#jaybin readthrough

[warrior-of-storms]

Okay but do you know what really gets me?

There's no one left in-universe who can or will talk about Jaybin as he really was.

Bruce is the founder of the Jaybin Slander Department;

Alfred is no better.

Dick wasn't around much, didn't know him that well.

If Barbara ever interacted with him in his original run, I haven't found it yet.

I mean, he had some interactions with the Teen Titans, but was he really close with any of them?

I suppose Gordon could, assuming he isn't in on the Jason-bashing. I haven't seen it but I could be missing something.

And, well, Jason... somehow, I don't think anyone's asking Jason what he was like as a kid, nor is he really a reliable source. Autobiographical memory is weird.

No one in-universe will ever really talk about this bright, friendly, eager kid, and it's a tragedy.

He was smart and clever and had so much compassion.

He wanted so badly to help people, and he found joy in his work as Robin.

He had a dramatic flair and he was kind of a nerd and he was really funny on occasion.

He was so deeply, fundamentally good, and the fact that somehow his legacy has been twisted into one of anger and recklessness is honestly a crime.

It makes me so desperately sad that there's not a single character who can even start to undo the lasting damage of a four-decade smear campaign against a kid who did nothing to deserve it.

[trans-pickles]

The Robin in question is Jason Todd. Robert Carter from Knoxville, Tennessee, I'm so fucking sorry.

[Image ID: A scan of Detective Comics issue 579 showing the final paragraph of a letter from a fan that reads, "Finally, keep this in mind. Robin almost got beaten to death in LEGENDS, and now he's almost shot to death by the Mad Hatter. Watch it-- some of us fans really like the little guy! (Awww... ain't that sweet?!)" The letter is addressed from Robert Carter, 3304 Barton Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. End image ID.]

[rmbunnie]

Okay so post-Seeing Red reread that comes with reading through Green Arrow 2001, I have 2 new things I've noticed and thought were interesting! This is the first, and the second will be here later on:

Ollie is kinda on his empathy A-game in this one? Like he's being a good dad, a good friend/colleague, it's impressive how much he isn't flying off the handle. I feel like all-in-all post-Mia-HIV-diagnosis, or maybe even post-City Walls, I can't pin down the shift exactly, he becomes much more self-aware in regards to his own temper and emotional shortcomings, and he doesn't like try to change that, but he does start avoiding situations that he knows he won't be able to handle with grace, (which feels like a much more natural progression for him and most characters in general than suddenly getting better and healing and no longer being flawed, but that's just my preference,) and he's doing his best with that in this one. All this to say, he:

keeps the conflict with Bruce to a minimum, except for when he's calling out his parenting style and rightfully upset by the possibility that Bruce only showed up in the first place to lure out Jason, and he and Mia were planned collateral. (It's worth noting that once he critiques Bruce's parenting, Bruce's knee-jerk response is to say pretty much "I know you're being mean and irrational because you're upset, but remember when Roy got addicted to heroin?" which, even disregarding the Roy part, he's kinda chalking any questioning of his parenting style up to Ollie just being upset, when like, that's a very valid critique of the situation. And I think context is added to his critique of Bruce's parenting style by acknowledging that a. that this comes after Bruce calling Jason "dirt in the gutter" and GA responding like "whatever you say," and b. Ollie is canonically aware that somehow, Jason ended up buried in rubble in his last fight with Bruce, meaning he has at least a rudimentary understanding of the Joker showdown (although I can't imagine he knows about the whole ultimatum part.) Several times throughout this run, Ollie alludes to Bruce being a difficult parent (mainly to Dick, via gossip from Roy,) but he doesn't know Jaybin well enough to even recognize him in Heaven, so I think it's entirely possible that when he says Bruce was a bad father to Jason, he's referring not only to Bruce's general closed-off and authoritarian approach to parenting, but specifically to recent, post-resurrection treatment of Jason, (maybe including the blowing up?) which would be VERY interesting.

sends Mia away when he wants to talk one-on-one with Bruce about Jason's turn towards evil! I don't know how I didn't notice this one in my first readthrough, but after she accidentally says something rude about Jason's death and the topic of drug dealing comes up, Ollie asks Mia to talk to one of her contacts about the weapons deal that's going on (and makes a point of praising her in front of Bruce for her network of sources and good information-gathering skills,) and then immediately goes in and tries to press Bruce on how hard it must be to see Jason doing the things he's doing (where Bruce doubles-down on having no residual care towards Jason.) This doesn't mean anything in the larger plot of things, but I think it's really sweet that once she gets embarrassed saying something insensitive, Ollie kinda gives her something to do off to the side so the adults can talk about something personal she'd be out of the loop on. I wonder if part of the reasoning behind sending her away is so she wouldn't be psyched out by the failed sidekick talk and the general idea of a sidekick dying, turning evil (relative to this way he was before,) and consequentially being abandoned (at a surface level,) by his hero parent, as opposed to Bruce's cautionary tale approach to the whole Jason debacle. It happens right when Bruce starts claiming that Jason is like, morally lost. The idea that she would see herself in Jason before the gym fight and Ollie could predict that upsetting her feels like a stretch typing it out, but a very interesting one imo. Either way, it's for the best that Mia wasn't around to hear the "another piece of dirt in the gutter" remark, and Ollie seemed to plan for this.

Gives Bruce run of the case, even before Jason comes into play, just in an effort to be cooperative, and because “he’s visiting." I'm also moderately obsessed with "Try and wear something nice tomorrow!" Like yeah Brucie public appearance, I understand what it actually means, but yelling "wear that dress I like ;)" out into the night is crazyyyy.

Is just so cute with Mia, if there’s one thing Green Arrow 2001 makes Oliver it’s a girldad. That really shines in this storyline. His first reaction to Mia when she escapes/is let out of the gym is “are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” he’s hyping her up, he keeps talking about Bruce’s “wild child” taking “his girl,” he’s actually explaining things about Bruce's m.o. and disposition to her, just being a great father all in all. And not to cornplate, but he makes a little joke about hating pineapple on pizza to some goons and Mia agrees with him pretty close after the Winick issue where she says it’s her favorite to the Teen Titans (another point of contrast with Bruce in the Mia-Jason parallel this storyline centers on: Oliver takes Mia to join the titans specifically so she can have a support system, while Jason was established to interact with them only behind Bruce’s back, under the pretense that he’d be punished for working with them, and dies isolated from his peers) which reads like she’s lying just so she can keep agreeing with her dad?? Mia Dearden cutest of all time! They both eat the pizza anyways...

I'm biased, but I just think it's kinda sweet that he continuously refers to Jason as "kiddo," "this kid," "wild child," etc. Like even mid-fight. idk Ollie acknowledging his actual age just hits, king of actually understanding the parental relationship between a sidekick and the hero who adopts him while Bruce makes a point of referring to both Jason and Mia exclusively as partners, charges, etc. all comic. Like it's ROUGH his direct response to GA calling him a hell of a father is admitting he has failings as a "mentor," both emphasized in quotes and bolded. Jason's wrong in the Mia conversation specifically about their fathers being the same, not because they aren't genuinely disconnected from his and Mia's backgrounds, they are, but because Oliver is a genuinely active parent, unbeknownst to Jason. And it's a leap in logic to think Mia's in the same spot, but with his reference to go off of? It's just a really fucking tough example to work off of, that he's internalized as the standard. But in reality, Ollie's... kinda killing it?

[warrior-of-storms]

It's so hard for me to read Jaybin comics. Not because they were made in the 80s (which used to be a big dealbreaker for me), but because he's so freaking adorable and then I remember that they killed him and I just

he was jus a littol guy... babie... look at him...

[warrior-of-storms]

Hi here's more oh my favorite Jaybin panels in no particular order

Jason. Jason is a rock cover of Sound of Silence really that cool. Actually nvm you're based for that. I wanna hear the Sound of Silence rock cover too.

littol guy <3 he's so determined to get a good grade in Robin, something that is normal to want and possible to achieve

Even kidnapped and tied up in classic Boy Hostage fashion, he looks so polite

scarecrow how dare you make him cry. how dare you. dr crane when i catch you.

[warrior-of-storms]

Hi, Warrior's reading Jaybin comics again. Specifically Detective Comics #572-573

He's adorable 💜

Aw, Bruce, he was just trying to help :( why are you making him sad, he's doing his best :(

Okay but the Brucie moments were so silly, and Jason was having fun playing along (or possibly just laughing at Bruce - both are valid options). I do love Gordon having absolutely none of it though lol

just look at him!! he's just a little guy! specifically the rain one, look at him shielding himself from the rain with his cape. ahdjsafdklaj I love him so much

[warrior-of-storms]

Once again playing everyone's favorite game, "Is this popular concept canon or is the fandom making stuff up?" Today's contestants are...

Did Dick and Bruce really not speak to each other for over a year when Dick became Nightwing?

Yes! According to Batman (1940) #416, they didn't speak to or see each other outside of one in-costume mission for eighteen months.

2. Did Dick really find out about Jason from the newspaper?

Also yes! Same issue, Dick found out about the new Robin from a newspaper and went to Gotham to confront Bruce about it. After eighteen months of not speaking to each other.

3. Did Dick go to college?

3b. Did Dick drop out of college?

Yes and yes. He got through like one semester and dipped. It's not that he couldn't have done more if he wanted to, he was just feeling unfulfilled and was having a bit of a crisis so he decided to do Teen Titans stuff full time instead.

In conclusion, Bruce!! get it together!! you're a problem, and communication is important!!

[warrior-of-storms]

Hi it's Warrior I'm still reading Jaybin comics

Bruce's worst fear was Jason dying... I... they... he loved that kid so much and it hurts me every time

Bonus:

This was immediately before that. look at him. Jason was so upset at the idea of his dad dying! My heart is in pieces on the floor

[warrior-of-storms]

There are a lot of Jason's appearances as Robin that I enjoy, but high on that list has got to be the two times he showed up in New Teen Titans.

The first mission is especially amusing to me because the Titans are falling apart. Dick, Kory, and Joey are off-world, Gar and Vic are trying to track down Gar's dad, Raven is missing, and Donna's having a breakdown over Everything, so when she gets a call from the CIA like "hey we need you to do a thing for the government" she's like "you know what? we're getting the band back together" and gets Roy, Garth, and Wally to come back to the team, and then she also recruits Jason (and also Hank Hill, Hawk, but he's not a fab five member so it's a little different). So you have five people in their early twenties, none of whom are having a good time (Donna's going through a rough patch in her marriage and as leader of the Titans, Roy is apprehensive about this mission because he doesn't want to fight Cheshire, Garth lost the love of his life in the Crisis, Wally just lost Barry and is struggling to cope with being the Flash, and Hank is just. so many flavors of A Mess) and then you have maybe 14-year-old Jason Todd, who is having an absolute blast.

Absolutely everyone: 😔😑😡🥲

Jason: 😄

Then Donna has a breakdown in the field and is like "Robin, I just can't do it, you have to take over," to which Jason responds, "...wonder girl i am literally 14 i don't know what you want from me"

It's so funny to me lol

The second one is just as good. Fewer emotional breakdowns, and the team is more put-together than last time, but Jason is no less out of place. Once again, almost everyone on this team is in their early twenties (sole exception being Gar, who is about 16 I think?) and then there's Jason, a high school freshman. Like, Donna, with love, is this the best backup you could come up with for a dangerous mission in a foreign country? Oh yeah, and Jason didn't tell Batman that he was going on said mission.

Anyway, despite fewer emotional issues, this is still significantly outside of Jason's paygrade. It's Brother Blood. Donna really grabbed a 14 y/o with no powers and was like "hey kid I know you've only worked with us once before but how about taking on this massive cult that we've already lost Raven and Nightwing to?" and Jason once again says "heck yeah sign me up :)" and I think it's fun.

Idk, I think Jason should have more fun interactions with the Titans after his return because these are both lowkey hilarious, and I wanna see how the Titans remember him.

[warrior-of-storms]

I have officially completed my post-Crisis Jaybin readthrough with the sole exceptions of The Diplomat's Son, the issue after that, and Death in the Family, all of which I deliberately saved for last. So, before I get into the downfall of my baby, here are some more panels of Jason being the cutest little bird Batman's ever had.

I just think that he <3

[warrior-of-storms]

hi :)

Mostly for my own sanity, I figure it's time I made one of these :)

Hi, welcome, my name is Warrior and I go by she/her pronouns. I'm a huge Marvel & DC comics fan :)

Tag Guide:

#warrior's thoughts

this is any post that I create, it's just a way for me to separate my original content from stuff I reblog

#warrior draws

my art :) primarily digital but I'll probably get some traditional on here at some point

#warrior writes

my writing! mostly snippets from fics I haven't written yet, but sometimes it'll be excerpts from fics I'm working on :)

#warrior also animates

it's not often but I do animate sometimes!

#warrior's ocs

content about my original characters. I don't know how often I'll be using this but it is around

#fic rec friday

my weekly fic recs :) mostly DC or Marvel but I might pull out one of my wildcards at some point

#tangled threads

my Marvel/DC crossover universe. The fics themselves can be found on AO3 but what you'll find in this tag are designs, art, headcanons, excepts, etc. from the threadverse :)

#bucky bat au

another small crossover of mine, it doesn't have any fics yet but I'll do something more than write snippets eventually <3 In which Bucky gets thrown through time and space instead of dying and ends up joining the Bats

#the crime against history

a currently unnamed fic of mine, set vaguely in the 1950s except I put time in a blender and set it to high. It's a BatWidow (Bruce Wayne/Natasha Romanov) slow burn.

#jaybin readthrough

mostly made up of comic panels, rants, and analysis from my post-Crisis Jason Todd Robin read through. my baby jaybin <3

I think that's about it for now :) Thanks for reading

[warrior-of-storms]

And another thing! For as much as the fandom goes on about Tim being Batman's moral compass after Jason's death, about Tim holding him back from crossing the line, no one ever talks about how Jason did the exact same thing for multiple people.

Bruce

Jade (technically a villain but shh)

Donna

Jason was so opposed to killing and the fact that Starlin's run includes scenes like this (and ofc The Diplomat's Son, which I don't have screenshots from yet) is honestly out of character. If Bruce or Jason were going to accidentally kill someone when Jason was Robin, it would be Bruce.

Okay but do you know what really gets me?

There's no one left in-universe who can or will talk about Jaybin as he really was.

Bruce is the founder of the Jaybin Slander Department;

Alfred is no better.

Dick wasn't around much, didn't know him that well.

If Barbara ever interacted with him in his original run, I haven't found it yet.

I mean, he had some interactions with the Teen Titans, but was he really close with any of them?

I suppose Gordon could, assuming he isn't in on the Jason-bashing. I haven't seen it but I could be missing something.

And, well, Jason... somehow, I don't think anyone's asking Jason what he was like as a kid, nor is he really a reliable source. Autobiographical memory is weird.

No one in-universe will ever really talk about this bright, friendly, eager kid, and it's a tragedy.

He was smart and clever and had so much compassion.

He wanted so badly to help people, and he found joy in his work as Robin.

He had a dramatic flair and he was kind of a nerd and he was really funny on occasion.

He was so deeply, fundamentally good, and the fact that somehow his legacy has been twisted into one of anger and recklessness is honestly a crime.

It makes me so desperately sad that there's not a single character who can even start to undo the lasting damage of a four-decade smear campaign against a kid who did nothing to deserve it.

[warrior-of-storms]

Okay actually I'm still thinking about this issue. This was such a cool use of Scarecrow??

For those of you who haven't read it, Scarecrow's evil plot in this issue isn't to induce fear, but rather to take it away. Whatever his concoction is, it takes away a person's fear response. People keep putting themselves in dangerous situations and getting hurt because they can't feel fear.

And then Bruce gets hit with it, and Jason gets kidnapped, and the above scenes close out the comic. Bruce can't feel fear for himself, for his own safety, so instead he focuses on the idea of losing Jason, and that scares him enough that he's able to keep himself alive.

The worst thing he could imagine was Jason dying. He says that straight up: "the most terrible fear I could conceive." His worst fear was losing his son. What if I cried. What if.

Hi it's Warrior I'm still reading Jaybin comics

Bruce's worst fear was Jason dying... I... they... he loved that kid so much and it hurts me every time

Bonus:

This was immediately before that. look at him. Jason was so upset at the idea of his dad dying! My heart is in pieces on the floor