his bike, and these panels:
Bruce's open and gentle body language/expression, then when Jason says "who's going to save you from yourself?" Bruce's mouth snaps to a hard line. As though Zur is momentarily dropping the mask of Twisted Fatherly Love.
But here's what I think might be happening:
I don't think that Zur is completely controlling Bruce when he's interacting with Jason, because a lot of this stuff feels like Bruce doing exactly what he's always wanted to do deep down.
More under the cut:
It's like Bruce's Id is being allowed to run amok for a bit, continuing down the path of controlling/manipulative/abusive bullshit he's always been on but with even less of a moral compass or whatever it is that usually stops him from going this far.
Like, I suspect a part of Bruce has always deeply wished he was able to just use his words and tell Jason that he loves him, and to give him a normal life. Further, I think that Bruce even means the sickeningly kind things he says to Jason in both Batman #138 and Catwoman #57, like "I've always known what a good, smart man you'd be someday". I think he truly, deep down, always has thought Jason was good, smart, capable, and full of potential. Yes, even though he has spent years saying otherwise.
[This is a bit of a digression, but I believe that all those times when Bruce regularly blames Jason for his murder after A Death in the Family, the victim blaming is Bruce's coping mechanism and not something he truly believes. Because if he can blame what happened on Jason being reckless and angry and a Bad Robin, then it's something that was out of Bruce's control. Furthermore, if he can choose "better" BatKids in the future or train them out of any "flaws" they share with Jason, this means he can stay in control and keep them safe. It's no excuse for the victim blaming, but it's an unfortunately realistic psychological response for a parent of a child who has suffered extreme violence at someone else's hands.]
But anyway. Bruce's honeyed words being genuine and not pure manipulation from Zur speaking with Bruce's mouth is not actually a defense of Bruce: that makes it worse. Because I think that's more evidence that Bruce's actions here are a result of his own deep impulses and desires.
I think he has also always wished (and just as deeply) that he could somehow instantly remove Jason's ability to do violence. One of Bruce's consistent flaws is that he is a controlling person. Sometimes his moral compass (or something, anyway) stops him from forcing his will on others, sometimes it doesn't. So maybe Zur's only influence here is suppressing that part of Bruce that stops him from doing these specific things he's always wanted to do, because those things work out for Zur's plans as well.
Look at how the internal dialogue boxes that appear when Zur is talking to Bruce, as we see in this panel from Batman #138:
... are distinctly different from the internal monologue boxes of Bruce in Catwoman #57:
Zur is certainly influencing Bruce, but he is not entirely in control, either. At least to some extent, this is Bruce doing what Bruce wants to do.
And like I said earlier, Bruce is behaving impulsively. In Catwoman #57 again, he chooses to abandon the mission and pursue Jason instead, even though he knows it's a diversion. It's very, "Hey, SQUIRREL!" of him.
Once he tracks Jason down, Jason even remarks to Bruce about how unusually impulsive this behavior is:
More impulsive behavior: when Bruce uses the grapple gun to yank Jason off his motorcycle, and Jason angrily points out how that move could have killed him, Bruce calmly denies/brushes it aside in a borderline gaslighty way.
Bruce is just doing shit he wants to do, damn the consequences. Actually, not even damn the consequences: he's not considering the potential consequences at all, let alone choosing to damn them. He's thinking, "Want Jason off bike. How get? Oh, grapple Jason off bike. Good."
I think we see this impulsivity continue in Batman #138 where, as others have pointed out, this whole adrenaline -> fear response thing is a self-replicating feedback loop (even leaving aside that adrenaline is necessary for the human body to function in normal everyday life). I've seen some accuse Zdarsky of not understanding biology here, but I don't think that's what's happening. Once we see that fear response activated, it does not appear to stop. We later see Jason just sitting in the cell where Bruce left him, hugging his knees and terrified out of his mind. He's not even trying to do anything remotely dangerous!
To me, this also doesn't read like Bruce doesn't understand biology. I don't think he's thinking that far ahead. Just like grabbing him off the bike without considering that it could kill him, Bruce is following his desire to disable Jason's ability to do dangerous things without considering how completely debilitating it will be otherwise.
So yeah. Just a few thoughts about this clusterfuck of a story that I haven't seen anyone else articulate yet.
[Original post here, but I felt this deserved it's own @bloodyentrails]
IT DOES!!
Batman #138 preview
I was talking to @thekangarou last night about how Bruce's insistence here that Jason move away and find a "normal" life and fall in love and it's not a punishment, Jason, even if I'm not actually giving you a choice in any of it feels almost like forced heteronormativity too, like.
This is the asylum for hysterical women; this is the convertion therapy for the queer kid you can't accept; this is lobotomising your mentally ill son because you can't learn to handle his PTSD symptoms.
Today on the “dc accidentally parallels Bruce’s relationship with his kids with Actual Supervillains” we have Bruce and Joker with Jason.
Jason calmly looking into the eyes of the men who just rewired his brain to fit their ideals asking “why?”
Jason panel 1: ..Batman? You did something to me… what did you do?
Jason panel 2 (to the joker): what did you do to me? Joker: I gave you the tiniest tiny est dose of joker toxin. So small. Just enough to bring back that psychotic alter ego of yours in your head.
It’s the last thing he can do after all the self determination was taken for him. The closest he can get to a rebellion after rendered powerless by his own brain. It’s asking why and never getting a response. Once from his father and once from his murderer. But the result is still the same.
Joker goes even farther with this metaphor, likening himself to Jason’s mother.
Joker: doesn’t mommy gets a say?
This has the idea of further drawing a parellel between what Joker and Bruce are to Jason in this arc. They are forces that shape him and make him what they want. It doesn’t matter what Jason wants or even needs, because “parents know best”. The truth is, for both of Jason’s “parents” Jason’s well-being is just an excuse for them to change him for their own benefit. Bruce wants Jason to stop fighting crime in Gotham like “a bull in a china shop” and wants to assuage his guilt about what Jason has gone through. Joker wants to fuck with Batman. In this way Jason just becomes a causality in his own life.
What makes the comparison between Bruce and Joker even more tragic is that it’s because of Bruce’s machinations that Jason was vulnerable enough to be taken by the joker in the first place…
Still skittish I see, my poor little vigilante. What did he do to you? Jason: please just let me go Joker: I can’t stand to see you like this. Mean old Batman mucked around in your little head and made you so scared of everything. But don’t worry. I came to text out my new project and fix you at the same time.
Something which the Joker explicitly acknowledges!
And the way that Jason was left alone and vulnerable after Jason literally saved Gotham by driving a plane into a fucking meteor AND immediately went to comfort Bruce?! Like this implies AFTER Jason acted as an emotional crutch, Bruce didn’t even go let’s put you in contact with Babs so you are not running around with fear in your veins and no one to support you?
To reiterate: dc why are you having Batman do the same things to his kids that supervillains do
a few things that will now cause Jason extreme fear:
exercise
fear
loud noises
bright lights
fear
high temperatures
threats
low temperatures
being excited
sex
anxiety
stress
F E A R
and here's a fun fact: adrenaline actually causes the memory-making bits of your brain to be stronger, which means you have a clearer memory of exactly what happened to make you afraid
I know WFA is too OOC for some people, but I need that shit right now.
I do love seeing the Batfam beating the shit out of each other. I like how messy their relationships are and I have always loved flawed characters.
But idk, man, Batman #138 just really crossed a line for me and I need a reminder that there are other depictions of Bruce that aren't so fucking heinous.
theartofmadeline
areudirty
andulkaphoto
blakekathryn
