By Judd Winick (writer), Guillem March (1-10) and Andrei Bressan (11-20) (art), Alex Sinclair (colors), Patrick Brosseau (letters)
The Story: Jason Todd, the Robin-turned-resurrected-homicidal-maniac, wants out of Arkham and into a general prison population. He gets his wish, and things go just about as well as you’d expect with Jason surrounded by bad guys who ‘deserve’ to die. The Dick Grayson is kept mysteriously out of the loop until it’s too late, and Todd has apparently escaped (…with some help from a new set of friends.)
What’s Good: Jason Todd, while not as flashy as a Joker or Riddler, has been a fantastic Bat-villain since his inception and is one of my own personal favorites. His very direct connection to Batman makes him an excellent foe to bring out when a writer wishes to give the Dark Knight and emotional challenge to overcome. Of course, Todd’s most personal connection is to Bruce Wayne, so I was quite curious to see how undisputed Jason Todd master Judd Winick would handle the relationship between Todd and Dick Grayson’s new Batman.
This is actually subverted in the beginning of the book by having Bruce’s Batman be the one to initially confront Todd in Arkahm Asylum. Batman and Robin is Dick’s book, no question, but bringing Bruce in, at least for the storyline’s kickoff, was absolutely the right choice. Not only does it serve to remind us of Todd’s origin, it gives the scene a much stronger emotional impact. When Dick’s Batman arrives later, Todd, and his place in the story, have already been well established. The transition between the two Batmen is handled seamlessly, and is the key to accepting Todd as Grayson’s villain for this storyline.
March and Brosseau do a fantastic job on art duties. March, in particular, shows off his skill to great effect when drawing Jason Todd at the start of the book. His sly expressions, his relaxed body language all prove just how at ease Todd is, both with himself and in his environment. This is a powerful nonverbal statement, especially when contrasted with (Bruce’s) Batman’s tension and discomfort.
What’s Not So Good: Really, the only thing I can pick on is the fact that some of the characters (especially in March’s section) seem off proportionally, sometimes distractingly so. Also, as much as I enjoy seeing artists work together, the styles meshed together in this book are quite disparate indeed (especially when it comes to drawing Jason Todd himself). While I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief, and while neither section is bad in the least, it did make me wince to see Todd go from being a top heavy, thick-armed muscleman to a much thinner, lither one in the middle of the book. A little more artistic consistency would have helped smooth hiccups like this over.
Conclusion: A very well plotted and VERY well paced start to a promising storyline. The heroes are in place, the villain is loose, and I can’t wait for the next issue! This is the first initial-storyline issue in a long time that has made me feel that the allocated number of issues isn’t enough–this story feels like it could be much bigger and more epic than its three issues will allow.
Grade: A-
-SoldierHawk
Filed under: DC Comics Tagged: | Alex Sinclair, Andrei Bressan, Batman and Robin, Batman and Robin #23 review, Guillem March, Judd Winick, Patrick Brosseau, Weekly Comic Book Review
Todd’s okay. I would rather see Eduardo Flamingo back, that would be totally awesome!! But what I like about Todd is that he knows the Bat-family from the inside, and he is as capable as any of them, only evil. At the end of Morrison’s run, Todd’s Red Hood was the anti Dick’s Batman, so it’s cool to see that he’s back for a while…