According to Rich Johnston's Lying in the Gutters column at CBR, well, I'd just better let him say it:
I can now tell you that the new Batman will be designed by Alex Ross and will see Jason Todd under the cowl.SOUNDS RATHER GOOD?!?!?
Poor Dick Grayson. Don't you hate it when someone junior to you is promoted above your head?
This is all part of a cross-continuity, longform story by Grant Morrison andin terms of structure bears similarity to his “New X-Men,” buton a far wider scale. It sounds rather good.
Now, assuming that's Rich's info is correct (and none of it has been officially confirmed yet, to my knowledge), it's unlikely that Bruce Wayne would remain "dead" for long, anymore than Superman or Captain America. It's going to be a sales-boosting publicity ploy, if it happens, and any quality of story that follows is purely coincidental.
No, the objectionable part--and it's taking all of my restraint not to vomit all over my keyboard as I write this--is that there is no way Jason Todd can become Batman. None.
Why? Let me be as succinct and rational on this issue as I am able:
JASON TODD IS A VICIOUS, MURDERING BASTARD, WHO HAS NEVER PAID A MOMENT'S PENALTY OR PENANCE FOR HIS CRIMES!!!!
Sorry, but I feel pretty strongly about this issue.
Now, yes, Jason had a hard knock life, was revived in a nauseatingly stupid manner, and felt upset and revengeful. But I'm sorry, that doesn't excuse his acts post-Resurrection. For example:
Now, even assuming the driver was a bona fide crook and not some patsy, killing someone for driving a truck? Or this:
No, they didn't survive those 1,001 bullets. And:
Strung up like butchered cattle, the blood draining out. And all those were from just 1 issue, from only 2 pages. Jason Todd is a murdering, savage beast, no better than the Joker.Fortunately, Bruce Wayne caught him and brought him to justice...oh, wait, he didn't. Never. Instead, he just ran off for his year-long-post-Infinite-Crisis sabbatical, and then never lifted one gloved finger to bring justice to the man who murdered dozens of people in Gotham City.
But after Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, Jason Todd at least came to his senses, reformed, and repented, right?
Uhh...not so much.So, after I post that under Dan DiDio, Bruce Wayne has completely disappeared from the Bat titles, we get news that Bruce will die and be replaced, and Batman will now be AN UNREPENTANT MASS MURDERER. Irony is a bitch.
I'm sorry, I shouldn't overreact like this. And there's a lot of information we don't have yet. But if this happens, if a PSYCHOTIC KILLER becomes Batman, I have to say I'll stop reading all the Bat titles.
It's your choice, DiDio. You can have heroes wear the masks, or just indulge your whims and give the jobs to your childhood "heroes," regardless of their fitness. You can take a stand and say that people have to pay a price for murder, or you can just give Jason the Cowl and pretend all the murders never happened.
You can say it doesn't matter, but it does matter to me and a lot of others, Dan DiDio. And if you make Batman into the Punisher, you show you have no conception of the character, and no business running a major comic book company. It's your choice.
Panels of Dan DiDio's choice to be Batman and represent justice come from Batman #646 and Nightwing #118. Less than two years ago, he was a murderer. Anyone at DC remember? Anyone?!?
5 comments:
"Sounds rather good"?
I think Rich has been doing a little too much pub-hopping.
You know, I realize DC and Marvel have copied one another for decades, but I don't recall it ever being this brazen, i.e. importing the Death of Captain America thing.
Wow...DC under Didio has been quite the bumpy ride. At first I was behind alot of stuff he was doing, but three or four years later, it's obvious things have spun wildly out of control.
Kill the New Gods? Go for it....but kill Bruce Wayne and replace him with Psycho Lad?
Oy vey.
Aw, c'mon Snell. You know it won't last. They'll just ignore this ever happened the moment Grant Morrison leaves Batman. Or Didio leaves DC, whichever comes first.
You're right, Khairul (am I pronouncing that correctly?), I am over-reacting...that's what I do here. And I'll admit that I'm not totally convinced of the truth of this rumor. Morrison, after all, has so far showed zero interest in Jason Todd and lots of interest in Damien (for some reason). Then again, it might not be his call...
But the whole principle of the thing stinks. After what happened with Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan, we just KNOW that Jason Todd won't have any epiphany or repentence...they'll just give him the cowl and call us whiny fanboys for suggesting that having our heroes be murderers might be a bad thing.
Grrr...this is getting me riled up again...must find inner peace...must play Mario Galaxy....ohmmmmm
Shocked and disappointed when I heard the news myself so I know how you felt (feel?). So I don't think you're over-reacting. We love these characters so when a major change is introduced we are very vocal about it.
Saying that however, this is the comics after all. We've seen the Big Two make changes only to ignore them years later and bring back the old status quo when fan reaction was strong enough.
My point is, don't like the direction a particular title is heading towards? Then drop the sucker like a hot potato. It's the only thing a fan could do.
Then go read an old issue of ROM. Can't go wrong with ROM. Or Groo.
And yes, you pronounced it correctly.
(So is Wayne the new Highfather?)
When I take over DC (my plan is to win a "Be DC's Editor-in-Chief for a Day" contest, then call in the lawyers and get 'em to make it permanent), the first thing I'll do is just announce that all the stuff Didio championed never really happened. "Countdown" never happened. The New Gods didn't die. The "Titans East Special" didn't happen. Bart wasn't the Flash, but he didn't die either.
"But what about continuity, Mr. Editor-in-Chief-who-is-also-a-Ninja?" the naysayers will whine. "Isn't past continuity important?"
"Oh, yes," I'll reply. "Past continuity is important. And that's why I fixed it."
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