#also I'm annoyed that any focus on Roy's loss and what it means to Jason

[firefrightfic]

omg what do you think about red hood outlaw 27?? I'm seeing a 50/50 split from fans here mostly because while we all enjoyed a hug in a batbook after all these deaths, it still doesn't excuse the beat down from Bruce and telling him the 'never believing in you' crap, like he deserved it or something. I know Jason is used to the abuse and pain but this is a bit too sudden however I'm glad Jason is able to handle Roy's death maturely.

Oof, I almost wrote a post about this earlier, because my thoughts over it are very complicated, and the more time I’ve had to think about it, the more disappointed I’ve realised I am.

The hug between Bruce and Jason was lovely in terms of it being something we’ve all wanted to happen, but at the same time, it felt terribly unearned and way dissatisfying for it. There’s a huge disconnect in this issue in the way Jason and Bruce were acting towards each other from when last they met – it’s almost like we’re getting an interaction between two different people. And to be honest, for me, they were walking the line of being OOC, which largely ruined my ability to enjoy the moment.

It’s not just the strangeness of Bruce suddenly being so forgiving towards Jason when he was recently so willing to lock him up and throw away the key, either, but also in how Jason doesn’t bite back against Bruce banning him from Gotham (which he was told prior to the news of Roy’s death, so no excuse there), and how okay he is with not being involved in the hunt for Roy’s killer. In fact, he volunteers himself not to get involved, which doesn’t feel like Jason at all. If Lobdell had had Jason ask to get involved and then had Bruce shoot him down over it, that would have made much more sense, but this moment of just… “Oh no, my best friend has been murdered. Well there’s already too many cooks in the kitchen on that one, guess I best stay out of it.” was weird. The only way I could possibly excuse it ICly was if Jason said that to throw Bruce off and still planned on going after Roy’s killer anyway. But I’m pretty sure that won’t be the case, looking at future solicitations.

More likely, the situation was that Lobdell wanted to have Jason be able to react to Roy’s death in-comic, but also had his hands tied in that the Heroes in Crisis storyline is something DC’s keeping largely self-contained. But still, he could have resolved it better (perhaps as I mentioned above, by simply having Bruce tell him not to do so).

The same thing goes for Bruce and Jason’s ‘reconciliation’. It almost makes the whole fallout from the last 3 issues of RHATO feel pointless, because in the end, nothing about the status quo has really changed, aside from Jason being ‘banned’ from Gotham, which I don’t expect to last long either. There was no commitment here from Lobdell to the story arc he started, and while I can see what he was going for, it’s largely resulted in everything that happened before it falling apart in hindsight.

It’s a shame, because this issue could have been fantastic with Bruce finding Jason because he feels a responsibility to break the news of Roy’s death to him personally, but also the two of them struggling to talk civilly to each other even for that because of all the bitterness and resentment that’s sprung up between them again as a result of Jason’s recent actions. We could have had Jason bringing up all his old arguments against Bruce, accusing him of not even wanting know why he felt the need to try and kill Penguin. Of pointing out the hypocrisy of Bruce being willing to be ‘kind and sympathetic’ to him now over the loss of a friend when before he was perfectly willing to beat Jason to a pulp after he just lost two others (one of them a love interest). And on the flip side, Bruce trying to stay calm in the face of Jason’s anger and pain, but also struggling to contain his own, because he wants so badly to have his son back with him, but because of his own principles can’t so easily forgive and forget.

Jason should have stormed out of that diner from Bruce, because even if Bruce could forgive him, Jason himself can never forgive that easily. Bruce meanwhile, should have been left sitting there, wanting to reach out and pull Jason home but being unable to. Instead there was a hug, but it felt undeserved, and because of it, I think a whole lot of us have been left feeling cheated and unsatisfied by this issue.

(I will say however, that the pages of Jason leaving Roy a voicemail were great, especially with how he reacted by saying ‘death is a revolving door’ when it comes to superheroes, which is a perfect expression of denial where he’s concerned that Roy’s really gone. I’d love to see that portrayed in a way that drags and tears at Jason the longer Roy stays dead without coming back, to the point that he does eventually break down about it. There needed to be tears in this moment gdamnit and we were given none..)