all_hail_grimlock's review
3.0
The writing, plot, and art are all good. I probably would have rated this four if not for a nitpick at the end, that really encapsulates how I elevate certain characters.
I bought this, and subscribe to this series, because of Jason Todd, aka Red Hood; I would very much have passed on this book if not for him. I don't like all Robins, and I certainly don't love them equally, I will die on the hill that Jason is the best.
It's excited to see Red Hood on a team, even though it's unlikely. He's got Roy Harper/Arsenal and Kori/Starfire in the original run of Red Hood and the Outlaws, and Artemis and Bizarro in the second run of that, but he often mentions being a loner. He doesn't really get put in teams that are anything more than threesomes, to be honest, partially because superhero teams lean into following the law - as much as possible - especially when it comes to not murdering people. Jason, the second Robin who was murdered by the Joker, found peace in death, and then was ripped out of that to be shoved into a world where he was all but forgotten? He couldn't really deal with the Joker still running around, with crime going on as always; he was angry when he was alive and angrier when he came back from the dead.
He was trained by Batman to be effective, brutal if needed, but not lethal; unbound from those chains he became so. Which means that this starts off with humans showing superhuman abilities, that they can't control and that is supercharging them and turning them into living explosives, and the most efficient solution is a lethal one. The team was bound to sneer at Jason, so it seems cruel to put him on a team that would do so. Still, when they tell him to stow it so they can find other solutions, he complies.
I figured they weren't being terrible to him, it was okay...
Until Superboy, Connor Kent, starts losing his power: he already was having trouble with people comparing him to Superman and him feeling like he couldn't live up to that. So when he ends up not able to save people and with a broken arm, insisting he can still help the Titans, somehow has to prove he can't. It's not just that he relies on his superpowers, it's that he's emotionally fragile, and Jason nails it: he's the only one to notice. Jason goads Connor about how useless he is without his power - ironic that no one pointed out that Jason and Dick Grayson, the team leader, Nightwing, and formerly the first Robin have no powers. Not having powers doesn't make you useless; not having powers and being used to having them, relying them, and being unable to navigate being powerless makes you useless on missions. Add an inferiority complex, and Connor - without testing if he has his powers again - punches Jason.
It's a problem because he could have easily killed Jason with powers. His anger at his own powerlessness are a danger to those around him, as they have no idea why humans are getting these metahuman powers, or why Connor lost his powers, or when or if they'll come back. Connor is a weak point on more than one counts, and would be out of his depths in a fight. Even without powers, Jason and Dick can handle themselves, so Connor is out of luck.
And yet, despite this valuable service, despite being the only one to see how off his game and unstable Connor was, despite the fact that nothing short of this display would have convinced the others, they turn on Jason. Their biases are showing and it's not pretty: Jason was correct, and they know it, because they benched Connor without a second thought after that. And yet, Jason is treated like dirt for helping them, because they don't approve of his necessary strategy - which put Jason, and no one else, in danger.
If I were Jason, I would have walked away from this team - and yet despite his cries of being a loner, he appreciates when Tim Drake is not an absolute asshole to him, like most others. Or Roy or Kori or Artemis or Bizarro... He wants to help people and he wants to be around friends.
Too bad these people aren't really his friends...
That's right. I wrote a whole team book review about Jason. I honestly don't care about any of the others.
I bought this, and subscribe to this series, because of Jason Todd, aka Red Hood; I would very much have passed on this book if not for him. I don't like all Robins, and I certainly don't love them equally, I will die on the hill that Jason is the best.
It's excited to see Red Hood on a team, even though it's unlikely. He's got Roy Harper/Arsenal and Kori/Starfire in the original run of Red Hood and the Outlaws, and Artemis and Bizarro in the second run of that, but he often mentions being a loner. He doesn't really get put in teams that are anything more than threesomes, to be honest, partially because superhero teams lean into following the law - as much as possible - especially when it comes to not murdering people. Jason, the second Robin who was murdered by the Joker, found peace in death, and then was ripped out of that to be shoved into a world where he was all but forgotten? He couldn't really deal with the Joker still running around, with crime going on as always; he was angry when he was alive and angrier when he came back from the dead.
He was trained by Batman to be effective, brutal if needed, but not lethal; unbound from those chains he became so. Which means that this starts off with humans showing superhuman abilities, that they can't control and that is supercharging them and turning them into living explosives, and the most efficient solution is a lethal one. The team was bound to sneer at Jason, so it seems cruel to put him on a team that would do so. Still, when they tell him to stow it so they can find other solutions, he complies.
I figured they weren't being terrible to him, it was okay...
Until Superboy, Connor Kent, starts losing his power: he already was having trouble with people comparing him to Superman and him feeling like he couldn't live up to that. So when he ends up not able to save people and with a broken arm, insisting he can still help the Titans, somehow has to prove he can't. It's not just that he relies on his superpowers, it's that he's emotionally fragile, and Jason nails it: he's the only one to notice. Jason goads Connor about how useless he is without his power - ironic that no one pointed out that Jason and Dick Grayson, the team leader, Nightwing, and formerly the first Robin have no powers. Not having powers doesn't make you useless; not having powers and being used to having them, relying them, and being unable to navigate being powerless makes you useless on missions. Add an inferiority complex, and Connor - without testing if he has his powers again - punches Jason.
It's a problem because he could have easily killed Jason with powers. His anger at his own powerlessness are a danger to those around him, as they have no idea why humans are getting these metahuman powers, or why Connor lost his powers, or when or if they'll come back. Connor is a weak point on more than one counts, and would be out of his depths in a fight. Even without powers, Jason and Dick can handle themselves, so Connor is out of luck.
And yet, despite this valuable service, despite being the only one to see how off his game and unstable Connor was, despite the fact that nothing short of this display would have convinced the others, they turn on Jason. Their biases are showing and it's not pretty: Jason was correct, and they know it, because they benched Connor without a second thought after that. And yet, Jason is treated like dirt for helping them, because they don't approve of his necessary strategy - which put Jason, and no one else, in danger.
If I were Jason, I would have walked away from this team - and yet despite his cries of being a loner, he appreciates when Tim Drake is not an absolute asshole to him, like most others. Or Roy or Kori or Artemis or Bizarro... He wants to help people and he wants to be around friends.
Too bad these people aren't really his friends...
That's right. I wrote a whole team book review about Jason. I honestly don't care about any of the others.
More...