Enter the Duck 3

Author notes

6.08

Aussie_kid

on March 7, 2008

What will Ozone find when he steps into the glowing room?

Okay, I said I'd talk about some graphic novels, so i'll start with the earliest one I have, Batman: A Death in the Family.

The year was 1988 and it was a time in which comics were about to evolve. Deciding to take a leap, it was decided that the life close to Batman would be taken, to affect him greatly. And so, was chosen a boy many saw as a "whining usurper". Jason Todd, the second Robin.

The stage was set. Journeying to the Middle East to find Jason's real mother, Batman comes across a plot by the Joker to sell a missile to terrorists. They then find her in Ethiopia, but she's working for the Joker. Betrayed, Jason is beaten into a bloody mess and left to die in a warehouse with a bomb.

And so, the readers were given 36 hours to decide the fate of this new boy wonder. The verdict came in at 5271 to save him and 5343 to kill him. And so Batman discovered him comrade dead in the rubble, just too late to help.

From what I've seen of Jason Todd, well I think if I could have cast my vote, I'd be #5344 to kill him. I liked the Dick Grayson and Tim Drake Robins but Jason on the other hand, he just made me wish the bad guys would shoot him or something so he'd be out of action for a while. Then again, if there was an option to just have him retire his identity as the Boy Wonder, I'd probably have picked that instead. Anyway, now he's back as Red Hood, the black sheep of the family, which seems to fit him.

Onto my ratings. The art is shoddy at best. Sometimes it looks like the Joker had his jaw broken and it's about to hang out of his mouth. Adrienne Roy should have invested in some better pens because there's a lot of bleeding over ink lines and such. And John Costanza forgot to put in a few text boxes here and there. For a series where a Robin dies, you'd think they would have put a little more care into this stuff.

Okay, now to turn my aim to Jim Starlin. So Haywood (Jason's mother) is so pleased to see her son when he first shows up, and then betrays him to the Joker when she finds out her identity? Then just turns aside to have a cigarette while her son is being beaten with a crowbar. Then, while tied up, knowing her death is near, Jason saves her and she has another change of character to save him. And Batman getting rid of evidence at a crime scene so the police won't find out the Joker blew it up?

I had about eight more paragraphs on how the Joker became the Iranian ambassador and some other stuff, but I figured it was too long, so I'll just say this. It was an interesting read, so pick it up if you're curious about how Jason Todd died 20 years ago. But, by today's standards, it's a bit of a joke.

Until next time
The Aussie Kid