He might not be the boy-scout of the Bat-family, but you can still count on Jason Todd to save the day when times get tough. Seeing as there's an army of regenerating assassins flipping around the rooftops and slicing targets apart in Gotham City, I'd say the day is definitely in some desperate need of saving.
If for some reason you're not up to speed on this awesome event (shame on you), I'll give you a very quick recap of "Night of the Owls." The Court of Owls has always been a powerful figure lurking in the shadows of Batman's city, but now they want to take back control. They've sent out dozens of Talons (reanimated assassins with crazy agility and are incredibly fond of sharp objects) and each Talon has a specific target to terminate. Overrun with enemies, Alfred sends out an emergency message to members of the Bat-family and tells them to save the targets on the list. Enter Jason Todd, Roy Harper and Starfire: the misfit trio that's working out the kinks of being a team. They're in the neighborhood and it just so happens that the infamous Mr. Freeze is the target they have to save from imminent death via Talon. That's right, they need to save a villain.
It's an understatement to say Jason Todd has a rocky history with Gotham and the Bat-family, so it was great to see how well the topic was addressed by writer Scott Lobdell. Things get odd for a moment when Todd and the Talon have a bit of a heart-to-heart, but the connection between the two makes perfect sense and it's completely understandable why Lobdell went down that road. After all, the Talons aren't the only ones that have abruptly come back from the grave. The action here is consistent, but what really helps this book stand out from the rest is its ability to immerse the reader into Gotham. It's far too often we'll feel like a book is self-contained, but Lobdell does a fine job including cameos in an organic manner instead of treating them as shameless cameos (which is often the case in many titles). What compliments this so well is the artwork by Kenneth Rockafort and the coloring by Blond. The detail is fantastic, the action is fluid, the environment is vibrant and the panels are often placed in an interesting manner that makes the reading experience especially unique at times.
While this is a very good issue, I couldn't help but wonder why Mr. Freeze was the target they decided to save. Talon's have a weakness to cold, and... well, do I really need to spell it out for you? Mr. Freeze seemed to share my sentiment as well, remarking a few times that the anti-hero should bolt and save someone helpless instead. Roy takes a back seat when it comes to dialogue, but he makes up for that by showing off his accuracy and variety of arrows.
Unlike other "Night of the Owls" tie-ins, the fight with the Talon goes by rather quickly, but it's hardly a bad thing seeing as it's such an enjoyable read and a blast to gaze at a good deal of these panels. The other tie-ins might have a heavy emphasis on combat and gore, but this managed to carefully dive into some deeper issues with Todd and the Talon, and the result is one of the best issues connected to Batman's event so far.
4/5
source: my blog
If you ask politely, I'll stop watching Anime and go read it.
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