I've been thinking over everything that happened with the Outlaws. There's something that's really been bugging me that I haven't seen anyone address.
SPOILERS AHEAD
In the previous issue we learn that many if not all of the bat vigilantes know what happened with Penguin. Alfred informs Bruce that Dick, Tim and others have called to ask what they should do. Which naturally led me to wonder why they were calling. Were they just unsure what to do? Were they concerned about Jason? Did they want to show support for Bruce? I'd like to think they were just unsure although part of me believes they were on Bruce's side because they called him. Still we don't know if they bothered to call Jason and to be perfectly fair Jason was too occupied to notice.
...But why didn't they do anything?
Yes, Batman tells Alfred that he's handling it when he's informed about the calls but that doesn't mean they had to listen. I have two problems with this.
One: They should have heard about the falling building in the sky. This is the smaller problem I have but the police were aware of it. That would inform others to the situation. Yeah, there probably wasn't much time for them to respond but I just have a feeling they were avoiding the area because Bruce called dibs on dealing with Jason.
Two: The bat family should know better. At least a few of them. Yes we already saw Kate and her team take things too far with the Suicide Squad so their out for handling this rationally. Duke doesn't really get it and I'm not entirely certain how Damian would react. (I'm taking Barbara out of the equation because I think the old Barbara would handle it better.) Alfred, Dick and Tim however? They should know damn well how bad Bruce gets when he's overly emotional. They know things are tense between those two.
I guess this is highlighting problems within the bat family.
Alfred doesn't try to talk Bruce out of it just laments how he wishes things were different. Surely someone else should have been called in instead since Bruce is already too emotional to deal with it.
Tim knows Bruce was a mess when Jason died. He seems to be more understanding than the rest in regards to Jason's struggles. Batman needed a Robin to prevent him from going over the edge, that's why Tim became Robin.
Dick has been in a lot of fights with Bruce. Bad ones. He's seen both Bruce and Jason in some dark moments. Last year we got an issue with Dick wanting to be a better big brother. He gets the chance to stop things from escalating and he doesn't take it? Honestly Dick disappoints me the most because I was expecting something after he hung out with the Outlaws.
I don't know if I'm supposed to read anything in them staying out of it but I can't help comparing them to Arsenal. Roy presumably hasn't talked to Jason since the end of RHA. He's been working with Ollie in another city and manages to save Jason before Bruce can lock him up. Roy went because he knew what was going to happen. Maybe it was more brutal than he thought it would be but he knew it was going to be nasty. He knew Bruce couldn't be talked down and that confronting him head on wouldn't work.
It may just be a small detail but given the state of things (Jason's relationship with the family, Bruce's fits of anger that no one attempts to correct him on) it only serves to remind me why I get so frustrated with the bat family. Because this keeps happening with Bruce and it's normalized like it's no big deal. Remember when Damian died and Tomasi had Bruce treat Tim and Jason horribly? Then Alfred got mad at them for not forgiving Bruce? Or acted like they were over reacting to Bruce physically hurting them, keeping secrets and triggering Jason's PTSD?
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i think that it was better just Bruce showing up. Tim would have tried to play peace keeper while trying to tell Jason, he was wrong and turn himself in. Dick on the other hand would have jump in the fight if Jason would have decide to raise a hand and attempted to hurt Bruce.
ReplyDeleteTim is more flexible in regards to morals, at least he was in Red Robin. I'd think he and Dick would both notice things Bruce didn't.
ReplyDeleteThat there was a building falling from the sky that they should really do something about. And probably most important of all in regards to the confrontation: knowing why Jason shot Penguin. Jason neither confirms or denies shooting him when Bruce confronts him. For all they knew it was an imposter but Bruce rushes in to do as much harm as he could.
Raise a hand and attempt to hurt Bruce? If they were there they'd see Jason avoided hurting Bruce when he shot around him at pretty close range. The one physical attack he launched was after he was injured and just lost everything to find Bruce still hounding him. If anything they'd stop Bruce from dragging Jason's bloody body across the rooftop.
By asking what to do they probably wanted more information about the situation. They only saw Jason "killing" Penguin live on TV - but that could have been fake, Jason could have been mind-controlled, etc. So there is still a chance that they were on their way when only getting the answer back that Bruce would handle the situation on his own - because that doesn't sound very reassuring when knowing Bruce' and Jason's history as you have pointed out.
ReplyDeleteBut Dick is probably in Bludhaven, Damian away with the Teen Titans, I don't know where Tim is (maybe already in the Sanctuary?), Duke is hurt, etc. And I don't think that much time passes between the assassination and the fight. So it's more surprising how fast Arsenal was. But maybe he was already nearby wanting to pay Jason a visit (We know that he and Croc talk - maybe Croc mentioned the last mission with Jason and Jason asking how Roy was doing?).
All in all I don't think the batkids didn't want to intervene just because Bruce is their "boss" and I hope they will have some words with Bruce about how he handled the confrontation.
Right. We don't know if they called Jason or not or why they called Bruce. Not unless Alfred only thought them calling in it's self was important since they had no information.
DeleteMaybe, maybe not. We'll see soon enough. Bludhaven, unless they changed it, is supposed to be right next to Gotham. I thought Tim was going to college? I've heard no reason given for him being in Sanctuary despite the ads.
I don't know if it's so much he's the boss as they don't know if they want to get in the middle of that.