THEORY DISCUSSION AHEAD
Is the man wearing the suit with the bullet holes Willis Todd?
He has the interest in the team and seems to have a lot of information. According to the source on tumblr that claims to be in the know he's connected to Black Mask and another villain. The timing of the hidden letters Ma Gunn found seems to point to Willis' importance.
Do I think this relates to my Black Mask theory? It's possible, so far this guy seems to be written like that version of BM.
- We saw BM had a lot of resources, collecting valuable pieces, an impressive lab and the ability to steal from under Lex's nose. The suit guy was able to break Grundy out of Arkham which implies he has some kind of power/influence.
- If Willis was BM then his interest in the trio makes sense. Not just the focus on Jason but also Artemis and Bizarro. He even has an ID card from one of Lex's employees, probably how he found out about Bizarro in the first place. We see the suit guy reading about the Outlaws in Quarc, BM would know the reason for the mission since he sent the bow there.
- I was wondering why he'd hire Grundy and how that related to the Outlaws. How would he know they'd arrive? Well Willis would know Jason would be there for sentimental reasons as Jason admits going to the fair in the past. BM would have known Bizarro was dying and just needed the push. He was the one that told Jason Bizarro has a limited shelf life. If Bizarro dies Jason loses a valuable teammate and becomes emotionally compromised.
- The bullet holes in his suit are interesting since they seem to tell their own story. If Willis is BM and pulled a Hush (switching places with someone else during the fight) the shots couldn't have come from Jason. No bullets were fired at him during the fight only Bizarro. The suits do look the same except for the holes. Regardless of my BM theory connecting this could be a nod to Willis from DITF. Since they were trying to wrap up all of Jason's story they had a panel implying Two-Face gunned Willis down.
Do I believe this guy is Willis? At the moment yes, the BM connection could be in place but even if it's not I definitely think Lobdell is building something. Jason's past is coming back to bite him one way or another.
One's past has a nasty habit of doing that. Especially in comics.
ReplyDeleteTrue although this one would take longer than most.
ReplyDeleteIt does make sense but I really hope not T.T
ReplyDeleteMy feelings on Willis Todd are...
the RHATO Annual with Nightwing made me go a little 'uh?' about the whole Willis thingy. So perhaps he didn't abuse Jason and his mom (PERHAPS) and was just absent and having a child so young and so many bills to pay and a petty criminal as a husband is what ultimately drive Catherine to drink but this whole situation is making me mad for reasons I can't explain.
If that guy IS Willis Todd, I really hope that Sheila is the canon again or else this means that (Damian aside) Jason is the one that most desperately needed a parent (even an emotionally constipated one) and was let down.
I think Lobdell is painting a complicated picture of who Willis is. He's not simply a one note abuser or criminal. Willis drank, argued with Catherine, was gone a lot, scared Jason and still had a soft spot for his kid.
ReplyDeleteA guy in a crappy situation that had no concept of how to handle it and made it worse. The line Jason has about having a birth mom suggests he has another mom. But yeah I think it would be a biological dad vs. Adopted dad type of thing.