Jason Todd's "lost days" take a decisive turn here as he realizes that the bomb maker he's been learning from is also planning to stage a massive terrorist attack.
The Good
It's a brilliant perversion of Batman's own "wandering years" to have Jason Todd seeking knowledge from the scum of the Earth and, in the process, developing the motivations for his own brand of vigilante vengeance. Winick gives this a sense of no-nonsense realpolitik that's evocative of a spy novel and Haun's carries the pass for a smooth lay-up, rendering realistic work that's still got plenty of style. And the scene where Jason learns of Tim Drake's career was a right powerful cross. He might be the fearsome Red Hood, but he's still a jealous middle child at heart!
The Bad
I don't know, maybe it's because this is the middle of a mini that's already well into rolling along, but this particular issue just didn't hit me in the jugular like I would've liked it to. The writing's well-constructed, the art's slick and polished, but it's missing some X-factor to put it over the cliff for me. Maybe it's just because the whole long-after-the-fact resurrection of Jason Todd never sat that well in my mind.
The Verdict - 3.5/5
Like I said, I always thought that Jason Todd's return following A Death in the Family was one of those plot twists you always figured would happen eventually, but really hoped would never actually be followed through with. So it's a bit hard to shake that off. That being said, this was still a well-done issue and, I'm sure, much more resonant when read with the full scope of this mini in mind. It's like Batman's own "lost days" seen through a warped, fun house mirror.
I am just confused. If this takes place at the same time when Tim was becoming Robin, why does he have so much facial hair? Batman was only Robinless for a few months, a year at the most, and Tim spent a few months training, so at the most this is two years after he died. And didn't he die at like 14?
" I am just confused. If this takes place at the same time when Tim was becoming Robin, why does he have so much facial hair? Batman was only Robinless for a few months, a year at the most, and Tim spent a few months training, so at the most this is two years after he died. And didn't he die at like 14? "
Superboy-Prime punched a wall and all that changed. True story.
" @iLLituracy: Superboy-Prime punching the wall is what woke him up in the first place, it was still only six months after he died. "
It was a half joke, but Superboy-Prime is the usual excuse for inconsistencies and continuity errors in the DC Universe. I don't think it's that farfetched to think that other things other than him being awaken by Superboy-Prime's punching could have occurred such as his age [which could or could not be an issue here], his original hair color, which Post-Crisis it was originally black, but was retconned so that it was originally red like Pre-Crisis Todd's original hair color along with the story that Bruce forced him to change it to black to appear to be more like Dick.
@iLLituracy: True. I just feel like sometimes he looks way older in this book than he should. In all the other issues he looks sixteen. I dunno maybe I'm just jealous because my facial hair didn't come in till way later than that.
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