Some thoughts on Batman #71

There's two main bits I think need to be discussed. A line of dialogue and what happened with Tim.

SPOILERS AHEAD


1. "Jason is...Jason."

This is the second time I've seen this sort of phrasing recently, the first being a panel of Justice League Snyder wrote when Bruce finds out what happened to the bat family in the future. It really gives you a strong idea of how the Bat office writers see the character, right?  On the surface this is such a dismissive statement but the implications seems to be "Jason is the problem, it's who he is."

Now I don't think King wrote Jason well before this or in the panel that was shown. King has it seem like the whole reason Jason isn't coming is because he's being petty and childish. If you don't know why Red Hood and Batman aren't getting along this issue makes it look like Jason is simply doing this just because he feels like it.

Nevermind the fact that he always came when he was called before no matter how he was treated by the other members. He's presented as being the trouble maker because of the fact he's ignoring the signal when it's a sign that things are serious. Shouldn't they see this as a warning something is off? And why would Bruce expect him to be there anyway? Remember their confrontation where Batman tried to threaten him? King does nothing to even hint that Jason has an actual reason for not wanting to go besides pettiness.

This "Jason is Jason" line and the reaction to Jason really bug me. Because he has a damn good reason for not wanting to go and given what happens he was right not to go. I have a feeling that if he was there Jason would have been used as a punching bag instead. I'm not sure if anyone in the family would have cared though, not when their written as blindly seeing Jason as the problem. But more about that later.


2 .Batman punching one of his kids and everyone acting shocked by it.

Why is this such a surprise for everyone in and out of universe? This isn't the first time Batman has done something like this. Even if some of his history is currently questionable canon we the readers have seen him assault his kids before. I'm not saying this means it's acceptable (far from it) but we need to acknowledge that it isn't new and it's a problem that keeps on popping up every time Batman can't deal with his emotions. (Even if this is a fake out like some claim this does keep on happening.)

Here's a serious question I have that's related to 1., are the members of the bat family aware of how bad this is or are they just ignoring the problem? Dick, Tim and Jason are the only ones this has happened with, at least to the best of my knowledge. I guess they don't realize it's happened to someone else and aren't willing to share what happened? Are we going to be shocked when he finally does this to Damian or is he safe because he's the child by blood? Or would it only matter because Damian is related to him by blood? Are the oldest boys just acceptable to DC? Would it be seen as crossing the line only if he hit others like Barbara?

Prior to Flashpoint Bruce and Dick got into a lot of fights. Bruce punched Dick after Jason died for example. There was also the time they fought after Bruce was framed for murder although Dick started that one. Bruce still apologized for his part in the fight.

Post-Flashpoint Batman punched Dick in the mouth to knock out a tooth instead of just explaining and removing the tooth. Batman has punched Tim in Batman and Robin Red Robin #19 when he was mourning Damian and dissected Frankenstein. One issue later he took Jason to the place of his death to trigger his PTSD and got in a fist fight with him. While the second is extremely questionable canon (*1) it's one of the worst things Bruce has ever done to his kids. They knew about it (shown on panel) but completely dismissed it among Batmans' other lesser offenses later on.

Before Grayson became a series Bruce and Dick had a brutal fight to "prove" something to Bruce. But the worst abuse I've seen from Bruce was done in RHATO #25 vol. 2. He was brutal with Jason in a way I've never seen him be with anyone else. Jason barely put up any effort to fight him and it ends with Batman dragging a bleeding Red Hood by the broken helmet leaving streaks of blood across the rooftop. Roy saved Jason but the damage was so intense Jason couldn't move out of bed for almost a month and only recovered so quickly because he finally used Starfire's alien tech to heal himself.

It was implied that most if not all the family called Bruce once they heard that Jason shot the Penguin (*2) to ask what to do. We never get clarification for what they would have done if Bruce asked for their help or if they ever attempted to call Jason. Did it never occur to them that Batman would be the one that needed to be controlled? Dick and Tim at least should know how Bruce acts when he's overly emotional yet neither came. Then Jason disappears for a month or so, returns to reveal to the world that Jason Todd is alive and no one has ANY questions about what happened? That's kind of a huge thing since Jason was considered legally dead and there was no prior attempts to undo that.

Are we supposed to believe no one thought Bruce was capable of lashing out at his kids? Are all these crime fighters and people he's worked with really that blind? Cass can read body langauge and she never saw it coming? She didn't see his body prepare to lash out when Tim was trying to soothe him? The majority of the family are only realizing there's a problem now?

These are the worst detectives ever.




*1 In RHATO it's been stated Jason died in a different place--Qurac--and that Jason only returned there twice since he died. Once to save Roy at the start of the first series and then to help Artemis recover the Bow of Ra. Meaning the attempt to trigger Jasons' memories isn't considered canon anymore. And given the lack of follow up it had I feel like it should be forgotten.

*2 Wait, so no one in the family except Bruce cared that Jason shot the Penguin? They all act like nothing changed with Jason except the fact he doesn't want to show up. No one else had a problem with what he did? Or care to find out why he did it? A lot of problems would be solved if they ever bothered to communicate.