Just to get this out of the way, I am a diehard Batman fanboy, and I love just about everything Judd Winick has done at DC (except for the last year of Outsiders). I have loved his entire run on this book, ever since his first arc in the summer of '04 with Dustin Ngyuen. I thought Jason Todd's return was a stroke of genius, a move that could easily have crumbled, yet Winick handled it with well and managed to craft an intelligent, emotionally riveting story from the return. That, however, does NOT equate to a biased rating for this review.
This issue was the culmination of Winick's run and the end of the Jason Todd saga. Batman and Red Hood (Todd), square off as Bludhaven is devastated by a nuclear attack. The two battle into an abandoned warehouse, where the former Robin has The Joker rigged to a massive amount of explosives. Todd reveals the motivation behind his assault on Gotham, and one of the greatest three-way standoffs in comics ends in a violent way.
Winick truly "gets" these characters. I understand how corny and clichéd that statement is, but it’s the only way to describe the writer in this situation. Winick knows the motivations, the personalities, and the flaws of all three of the staring players of the issue, and it results in an emotionally intense read, with absolutely no wasted dialogue or panels. Winick has done a tremendous job of making the reader love to hate Jason Todd, but during this issue, Winick truly forces the reader to empathize with the character, and we begin to see beyond the fearless, arrogant exterior to the scared, abandoned boy The Red Hood is. The verbal exchange between Bruce and Jason is absolutely pitched perfect and, at times heartbreaking.
This script is also ingeniously clever in that, despite it is the "explanation" issue, its packed with action. It could have easily degenerated into an issue full of talking heads. Instead, Winick features the "this is why I did it" villain explanation, and the much needed discussion between Bruce and Jason, within the context of an issue-long fight scene, all of which is well choreographed by penciler Eric Battle.
Doug Mahnke was the perfect penciler for this book and the character, so I was a bit disappointed his art was absent from the finale of this run. His replacement, however, was more than capable of filling in. Battle's art is dark, angular, and exaggerated. He lacks the stylization of Mahnke, but his style fits the tone of the issue, and his pencils keep up with the action perfectly. His facial detail is quite expressive, with each character showing the hate, anger, fear, and insanity they all experience. Colorist Alex Sinclair should also be commended for keeping the pencils appropriately muddy and dark.
Winick gives us one helluva cliffhanger here, which will leave readers desperate for answers. Unfortunately, while the end to the Red Hood saga, we don't get the origin of Jason’s return...that is in the Batman Annual being released in tomorrow. Despite this and the ending that leaves you begging for the next issue, the writer delivers a sense of closure in the relationship between Bruce and Jason. This is a dense read, meaning that you get your $2.50 and then some. This is definitely one of the best single issues I have read in months, and I am truly sad to see Winick leave this title, yet also quite excited for the future of the character and this series in particular.
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