About Nightwing Annual and the path they're going with Jason
So. Nightiwing 2021 Annual came out and it made me think about Jason and everything I don’t like about what’s going on with his current character arc. I’m going to try very hard to keep it simple. If anyone wants me to elaborate on any point I will.
Both Dick and Jason’s run as Robins was… a long time ago. In actual years. Which is one of the reasons sometimes the fandom (and DC writers I’m looking at you Tom Seeling you’re on thing fucking ice with me) forget things about them as Robins. One common misconception was that Dick never accepted Jason as Robin and treated him badly all the time. Which. Isn’t. True.
So I honestly like it when new books bring stuff back like Nightwing 2021 Annual did. Some good old stuff we got to see again:
1) Dick’s fight was with Bruce, not really Jason. When Alfred said he wasn’t home he came back to help. And once he realised Jason needed attention, he stepped up.
2) Dona being fabolous and Roy in his stupid yellow costume. Also Discowing. Good times.
3) Jason was a violent Robin. That was the whole point of his unpopularity that led to that pool that got him killed by the Joker. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about that scene and saying things like “Jason doesn’t need Dick to tell him to focus on the victim” and I respectfully disagree. YES, Jason Todd is extremely empathetic, especially with victims. He was smart. He was the Robin with the highest GPA. He was and did many good things. But let’s not forget that he was also the Robin with the bad temper that beat up criminals with excessive force SOMETIMES. Not always, he wasn't deranged or anything, but yes, he lost his temper sometimes. Again, that was what made him so different from Dick and that led to that fucking pool. So this is why that moment where Dick gives him advice about what being Robin means - which clearly takes place in the BEGINNING of Jason’s run as Robin - didn’t bother me as much.
Also, I liked the general idea of the book, with Dick and Jason having a chance to bond without their other dozen siblings.
Now, on to the bad stuff.
1) That motherfucking crowbar.
When Urban Legends #6 came out, I was mildly disappointed with many things that we don't need to discuss now, but when Jason decided to drop his guns, I tried to be optimistic. This is not ideal, but maybe we are getting All Blades Jason back? And he's going to show all his extensive martial arts training, right? RIGHT???
Wrong. Tom Seeling (have I mentioned he's on thin fucking ice with me?) gave him the most generic ugly medieval(?) sword ever
Jason I know you're a nerd you don't need to show off your medieval fair props my dude
and now Tom Taylor gave him a CROWBAR. LIKE A TUG. LIKE TALIA AL GHUL DIDN'T PAY FOR HIM TO TRAIN ALL AROUND THE WORLD- you get my point.
Also, I know at this point half of the family died and came back and I supposed Jason's death is no longer a Big Deal but… Dick was the one that didn't even get the chance to bury his younger brother. So seeing him joke with the crowbar thing just felt wrong
2) Another thing: The hint on Bruce being a bad parent, AGAIN. I'll be the first to admit that teenager Dick Grayson was a bit of a drama queen. So maybe that bit about Bruce forcing the competition between the Robins was just him still angry at his father figure. And we could say that Jason complaining about being compared to him was just his frustrations speaking. BUT that would be nuanced. And I don't believe in nuance where DC is involved.
This is, once again, pushing the bad parent Bruce agenda. And believe me, there's nothing I want more than to have all those fucking times Bruce beat up his kids addressed by literally ANYONE. I wanted that to be discussed and recognized as something bad so Bruce can Stop Doing That and we MOVE ON with the whole Bad Parent thing. Because I don’t want to see Bruce hitting his kids, for fucks sake. I also don't want to see this “Bruce has always been a bad parent, since back on Dick and Jason’s childhood” thing passing as canon while we have more recent bad parent events that should be addressed. Like RHATO #25
3) And finally, the whole no killing thing. Look, my favorite Jason, UTRH Jason, considers that there’s a big difference between killing the Joker, killing Two Face or killing a low tug. Yes, he put seven (?) heads in a duffle bag. He also did that to take control over all the gangs without a gang war. The best Jason for me isn’t Battle for the Cowl Jason who commits serial murder. It’s the Jason who calculates before every single kill he makes. It’s the smart, sharp Jason with overly elaborated and dramatic plans.
I'm not mad he didn't kill that guy. My whole point is that Jason doesn't consider death the only possible solution. Also, he was in jail. he knows that there's all kinds of bad punishment out there. That's not the problem. It's just that if they are going to make Jason stop killing entirely... well I don't want that.
Which leads us to the controversial point that is going to get my batfandom membership card revoked: I don’t want The Red Hood to stop killing people so he can join the Bats. We already have a bunch of former Robins that follow Bruce’s rules. I don’t want to see Jason ending up like Tim. I miss Red Robin (2009) morally gray Tim Drake who used to plot murders so much I could cry. And I don’t trust DC to not bring Jason back to the flock just to have his character disappear in the middle of all the other bats and birds.
That doesn’t mean I don’t want Jason to have a family. I want Jason Todd to make peace with his brothers and sisters. Heck, I would even like to see him and Bruce fix their parent-child relationship. But that’s their family. The Batfamily is another thing entirely. I don’t want Dick's and the other’s love to be conditioned to Jason following all their rules. I think the Red Hood and the Bats and Jason Todd and the Waynes should be separated things. Because you know what that would be? Good writing. And, in case I didn’t make it clear, I kinda want that.
