#that part where Gordon has bats in the interrogation room and is like

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Gotham: Season 1 (3 of 4)

Episode 13: Welcome Back, Jim Gordon

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Following the failed attempt to oust Falcone, Fish Mooney is tortured by Falcone's interrogator, Bob. Meanwhile, Gordon and Bullock work with narcotics detective Arnold Flass on a homicide case where the victim is a known drug dealer. They interrogate Leon Winkler, who witnessed the homicide. While waiting for an interrogation, Winkler is killed with an icepick by an unknown man.

Butch manages to free himself and Mooney from their captors. Gordon interrogates Narcotics Officer Derek Delaware about his role in the guard duty. He arrests him when he finds drugs in his car, the same type as in the victim's shoe. However, as the search is illegal, Essen orders Delaware freed and removes Gordon and Bullock from the case. Bullock explains that Flass and the narcotics unit are all dealing drugs on the side, and they are protected from official reprisals. In the file room, Flass mocks a letter Nygma wrote for Miss Kringle. She later apologizes to Ed for Flass' behaviour.

Cobblepot surprises his mother with the nightclub and makes her a singer in the club. Gordon visits and asks for a favour from Cobblepot to get information about Flass. After Penguin sends everybody else home, he closes the nightclub and begins to celebrate, when he's surprised by Mooney. She starts to beat him with a baseball bat when Victor Zsasz and his henchmen arrive. Butch sacrifices himself so Mooney can escape.

Bruce, having returned from Switzerland, runs into Ivy Pepper in the streets. He asks after Selina and Ivy arranges a meeting for twenty dollars. Selina visits him in Wayne Manor, where she says she lied and doesn't know who killed his parents and tells him to never contact her again.

Cobblepot has his henchman extort Delaware by threatening to kill his wife to get information about Flass. The henchman then gives Delaware's confession on tape and the murder weapon to Gordon, and Flass is arrested for the murder of both victims. Later, Bullock reunites with Mooney, who's planning to flee town and lie low. They part with a kiss. Gordon is approached by Delaware to beg Gordon not to harm his family. Gordon sees that the favour Cobblepot gave him now makes him look like he's dirty and someone to be feared.

Review:

The episode opens on a bit of a low point, as from the way the previous episode ended, I was expecting to find Mooney’s club in disarray, Cobblepot injured and Mooney on the run.  Instead, Mooney and Butch are both captured initially, so what was the “shoot-out” referred to at the end of episode 12?  Where were the officers crawling all over the place and interrogating people?  This is perhaps one of the most disjointed episode-shifts we could have been handed, at least in my view.

This aside, the episode largely treads old territory with a new face or two as Jim Gordon goes against the flow to tackle police corruption.  The inclusion of Flass from classic Batman: Year One lore that underpinned the first film in the Nolan trilogy is a nice touch, and we get some decent development of all our other on-going plot-lines.  However, I think we could have done with a more consistent episode opening based more directly on the close of the last episode.  Overall, I think this episode is worth 7 out of 10.

Episode 14: The Fearsome Dr. Crane

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

A man, identified in the subsequent episode to this as Dr Gerald Crane, hangs another man from a building and kills him by hanging him off the building before hauling him back to the roof and stealing his adrenal glands. While Cobblepot dines with Maroni, the latter receives a call from Mooney, where she tells him Cobblepot works for Falcone. Maroni then takes Cobblepot on a road trip.

Gordon finds Selina in Barbara’s apartment as he goes to return his keys. She says to him that she lied about Wayne's murderer and then flees. He visits Bruce, who tells him that he relieves Gordon of his promise to find his parents' killers and that he will investigate the case himself. Cobblepot is taken to a shack in the woods where Maroni reveals the information Mooney gave him. Cobblepot takes Maroni's gun and attempts to shoot him, but the bullets turn out to be blank. Maroni knocks him unconscious.

Nygma is suspended after performing an examination on a corpse by the medical examiner, as Nygma’s forensics role means he is not authorised to conduct autopsies. The killer kidnaps a man afraid of pigs but Gordon and Bullock find the man in a hideout. Receiving a tip that all of a recent group of victims were related to a phobia support group, Harvey investigates, and unbeknownst to him is introduced to the killer as a group member using the name "Tod". During the meeting, Tod lures the group leader away and tries to kill the woman by drowning her (her phobia) but he's stopped by Gordon and Bullock. They manage to save the woman, but "Tod" escapes.

Maroni takes Cobblepot to a car compactor, where he locks him in a car so he will die slowly in the crusher. Cobblepot calls from the car to the man who controls the compactor and threatens to have him killed by Falcone's men if he doesn't shut the compactor down. The car compactor operator stops the machine and flees. Maroni follows the operator, and Oswald escapes in the confusion. Nygma frames the medical examiner by making it look like he stole body parts, ensuring his own reinstatement. Cobblepot is then found by a group of church women on a bus to Gotham and accepts an offer of a ride home. Meanwhile, the ship carrying Mooney is captured by a group of mercenaries. The episode ends as Mooney and one of the mercenaries prepare to fight.

Review:

While Penguin’s plot develops nicely to allow him to reconcile claiming Mooney’s club with his undercover assignment, albeit not to his own taste, it’s a little flawed.  Given Penguin’s gamesmanship in the “Penguin’s Umbrella” episode and other instalments, it seems a bit amateurish for him not to consider that Maroni might have loaded the gun he found with blanks.  For that matter, why grab the gun at all when he could have suggested that Mooney was just stirring things up out of spite?  In turn, we get a new side-plot developing for Mooney herself, while the investigation of the Wayne murders becomes more Bruce’s plot than Jim Gordon’s, at least for now.

Speaking of Jim, we get the first half of an interesting proto-Scarecrow story for him and Bullock, and at the same time, we keep seeing good development for Nygma and his budding attraction to police archivist Miss Kringle.  As such, it’s a decent overall episode, but nothing that really wows at this point.  On balance, 8 out of 10 seems about right.

Episode 15: The Scarecrow

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Fish Mooney has been captured and is locked up in a rowdy prison-like area. Meanwhile, Dr Gerald Crane continues experimenting with his anti-fear toxin, experiencing his wife’s death in a house fire over again. Falcone decides to put an end to Cobblepot's debt to Maroni. He meets with him and Maroni agrees to end his feud with Falcone and forswears vengeance on Oswald, as long as he receives the services of a judge in Falcone's pocket. Falcone tells Cobblepot he also has to redecorate the nightclub, as Falcone is giving it to him to run. Falcone reminds Oswald that without cash flow, they lose influence, and without influence, their organization becomes a house of cards.

After receiving information from Nygma, Gordon and Bullock discover that Crane created the toxin after his wife's death, hoping that people could use it to overcome all fear. Bruce goes on a trip to the forest to challenge himself but runs into difficulties. He's then joined by Alfred, who tells him that he came looking for him, but decided to let him crawl the last hundred yards up the hill on his own, to let Bruce develop his independence. Cobblepot is visited later by Maroni, who tells him that when Falcone dies, Cobblepot will die too.

At the Crane’s burned out old house, Dr Crane injects his son Jonathan with a high level of the toxin when Gordon and Bullock arrive and prompt him to rush, causing Jonathan to have a breakdown featuring the scarecrow near the house. Gordon and Bullock locate them, and when Gerald opens fire and proclaims himself without fear, Gordon and Bullock return fire, killing him and taking Jonathan to a hospital. In the prison, Mooney kills Mace, the prisoner's leader, and promises to protect the other prisoners, who, it turns out are having their organs harvested for sale. In the hospital, Gordon is notified by the doctor that although Jonathan will live, he will forever be forced to see his fears permanently due to the high level of toxin used on him. The episode ends as Jonathan is tormented by visions of scarecrows.

Review:

The second part of our Scarecrow prologue story is much better than the first, so much so that the mundane elements of the on-going gang situations, Mooney’s side-plot and the developing Bruce-Alfred dynamic aren’t too much of a drag.  In fact, they probably provide just the right amount of alleviation from the main plot, which is very much a strong effort at tapping into the horror element inherent in the Scarecrow.  No idea at the moment if the show ever comes back to Scarecrow with Jonathan Crane later in the series, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for this prospect when I get to the later seasons.  For now, I think I’ll give this episode top marks for doing so well on the main plot.  10 out of 10, no question.

Episode 16: The Blind Fortune Teller

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Barbara Kean returns to her apartment to see Selina Kyle and Ivy Pepper squatting there. Selina adds James Gordon left his keys and Barbara says "screw him". Gordon and Leslie “Lee” Thompkins have a date at the Haly's Circus. However, during a performance, several performers have a fight between their respective families, the Graysons and Lloyds. Gordon and Lee visit the supposed reason for the fight, snake dancer Lila Valeska, in her trailer only to be received by her son, Jerome, who reports he had not seen her since the morning. They then discover her corpse in a cart and Gordon accuses the ringmaster. The ringmaster admits having discovered the corpse earlier, but did not say anything so as to not interfere with the show, planning on giving her a funeral later.

In the prison, Fish Mooney acts as the leader of the inmates so they can break free. When the guards arrive to escort a prisoner for organ harvesting, Mooney has her crew beat the prisoner to death so it's now worthless as an organ donor. When Fish defies the jailer's orders, they say the "manager" would like to talk to her. Alfred Pennyworth discovers Bruce Wayne investigating Wayne Enterprises, claiming he's discovered corruption within the company.

Gordon and Lee then interrogate circus psychic Paul Cicero, who claims to hear Lila from "beyond". They bring in Jerome too, where Gordon accuses him of murdering Lila, as Cicero had been trying to mislead the police with clues about the murder weapon, and Jim figures he's protecting someone. Jerome denies everything, but when it is revealed that Cicero is his father, he begins to laugh maniacally. He finally admits he killed his mother for being a "whore", and Gordon arrests him. Later, the two warring circus families reconcile when John Grayson and Mary Lloyd get engaged.

Barbara tries to get Gordon back, but changes her mind when she sees him kissing Lee in the police station locker room. In Oswald Cobblepot's nightclub, Victor Zsasz visits Cobblepot to tell him that Carmine Falcone is unhappy with how business at the club has been going, and that Oswald may not be the right person to manage the club. Cobblepot seems afraid for his safety, until Victor reveals a brainwashed Butch Gilzean and says he is now in service to Cobblepot, having worked on him on "his basement for a few weeks". Bruce visits the Wayne Enterprises board to confront them about the cases of corruption and their involvement in Arkham Plan, although they deny everything. In the prison, the guard Thomas Schmidt tells Mooney that the manager wants to meet with her.

Review:

From proto-Scarecrow to a character that I believe is intended to be a kind of proto-Joker, albeit one hiding amid the world of Haley’s Circus and the Flying Graysons, so even in a time before Bruce is Batman, we’re getting a great nod to the original Robin.  It makes for another interesting episode that nicely gives fans of the source material more to enjoy, especially as a break from the other on-going plots we’ve had throughout the season.  Finally, we’re starting to see some realisation that a show like this needs a little of the episodic in its narrative as well as the serialised plot threads.  It’s not quite up to the standard of the previous episode, but it’s close, so 9 out of 10 for this one.

Episode 17: Red Hood

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

A criminal gang commits a bank heist, with one of the gang, Gus Floyd, wearing a red hood instead of a standard balaclava. Gus gains extra confidence from wearing the hood, using it to sway the crowd before throwing money at them to distract the arriving police. He also evades gunfire from the bank guard and believes it was down to the hood, but in reality, the guard refused to wear glasses that he needed.

Gordon and Bullock review the bank’s surveillance footage. They speculate that there was a test staged of police response time with a smoke bomb sometime before, and they deduce where the gang could be found since one of them wore a Kleg's Auto shop uniform. The gang reconvenes at the shop and Floyd says that whoever wears the red mask should lead the gang. Gang member Clyde Destro kills Floyd and takes the mask as a prize. Gordon and Bullock discover Floyd's body in a refrigerator at the shop. Destro is identified by a witness, and Gordon and Bullock use his release as a ploy to trail him to the gang. Destro is wounded by a member of the gang, and the red mask is taken as a prize. Gordon and Bullock find Destro who turns on the gang and reveals all about them. The GCPD get into a shootout and all of the gang are killed.

Fish Mooney is brought to an office manager. He says he is not the official owner of the prison as the real doctor, "Dulmacher", is away in Gotham. When he tells her that her eyes would be of high value and tries to extract one, she removes her eye herself with a spoon and steps onto it, making it now worthless. Meanwhile, Cobblepot struggles to keep his club stocked with booze as Maroni controls all alcohol distribution in that area of the city. Cobblepot plans to heist the booze, but Butch is able to spare him the effort by having some police officers in his employ “confiscate” the alcohol.

In Wayne Manor, Alfred receives the visit from an old SAS friend Reggie Payne, who had been arrested for sleeping in the streets. Bruce lets him stay a few days. However, at night, Payne steals some files from Wayne Enterprises and Bruce's notes. Alfred finds him and while they argue, Payne stabs him and flees. Luckily, Bruce finds Alfred in time to call an ambulance and apply pressure to the wound until Alfred is taken to the hospital. Payne later gives the information to the Wayne Enterprises board, for which he receives a payment. In the streets, a boy finds the red mask and upon wearing it, he mimics shooting at the police.

Review:

While the character of Jerome was a kind of proto-Joker in terms of his character, this episode gives us another element of Joker lore by giving us an origin to the Red Hood gang.  Ever since Alan Moore wrote the graphic novel The Killing Joke, the idea of the Joker once being a member of this gang that fell into chemicals and went insane has been the definitive origin, despite Moore’s insistence that the story wasn’t meant to be comic-verse canon.  As such, it’s quite fun to see this gang shown as something that already existed before any Joker ever arose.  Meanwhile, Mooney’s side plot gets a bit more interesting for me due to the inclusion of Trek alumni Jeffrey Combs, who also voice-acted Scarecrow in the third season of Batman: The Animated Series.  His role in this show isn’t huge, but it’s still cool seeing him in this.

At the same time, we’re given quite a dramatic twist to Bruce’s on-going storyline, though it takes a while to really get to that drama.  Overall, this is a decent episode, but in places some of the more on-going plots are starting to drag and I’m hoping they get resolved sooner rather than later.  In some ways, I think the show would have benefitted from less on-going plot threads and more “case-of-the-week” ones in this first season.  In any event, I’ll give this one a respectable medium of 8 out of 10.

Episode 18: Everyone Has A Cobblepot

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Alfred wakes up in the hospital but refuses to tell James Gordon that Reggie Payne was responsible for his stabbing. In the prison's nursery, Mooney is visited by Dr Francis Dulmacher. Mooney wants to be his second-hand, based on her experiences with Falcone. Dulmacher gives Mooney a new sky-blue irised eye, and the opportunity to prove herself worthy of working as his right-hand woman.

Gordon discovers from Essen and Dent that Commissioner Loeb has released Arnold Flass from jail. When he confronts Loeb, Loeb shows him a video of the witness: Bullock. Bullock was blackmailed by Loeb because on Falcone's orders, he was directed to kill a rival mobster, and unlike Gordon, he executed the man. Gordon and Dent question an ex-partner of Loeb's, Charlie Griggs, where they get an address for a Triad bookmaker named Xi Lu.

Gordon and Dent arrive at a Chinese restaurant and find Xi Lu and his bookmaking operations. When Lu denies any involvement, Dent threatens him, which prompts Lu to send his employees to kill them. They're saved by Bullock, who realizes Griggs lied to them. After nearly killing him, Griggs reveals Loeb has ties with Falcone. After receiving help from Cobblepot, they arrive at a farm owned by Loeb. There, they find a couple, Jude and Marge, keeping the house. Jim and Harvey claim to be inspectors for Loeb, but Jude and Marge open fire which ends with Jude being shot by Bullock and Marge knocked unconscious.

In the attic of the farm house, they discover Loeb's daughter Miriam locked up. When they question her, she reveals she killed Loeb's wife years before. Gordon then visits Loeb in his office, threatening to expose his lies unless he sends Flass back to jail for a fair trial and erases all his blackmailing evidence. Loeb agrees only to hand over the evidence on Bullock as ratting out his other blackmailees would endanger his life. However, Gordon is able to also get Loeb to endorse him for president of the policeman’s union, a role which Loeb would originally have endorsed Flass for.

Nygma tries to ask Kringle for a date, but is heartbroken as he realizes she has a boyfriend, Officer Tom Dougherty. Cobblepot brings Jude and Marge to the nightclub so they can get relocated before Loeb kills them. When Cobblepot reveals he only has one getaway ticket to Arizona, Marge kills Jude. Cobblepot then reveals that he lied because he was down to one shotgun shell and kills Marge with the last shell.

Mooney later sees that Dulmacher altered the office manager's body to female parts. She is later forced to give some of the inmates to Dulmacher so that they can come to terms. Later, while in his office, Mooney is shocked when she finds out the prison is on an island, making her escape even more difficult.

Review:

With this episode, we’re back to Jim dealing with the old police corruption again, and in a turn that will shock no one, Penguin is involved along with Falcone.  This is what I’m talking about when it comes to the show’s serialised elements; it has so many in the first season that various aspects keep repeating themselves instead of progressing into any really new territory.  The only different is that now Gordon seems to be heading for a position in the GCPD where he might make a more substantive difference and some new ground might actually be broken.  The only real development of note here is the secret of Commissioner Loeb’s daughter, and otherwise it’s all just keeping the other plot threads ticking over.  That said, the scene where Penguin dupes the old couple at the end was quite amusing in that dark way that Penguin can be amusing at times.  That alone makes the earlier parts of this episode worth watching despite some of the repetitive elements.  Despite that, however, I think 7 out 10 is the best I can give this episode.

[that-sokovian-bastard]

Man I really wish the Batman 2022 wasn’t so frickin long because I really wanna watch it again

[get-your-fics]

skinny love was so fcking tragic. just thinking about the aftermath. poor reader having to deal with the questioning. people thinking she knew the whole time. his audience antagonizing her while he is in jail. meanwhile her entire worldview has been shattered. i wonder what she felt when bats showed up?

the fallout

Summary: What goes up must come down.

Pairings: Edward Nashton x reader, Bruce Wayne x reader

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: Past non-con and kidnapping

A/N: i loved this ask so much i decided to write a little something something. thanks for all the love! <3

You sat on a cold metal chair in an interrogation room, shivering despite the heavy blanket wrapped around you. There were three pairs of eyes on you: Chief Bock's angry ones as he paced back and forth; Lieutenant Gordon's pitiful gaze from where he stood across the table; and the hard stare coming from the shadow in the corner, his eyes glowing in the dark.

Not to mention how many morbidly curious officers were probably observing you through the one way glass, which you could imagine there being quite a lot.

"You were trapped in there for days!" Chief Bock ranted, as if you didn't already know that. "How can you not know what he's planning?"

"I-I don't know anything, I swear," you stuttered, struggling to form each word like your tongue was swollen. "I can't remember."

That was a lie. Not that you didn't know anything, but that you couldn't remember. You could remember every single thing he did to you while in captivity in excruciating detail.

He kept you tied up in the corner while he worked, duct tape binding your hands and feet and a piece over your mouth. Bathroom breaks were rare, and you didn’t bathe the whole time. You'd lay on the floor for hours on end, panting and drenched in sweat, your mouth going dry. You'd tried to scream at first, but that proved to be pointless, and your resolve wore out pretty quickly.

The only time he took the duct tape off your mouth was when he would feed you or make you drink. He never took it off your wrists or ankles, not even when he had his way with you, like you were just another toy or puzzle he'd fiddled with back in the orphanage in his spare time to keep his mind occupied before eventually returning to his work.

The worst part was when he'd tried to engage you in something normal, like a board game or a book. It reminded you just how far he'd fallen, a shell of the man he'd once been. Or at least the one you had thought he was.

Bock slammed his hands down on the table, rattling the cup of coffee Gordon had set down for you and hadn’t been touched since. “Tell us what his next step is!”

You squeezed your eyes shut, shrinking in on yourself. “I don’t know!” you squeaked.

“Back off, Bock,” Gordon hissed.

The chief turned to him. “We need to get one step ahead of him if we want to stop whatever it is he has in store. She’s the only lead we have so far.”

Your gaze switched back and forth between them like you were spectating a tennis match. You didn’t understand how the hunt could still be going. You’d thought it would all be over once he was behind bars. What a fool you were to think he’d let himself be caught without sowing the seeds of destruction first.

“You’re being too hard on her,” Gordon insisted.

“Don’t you think it’s a little convenient she was left behind for us to find?” Bock gestured to you. “For all we know, she’s in on it and just here to keep us distracted!”

“She’s not,” a gruff voice spoke up from the corner. All eyes turned to him, but his remained firmly fixed on you. Gordon’s empathy and Bock’s rage (though his was much more quiet) were both there in his stare, but there was also something haunted about the way he looked at you, like seeing you reminded him of something he’d rather forget.

Gordon cleared his throat. “I think she’s had enough for the day.” He leaned toward you. “Is there anyone I can call?”

You opened your mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Your mind raced, but not a single name came to mind. You didn’t have anyone, not anymore. A sob started to rise in the back of your throat.

“I’ll take her,” the voice said again. The shadow stepped forward, the thick soles of his boots thudding against the floor. “Let’s go.”

Bock shot Gordon an incredulous look, as if asking if this was allowed. Gordon just shrugged.

You stood up, the legs of your chair screeching against the floor as it was pushed back. “Okay,” you murmured. You suddenly felt small next to his imposing, hulking form.

He led you out of the precinct, ignoring the bizarre looks from officers as he passed. It was hard to keep up with his long strides. He clearly knew his way around the place. He must’ve been there many times before.

You hid behind him like a child cowering behind their parent. After being confined for so long, being amongst people again felt surreal, like you were dreaming. Even the fluorescent lights of the precinct felt too bright for your eyes, and you squinted as they nearly blinded you. Part of you wondered if you were still locked in that godforsaken apartment, and this was all some elaborate hallucination your brain had concocted as a way to escape the torture you endured.

“They’ll want you to talk to him.” That deep voice broke you out of your trance.

You looked up at him. “What?”

“The GCPD will want to use you as bait, get you to talk to him at Arkham and lure out whatever he’s hiding.” He seemed to avoid your gaze, staring straight ahead as he spoke smoothly and evenly. “They’ll try to convince you it’s to get closure, but they’ll have ulterior motives for doing so.”

You furrowed your brow. You wondered how he could know all this, but he spoke with such certainty, what he was saying must be true. You figured he was used to thinking ten steps ahead of everyone else. He was much more accustomed to operating in this world than you were.

You bit your lip. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that.” On one hand, it would be satisfying to finally confront him on a level playing field, make him listen to everything you had to say (which was a lot). On the other, seeing him again so soon might stir up some emotions you’d rather suppress for now (and save for whatever poor therapist you end up seeing about all this). Plus, you weren’t too fond of the idea of being a puppet for the police department.

“Then I’ll put my foot down.” He glanced at you just for a moment, and his piercing gaze made your breath hitch in your throat. “But if you decide to go, I’ll be with you the whole time.”

To protect you. He didn’t have to say it. You could hear it all on your own. You didn’t understand why he was being so nice to you. After everything you’d undergone, his generosity had you on edge. “Thank you,” you murmured, staring at the grout lines in the tile floor.

He didn’t respond, which you didn’t mind. You traipsed after him in a daze. Your head was all over the place, like your brain had been reduced to mush, or scrambled eggs. A memory comes to you then, unbidden: you and him in your apartment, early morning light streaming through the sheer curtains, laughing as you make omelets in the kitchen for the first time. You crack an egg over his head. He pretends to grumble as he washes his hair in the sink, but his smile gives him away.

The memory is quickly replaced with another that pops in your mind, taking up all the space: him hovering over you, smiling as he tears you apart from the inside out.

You didn’t realize you’d stopped walking until the man you were following stood right in front of you. “Are you okay?” His voice was soft, barely louder than a hushed whisper. His tone wasn’t demanding or annoyed as you expected. It was concerned.

You were shaking again, shudder after shudder racking your fragile body like an earthquake. You wrapped your arms around yourself, but it wasn’t enough to stop the tremors. “Yeah,” you lied, shooting him a smile that came off more as a grimace. “Just cold.”

In one swift motion so fast you would’ve missed it if you’d blinked, he swept his cape off his shoulders and draped it around you. The heat emanating from the fabric enveloped you like a comforting embrace. You stopped shaking.

“Do you like sandwiches?” he asked.

You blinked at him. “What?”

“There’s a sandwich shop on the way.” His eyes slid over you. “You must be hungry.”

As if on cue, your stomach growled embarrassingly loud. You tightened your arms around yourself. “Yes. Yes, I... I like... sandwiches.”

He nodded, a subtle, simple jut of his sharp jaw. His eyes flicked away from you again. You couldn’t tell if you were a burden to him or a piece of forbidden fruit, if it was revulsion he was displaying or resistance.

He walked across the parking lot over to the most expensive car you’d ever seen in your life, whether in person or in movies. He popped the door open and looked over at you expectantly. “Get in.”

You hesitated, remaining glued to your spot. You narrowed your eyes at him appraisingly. Suddenly, you could understand Edward’s obsession with the masked vigilante, why he’d agonized over the greeting cards he wrote him or the ridiculous, Saw-like traps he’d put on his victims. Underneath this man’s stoic exterior, there was something soft, something warm and endearing just below the surface that you could reach if you dug deep enough. It was intriguing.

It was dangerous.

 As if someone had pressed play on a paused video, you started walking towards him like a paper clip drawn to a magnet. He hadn’t told you where he was taking you yet, but you trusted him enough now to take you somewhere safe. Although, you figured it didn’t really matter. After all, you had no where else to go.

[alyssadeliv]

The Forgotten One

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Chapter 10

Chosen One. 

Marianne Al Ghul. 

Mari. 

Pixie.

The Lily of the Desert. 

Marinette Dupain. 

Ladybug. 

The Great Guardian.

And now she would eventually become Marianne Wayne. 

She had had multiple names and lived for what felt like a hundred lives, all very different, but all of them with one thing in common. Damian. 

From the moment he was born until her first death, she lived for him. Always there to aid and protect him at all costs. At all costs. She lived for him. The only time she had something for herself, it was taken from her. So she wasn't good with owning things. Her whole life nothing was truly hers. Damian was the League’s. The Miraculous were the Order’s. She was divided between two organizations. Never truly belonging to one or the other. She ached to belong, so it was very important that she proved herself to her father. She knew she was never enough for her mother, she was indeed the second option. Useful enough to not be discarded, but not the heir she most desired.

So now. Standing in front of her Father, having imagined this moment her whole life, she had to admit, she was scared. Would he reject her too? Would she be enough?

“Father… This is Marianne, your daughter.” Damian presents her. She doesn't know how to act so she stays in place, awaiting instructions or directions, but still getting the time to analyze the man in front of her.

He was taller than she imagined, but intimidating with his Batman attire just as she had pictured. He looked at her in a cautious way, as if at any moment she would combust into flames. She kept her eye on him, looking for some sort of sign on how to act. It took some time but eventually, his expression turned to a mesmerized one. 

“You look like my mother…” He whispered, reaching to her with his right hand but never touching her. His face in awe. “How… I-”

He turned his head to Damian as if he could explain more. In his face a lost and anxious expression. She could see that her little brother wanted to comfort their father, but didn't know how. So he stayed at her side, hoping that his presence was enough. Clearly, it wasn’t.

“I need to think'' And with that he turns and walks out of the cave, never even sparing a glance back. The only thing that can be heard are his footsteps, and when those are gone, an awkward silence installs.

Only then does Marianne let go of the air she didn’t even know she was holding. With not even a nod of his head father had dismissed her. He was similar to Mother after all. Only ever interaction with her if needed, just to make sure she was still alive. She could deal with that, she knew what to expect. That actually calms her more than it should. The uncertainty was still there, but at least she knew that deep down he could care for her in the future as her mother did. 

“Daeh Washanuh” She tells her brother when she sees his indignant face. Her father needed time, she understood that, so for now she would let him be. 

She still felt a bit weak, having spent all her energy between fighting her brother and mending her injured body. Damian must have seen said exhaustion because he instantly went to her side, to support her. With her body pressed against his side, and a strong arm crossing her waist holding her she admired how much he had grown. He was taller than her now. Stronger too. Gone was the 10 year old that followed her around. In his place was a slight better version of that person. She gives him a reassuring smile, trying to transmit her gratitude and appreciation without words, the same way she would do before they were separated. She could only hope they still understood each other after years of no contact.

Damian chooses that instant to start introducing the others. The redhead in the wheelchair looks at her with interest, as if trying to solve a puzzle. She doesn't seem to be judging her like the guy in the red leather jacket with a shocked expression is, so she counted that as a win. The dark haired teen that she knocked out a few days ago looks like he’s seen better days, and by the dark spots under his eyes and the large cup of what she assumed to be coffee in his hand, he was an insomniac, like her. The two still wearing their full costumes start to remove their masks, the one in blue has a calm expression, but the other is still very much shocked.

“Habibti... This is Richard Grayson, Timothy Drake, Barbara Gordon, and Jason-”

“Todd.” She smiles. “Long time no see.” 

How could she ever forget those blue eyes that hunted her dreams. He was a big part of her past, and she would always be able to spot him in a crowd. 

She can almost remember the first time she met him. At only 13 she was tasked with training this overemotional 16-year-old. Let’s just say their relationship wasn’t good at the beginning. He carried too much anger inside of him to allow him to listen to what she was trying to teach him. He was hot-headed and stubborn, and most of the time she just wanted to throw her dagger at him to see him bleed. But after some time they got close. Closer than they should. 

At that time Grandfather had intensified Damian’s training so she wasn’t able to see him much, instead, she found herself around Jason a lot. They confided in each other. She gave pieces of herself to him that she never gave anyone else, only for him to be ripped from her life as punishment. 

Last she heard her mother had dealt with him. She assumed she had killed him. But seeing him in front of her, healthy and very much alive was a relief. She had mourned him for a long time, but the joy she feels in knowing he was alive was immense.

“Pixie!” Jason speaks for the first time, by now he already got up from his seat, and is now standing in front of her. Different from her Father's reaction, he seems to need to touch her, to guarantee that she is real and truly there. Confused about how she knew his older adopted sibling, Damian backs away from his sister, too stunned to properly comprehend what was happening. She now was using Jason as support, feeling the heat of his body next to her’s, just proving that he was really there.

Pixie was a nickname he gave her when they first met after he discovered she could do magic. At the time she did not understand the reference, not having grown up with fairytales, but after he patiently explained to her about fairies she could see where he was coming from. Small and Magic. That was enough to describe her. And secretly she was pleased to have a nickname especially made for her. “I told you we would see each other again…” He says with a smug smirk on his face. Caressing her cheek with his hand. Oh, how she missed that look on his face. 

“Am I the only one that’s freaking out with this scene in front of us?” The spell is broken by the voice of the blue hero. Richard. The first adopted son of Bruce Wayne. She knew a bit about him, when she was younger a part of her training was inspired by his stunts on the field. “How the hell do you know her, Jaybird? Bruce’s secret love child?” 

He still holds her, more for support than anything else. It’s been a long time since they’ve been together, but their friendship hopefully still remains. She takes him not letting her go, as a sign that she wasn’t the only one affected by this unexpected reunion. When she first arrived at Gotham she knew she would inevitably meet her extended family when she finally sought her brother. And yes, it came to no surprise that Jason Todd was once her father’s ward. But remember that she did believe him to be dead. And if that was truly the case she would carry her secrets to her grave. But apparently, it was time to come clean to her brother. Her relation with Jason was the one thing she ever kept from Damian. And she could see from the look on his face that he was very confused.

She detaches herself from Jason and tries to reach her little brother, but the day's activity finally takes a toll on her body and she trips and almost collapses on the floor if not for the two that come to her rescue. Jason being the one closer to her catches most of her weight, but Damian has both her hands into his own.

“I'm fine…” She tries, but by the look on both their faces, they don’t believe her one bit.

“Dick, why don't we leave the rest of the interrogation for tomorrow? When Bruce can participate.” Barbara speaks for the first time. She pushes herself away from the table and starts making her way out of the cave in her wheelchair. It seems that her words have power, because with only a grunt and a side glance and he leaves as well. Sometime between her father leaving and Jason making himself known Timothy fell asleep, face down on the table in what could only be described as an uncomfortable position.

If she wasn’t so exhausted she would have questioned how easily Damian’s family accepted to wait until tomorrow for answers. If it was her she would want them as soon as possible. No matter what.

“Come, I’ll show you to my room” Damian removes her from Jason’s arms and starts directing her through the same path all the others took out of the cave. Tomorrow she would come back and admire all the technology and weapons the Bat Cave provided, but for now, she was content in being almost carried to a comfy bed. After almost a month of chasing Gabriel Agreste around the globe and mostly sleeping when she could, wherever she could,  just the thought of sleeping in an actual mattress brought her immense joy. “I promise to not ask questions today, but I need an explanation for the display of affection you gave Todd downstairs.” His tone is stern and she knows he meant that. 

"Deal." He nods, accepting my answer.

We walk through a long corridor for quite some time, but eventually, we stop in front of a door. Damian opens it and carries me to the bed. He sits me in his bed and goes to his wardrobe. While he does that she admires the size of his room, which is big, just as it was in the League, but here she can see bits of his personality. Photos on the wall, drawings on the tables. She is happy that he gets to explore his part of himself. When he comes backs he hands a change of clothes to her, and without saying anything he makes his way to what Marianne assumes is an adjacent bathroom. Leaving her room to change alone. He gave her a black long-sleeved shirt and black pajama bottoms that were definitely too small to git him now, and she can only question as to why he has it still.

She removes her attire and changes into the offered clothes, but not before inspecting the place where there was supposed to be a wound. She was healed, as expected, but her dried blood still clings to her abdomen. By now Damian finally comes back, wearing an outfit similar to hers and carrying a damp towel.

“I thought you would want to clean yourself of the blood.” He hands her the towel. She in return gives him a sincere smile, accepting the offered object and immediately removing all traces of blood from her body. 

While she did that, he sat on the other side of the bed, removing some pillows and getting under the covers. Marianne leaves the towel on the floor beside the bed and carefully puts one knife on the bedside table and her dagger under her pillow. Old habits die hard after all.

Damian observes her with a nostalgic look on his face but otherwise remains silent. He turns the light off by the switch near his bed and the bedroom immediately gets dark, the only source of light coming through the closed windows. As she gets under the covers she feels his body getting closer to hers. And she can’t help but smile again, remembering how many times they did this exact same thing during their childhood without their mother knowing. Or at least they thought she didn't know, not knowing she merely allowed them this simple thing.

“Aishtaqt lak ya 'akhi” She repeats the same words she said to him when they were on the rooftop earlier that night.

Her only answer is his hand finding hers and giving it a squeeze.

Final chapter of part one! Do you like the stoy so far? After a lot of messages from you guys I decided to continue with a part 2 of this story. Still haven’t decided how long it would be, probably about 10 more chapters but who nows. Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, its was finals week at my university and you know how it is. 

Let’s hope I get more time to write! Thank you all fot the support do far! You are all amazing!

It curently 3 am so sorry if there’s any mistakes!

Next

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[stxleslyds]

MY TOUGHTS ON PART THREE OF RED HOOD BY CHIP ZDARSKY :)

A DC RENDITION OF THE SONG “MOTHER KNOWS BEST” FROM TANGLED.

Here I will leave the links to my reviews of Part 1 and Part 2

Well, here we are, three issues in this story of only six parts and i still cant tell if i like it or not. What i know for sure tho is that Zdarsky never read any Red Hood books, i had my suspicions but now i am at least 95% sure.

This Jason has been nerfed. We had a perfectly balanced Jason back in 2005 he was smart, skilled, confident and strategic. Then from 2011 to 2020 (let’s put the fact that Lobdell is trash aside for a moment) Jason was skilled, he had the whole “chosen one” thing going on with the all-castle, and in some moments you could even see him being quick witted and confident. But now in this first half of this story he is extremely insecure, his skill set and expertise is barely there and is presented as just reckless. 

The other day i was talking about how DC treats Jason, how they just can’t decide on who he is, what motivates him or what he wants. His personality is a whole ass mess, it was fine in 2005 and 2010 when Winick wrote him but then Lobdell from years 2011 to 2020 just couldn't decide what he wanted to do with Jason or his relationship with Batman and his rules. After Lobdell finally left Jason was passed around people who either only read Lobdell's work, or didn't read anything from him or didn't take into account Jason's life because their book was set in a future that may never happen. 

What i am trying to say is that Jason doesn't have a personality, and writers don't really add things to the Jason that we “know”, what they do is start his story from zero over and over again. There is no consistency to Jason's character and while you could argue that maybe this new start could be the definite version of Jason Todd/Red Hood i will point out that this nerfed version of him is a major disservice to the character that he was when he was brought back to DC.

It’s simply not nice. 

And in this particular issue the “Jason isn't that good at this whole vigilante gig” is even more pushed because of the whole “batman knows best” bullshit. I am not getting this (anthologies) book with a Red Hood story just for Batman to come in and be like “I am actually good at this job, you know nothing AND i have the moral high-ground”, this is NOT it.

If you are reading a Red Hood story chances are that you will be interested in Red Hood not Batman. 

Oh one more thing, Jason was an excellent Robin. He was kind, smart and skilled. I liked the flashbacks in UtRH because it showed Jason being all that but he also understood a couple of things about the kind of criminals that Gotham had, your common thug is easily scared of the concept of Batman but the dress-ups knew that no matter what they did the Bat would never kill them, that’s what Jason thought about criminals there.

This Robin Jason is treated rather poorly by Zdarsky at times, he feels insecure and inferior to Dick but he is also dismissive of him and the Robin mantle in the first issue, now in this one he is shown as way too reckless (which is kinda bad because it feeds into DCs favorite trope of “Jason’s death was Jason’s fault”) and his stance on “low level” criminals is weird, like it was made clear that drug related criminals are Jason’s biggest issue, thieves were not. 

Those are my general thoughts on this issue and the current state of Jason’s characterization. I have some panels from this issue that i want to talk about in more depth tho, so here we go. 

The issue stars were we left off once more, Tyler defends Jason and when Batman asks who he is Tyler says that he is the Blue Hood, that was really sweet of him, that child is adorable and he needs to be protected. 

Once the Bat distracts Tyler Jason tells the Bat that the man he killed was Tyler’s dad. 

There are a couple of things i want to point out from these panels, Jason feels incredibly guilty, not about killing Andy but about leaving Tyler in a situation that is similar to the one he was left in when his own mother died. He still believes that Andy was not a good man and deserved to be dead, after all he was drugging his own son and was the reason Tyler’s mom overdosed and is now in the hospital. It just hits incredibly close to home for Jason and i understand completely. 

The other thing i want to point out is that Jason says “I know your rules. No killing in Gotham” so, this is (to me) confirmation that Jason hasn’t killed in a long time and that he has been sticking to the Bat's rules (at least in Gotham). Andy (a drug-dealer) is the only person that Jason has killed since the events of UtRH (that are apparently canon in this story because it was mentioned in the first issue). 

Following this conversation the Bat says that he will take care of Tyler’s mother (yikes, i really thought in my last post that Jason was the one who would have tried to get her the help she needed, to me it seems more appropriate if Jason does it given that this is his story but what do I know) 

This is where this Red Hood story transforms into the Batman show.

Not only will Bruce take care of Tyler's mom but he will clean up the mess and shut down the making of the drug all by himself. Jason tells him that he will do it but the Bat tells Jason that if he wants to do it they will have to do it together because there is no way he is letting Jason out of his sight, he made a mess!

Yes, nothing like making the lead character look incompetent at his job. Love that for Jason.

Before the team up starts Batman and Red Hood go to Leslie's place to leave Tyler with her. This is a good moment only because there is a dog involved, well…Tyler, Jason and a dog are involved, best panel in the whole issue? I think yes.

Maybe I have a couple more panels that are my favs in this issue, here they are, a lil bit of positivity in this extra bitter post.

Now I will be honest, I hate Batman (Bruce’s Batman, love Dick Bats he was the MVP) so him saying that he is helping a Robin makes me want to shoot him. You are not helping; you are overtaking, as you do. Never a team player, the Batgod must always be the center of the show.

Back in the new cave Bruce talks to Jason about the drug and who he thinks might be behind it's production. He also makes sure to let Jason know that he is very smart and might be the only person outside of Crane's circle that knows how analyze a very unstable compound…weird flex but okay. He also teases Jason about his detective skills. Yay.

Flashback time! Get ready!

Robin Jason and Batman are at a crime scene and Jason doesn’t seem to be in the mood to play CSI: Gotham with Bruce.

At one moment Jason says “and then we will stomp the guy who did this” (“this” being murder), which makes Jim Gordon (who came to see if batman was done playing Sherlock Holmes) uncomfortable, so Batman tells Jason to wait for him. As Jason is going he sees someone acting suspicious.

Back to present day Batman and Red Hood are visiting the woman that created the compound that makes Fear Gas, the interrogation starts well but because this is the Batman show and Jason is bad at reading people and asking questions we have a scene that shows Jason being a bit too much.

I honestly thought that the first question was fair, but then after they leave the office they were in Batman basically goes on a rant about the things that Jason missed.

Ok, I get it Batman = good vigilante. Red Hood = Incompetent.

Zdarsky is honestly trying to make us believe that Jason hasn’t picked up any of those things, in his years as Robin with Batman AND Nightwing? They both taught him, there is no way Jason doesn’t know the basics of how to read people. Also do you guys remember Jason in UtRH and Lost Days? That guy read people perfectly, how is UtRH canon in this story, did Jason lose his skills in the explosion when he blew up the Joker?

As if that wasn’t enough Batman calls Red Hood reckless after they don’t agree on what to do next.

To this I say the following: Never again make me believe that Jason will willingly work with Batman. They don’t work together and neither are willing to meet each other halfway, even less let the other lead. This makes the idea of Jason following the Bat’s rules and him being part of the “Batfamily” the joke that it actually is.

They don’t work well together anymore; bring duality back to Gotham 2021.

Back in the past where the previous flashback is resumed we have Jim telling Batman that the new Robin seems a bit too rough around the edges. Did Jim ever meet Dick as Robin? I mean, don’t get me wrong, Dick was a sweetheart but he also beat criminals alongside batman every night. It just doesn’t feel like what Jason said was that much of a violent statement or anything, maybe I just don’t get it.

But don’t worry if you don’t get it, because we are shown Robin Jason going after that suspicious man, he is beating him asking if he knows anything about the murder or what exactly he was doing so close to the crime scene when Batman arrives. Through Batman we are told that that man was no longer a criminal, to which Jason says this, “…The guy is a jewel thief! He will always be a thief” and Batman responds “I refuse to believe that. Didn’t I meet you in the middle of stealing the Batmobile’s tires?”

I can’t believe Bruce went full “It’s over Jason. I have the moral high ground” on Robin Jason.

I mean Jason is OOC, we know this, but he has to be that way in order to make Batman look better when compared to a child. DC hates Jason Todd #Confirmed.

It kinda reminds me of that thing DC does with Dick and Barbara, Dick is skilled and smart as long as Barbara isn’t in the room, if she is then Dick will forget to check if there is someone inside his apartment and then be thrown across the room by her and then be told that he sucks at putting security in his living space.

Moving on...back to the present one last time Jason is interrogating a man while he dangles him from the edge of a building (did Dick teach him that? I bet he did.) After getting some information he calls Oracle so he can make sure that the place he is going to is safe. Oracle tells him the she will help him but she did not like the fact that the last time she helped him someone ended up dead.

Now, fair warning, Barbara and Jason big NO for me and after Geoff Johns and his antics in Three Jokers I have zero love for their “team-ups”.

Jason says this, 

Believing in him? Excuse me? Chonky, baby, she only helped you find a building.

All I can do at this point is pray to whichever god or whoever hears that this does not lead to Jason pinning for Barbara. We don’t need it (Barbara doesnt need it), I might be overreacting, I hope I am, but nobody wants that kind of drama right now, thanks.

When he arrives to the place he was looking for I think everyone can tell that it’s a trap, everyone but Jason apparently. 

How on earth does Jason not realize it’s a trap up until it’s too late? Are you joking? Is this a Red Hood story? Are we really doing this? Just how incompetent is Jason in Zdarsky’s eyes?

Freeze…is it Freeze? I don’t care but he is there, he freezes Jason and that’s the end of the issue.

Listen, I wish I could say that this is the worst Jason has been treated and that this book is horrible, I wish but I can’t. I can’t do it because this isn’t the worst characterization or book of Jason, this is still a pretty good story, could it be better? Yes.

I mean this story is written by someone who obviously doesn’t know Jason and that sucks but it still isnt the worst characterization and it messes me up. Three Jokers was worse than this, certain plot decisions in Future State: Red Hood were worse than this (in my opinion) and Lobdell’s New52 RHatO was pure trash (that is the worst book, just horrible please dont read it). 

I am saying this only to make it clear that even tho this issue was painful (mostly if you don’t like Batman) I still have hope that it can turn out to be good. I cant help it, i want and need this story to be good and there is still time for it to get better. 

Alright thats all i have to say, let me know what you thought about this issue and my review, bye!

[samiralula01]

Jason Todd is the Anti-Batman

* A pointless rambling of the relationship and parallels between Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd.

Picture this opening scene: There are two boys in a dark alley.

One is dressed in an expensive suit with a tie his dead father helped him with only earlier that evening. His hands are stained red with the same blood now puddled on the grimy cement. His face is in shock.

The second boy is dressed in tattered jeans and hoodie. His hands are stained with tires grease and are clutching a tire iron. His face is in shock.

Decades later, there are two more scenes to consider.

A seriously injured man sits slumped over in his father’s study. Without warning, a bat crashes through the window, and everything falls into place. He now knows what he needs to do.

Elsewhere, an emotionally distraught teenager is curled up into a fetal position on a hotel room floor. Heart wrenching cries can be heard from him. But it is only momentary. He now knows what he needs to do.

These two individuals are Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd. While they are both broken and determined men, Batman is a hero. The Red Hood is not. He is the anti-Batman and this is why.

Two Boys in an Alleyway

Despite similarities in their stories’ early themes and elements, Bruce and Jason came to walk down very different paths. One of justice, and the other vengeance. Batman is determined to protect the innocent and Jason more so on punishing the guilty. Both their ideologies have intrinsic flaws, of course, and will naturally clash often. But this wasn’t always the case.

Before they became a father and son perpetually in mourning for who they once were and what could have been, Bruce and Jason were remarkably similar. The two are cut from the same cloth and Bruce knows this better than anyone else.

In the Dumpster Slasher three-part story line, (Batman #414, #421, #422) Bruce becomes emotional. Violent. He sits in the batcave alone that night and contemplates his emotions.

“Nearly blew it. I let it get too personal. Lost my detachment...nearly lost control. Almost beat Cutter to death. Wouldn’t have been any big loss.”

Only one issue later, at the end of this story arc, Robin is out on the streets and becomes angry when he happens upon a pimp is threatening a prostitute with a knife. Now, I want you to compare his line here to Bruce’s and note what Jim Gordon said to him as well.

Batman: "I think he’s had enough, Robin. What were you trying to do, kill him?" Robin (Jason): “Would it’ve been that big of a loss if I had?”

It is important to note here that Batman is not worried or upset just because Jason roughs up a pimp. That would be hypocritical considering his own earlier actions. If anything, it’s because one of the main reasons Batman even takes in these kids, these ‘robins,’ is because he doesn’t want them to be like him.

And Jason was acting just like him.

Jason can and has screwed up and failed due to his own actions, but it was never the reason Batman became upset with him. His reactions in the comics when Jason does things like running ahead and ‘jumping the gun,’ are more like this:

He either makes a teaching moment out of it or is attempts to understand Jason’s reasons in doing any such thing. When Bruce does become harsh in his discipline, it’s either when he feels as though Jason has endangered his own life or as I said, he acts too much like him.

While there are quite a few more similarities between Bruce and Jason that makes them alike, such as both being introverted and interested in obtaining all sorts of knowledge that they might not even feel is relevant, they are both, at the core of their characters, deeply caring and compassionate people.

The differences only start to show with how they act on it.

The Not-So Dynamic Duo?

“What happened to you as a child, the terror, the pain, the horrors (...) you were broken, and I thought I could put the pieces back together. I thought I could do for you what could never be done for me. Make you whole.”

Hot take. Jason Todd is a villain and is best written as a villain. 

Not in that campy way like he’s written during Dick and Damian’s Batman and Robin run while wearing that stupid pill-headed hood, (although, I grant he has a few lines that are enjoyable to read) but in all his serious, vengeful and downright brutal motives. 

The Red Hood is the perfect Batman villain because he’s so different from what the widely perceived perfect foil to the controlled and disciplined Bat is...the Joker. 

The Red Hood was vengeance at its purest. It is justice without being tempered by mercy. It is the rage of victims who were forgotten to become statistics. While other vigilantes wait for a cure, hope for rehabilitation, and pretend their system works, the Red Hood is a man of no such faith.

And this makes him a villain. And a damn good one.

During the Red Hood’s time as a crime lord in Gotham, he goes around blowing up buildings. He throws grenades into trucks. He mows down his competition with gunfire. Batman comes upon the bloodied hanged corpse of a man he was finished interrogating. 

But what is so compelling about this all is that before all the murder, all the guns and explosions, Jason Todd was a very different little boy. And all the great and memorable villains start that way.

The Joker is not someone you’re meant to sympathize with or even understand. In fact, I find him more terrifying because he’s unknown. He has no backstory (unless you want to believe the one he gave in Killing Joke, but the clown has a new story for every face he meets) and seemingly does what he does for a laugh of all things.

Jason Todd is in pain. He’s traumatized. Betrayed. Buried. Replaced. He is no one’s son because his father abandoned him.

Once upon a time, Jason Todd was a boy who saved himself. One of the biggest lies that Batman himself perpetuates is that he saved Jason from a life of crime. He tells Alfred that Jason was always dangerous. Bruce simply took him off the streets before he could be any worse.

But I don’t believe that’s true.

Jason grew up surrounded by crime, poverty, substance abuse and yet this amazing kid saved himself everyday by making a conscious choice to be kind and care about school, care about keeping his mother alive for over a year when he was just a child himself. That amazing kid was magic. 

Jason Todd as Robin was magic.

“Jason smiles. A bright smile. The kind Robin, the Boy Wonder should have.”

A good portion of his character’s assassination was in order to push the Tim is the perfect Robin idea. It was editorial decisions. The same ‘suits’ who insisted that Tim Drake be the Robin in the New Adventures cartoon despite having Jason’s backstory and personality. But I digress on that. 

Jason Todd was an introverted, studious, and emphatic person. He wanted to make friends with other kids his age even though he was a loner at heart. He joined the school baseball team and was a class officer, even if his training kept him from most social interactions.

He was also very much in tune with non-verbal cues and small changes in the environment around him. He was a thoughtful person who could be found admiring the stars or passing by scenery. When he teams up with the New Teen Titans, we get to see these aspects of his personality:

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful before. We’re actually riding above the clouds.”

“Every so often, I notice you become awfully agitated...like something was going on you didn’t want to be part of. Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

It didn’t take Bruce long to fall in love with this boy and ask to legally adopt him. He found him to be smart, thoughtful, quick at learning and funny as hell. Their first meeting opens with Batman laughing in the very same alley his heart was ripped out decades earlier. 

Even in the Rebirth canon, (RHATO #48) we see that Bruce is already set on taking in Jason while he’s still with Ma Gunn’s school. He likes this kid. A lot.

“Butler, actually. You’ll meet him someday, I’m sure.”

Jason Todd was happy. Most of the time. Unfortunately, he still wrestled with depression and would sleep all day on occasion and could be found crying hidden away on his own, withdrawn from the concerned Bruce and Alfred.

In A Death in the Family, Alfred and Bruce sit down and discuss Jason’s worsening mental health, particularly after the Diplomat’s Son where Jason becomes witness to sexual assault, suicide and the failings of both Batman and the GCPD to protect innocent people. Barbara, his tutor, someone he cared about and got along with, is also shot a few months earlier.

Bruce thinks Jason has become suicidal. Alfred does not disagree with this theory and supplements it with things he’s observed himself about the ‘lad.’

“I’ve come upon him, several times, looking at that battered old photograph of his mother and father, crying. When he’s seen me, he’s hidden the picture and left the room, refusing to talk.”

It is then that Jason discovers the truth about his mother at the worst possible time, when he’s not even thinking straight, and thus leads way to the tragedy that will be his murder at the hand’s of the Joker.

The Curse of Jason Todd

“Do you have any idea what you have done?! Do you? You have no inkling of what you’ve created -- what you have unleashed! You have set free a curse upon this world!”

Red Hood: Lost Days, which depicts Jason’s dark post-resurrection origin, opens with Ra’s al Ghul bellowing this line, the steam from the Lazarus Pit still rising off of him. 

I’m not going to analyze this line, I’m just using it to supplement a point of mine I hope I’m getting through well enough. The Red Hood is a compelling, tragic villain. He is similar to Batman in ways that Bruce always knew and may have even feared because of how intimately he knows his own deepest, darkest thoughts. Jason is the perfect foil as an antagonist for him because of what he represents to Bruce.

And it’s not his anger, or his rage, or even his brutality. 

It’s his compassion. His caring. His emotions. And how they can open up the worst parts of themselves. 

Both are motivated by preventing whatever trauma happened to them from ever happening to anyone else. They both trained for years with this motivation. And they’ve both acted out on the very person who inflicted their trauma onto them.

Here’s where their paths start to differ, however, and what separates them with a line of morality.

They both get angry. They both care so damn much. About Gotham, about innocents, about each other. They both get too emotionally invested and deal with consequences related to that. To manage with that, Bruce shuts down. He creates all these choices, rules and symbols. He uses every ounce of his self control to keep them. 

Bruce Wayne is not a good person. He forces himself to be with discipline and will. He chooses to be a good man and constantly pushes himself to live up to that. Because it’d be too damn easy to be just like the Red Hood.

Jason doesn’t understand that. Because no matter what Bruce had done or will do, he doesn’t hate him. He can’t. Despite his denial of the fact to different people, he still thinks of Bruce as his father. This great figure that so many others revere and are even intimidated by.

He’s not the only bat-kid to think of Bruce in this light despite the fact that the man is not. It took Dick years to overcome that perception. Tim only just started to begin understanding this true nature after his own father was murdered. 

But even if he did understand his (once)father, he still became the complete opposite of him despite so many early parallels. He doesn’t hold back his words and emotions, he doesn’t go into a state of controlled dissociation or emotional disengagement.

Jason Todd—the Red Hood—is Batman without all his rules and control. In a way, he’s what the darkest part of Batman himself wants to be. Jason does what Batman can’t do when it’s needed.

Because in Batman’s book, life beats out justice. Even if he could take down abusers and murderers, he won’t. He will choose saving and protecting lives over the apprehension of killers...he always does.

Batman is justice. Red Hood is vengeance.

Jason is a victim’s fantasy. He punishes and kills the guilty. Something Batman won’t do.

He is the anti-Batman for better or for worse.

[longitudinalwaveme]

Longitudinalwaveme Reviews More Old Comics (and One New One), Part 1

I’m going to be doing these reviews in chronological order, starting with the oldest of the bunch. 

Batman #292: “The Testimony of the Riddler” 

This issue is actually the second part of a four-part story, “Where Were You On the Night Batman Was Killed?” Basically, everyone thinks Batman is dead, and a bunch of his villains are coming forward to claim the honor of being his killer. Catwoman’s claim was dismissed last issue; now it’s Riddler’s turn. 

The mock trial that the villains have set up to determine the identity of the killer is amazing. Ra’s al Ghul is the judge, Two-Face is the prosecutor, and the jury is composed of the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze before B:TAS gave him a good costume, Scarecrow, the Signalman (*snicker*) and the Spook, who I only know as the D-Lister beheaded by Damian Wayne. 

The Riddler begins his testimony, regaling everyone with riddles (some of which seem more like jokes, but whatever), and telling them about a crazy criminal caper he launched, during which time he posed as Bruce Wayne in order to steal a ridiculous jeweled typewriter ( “made of gold, platinum, and ivory...its keys studded with diamonds and rubies...its ribbon made from a Ming Dynasty robe....and its case encrusted with emeralds!”). 

Amusingly, since Riddler doesn’t know Bruce Wayne is Batman, his Batman is not at all surprised to come across “Bruce Wayne” at the party. Batman ends up following the Riddler’s clues to find the Riddler and the ridiculously fancy typewriter in a quarry, whereupon the Riddler uses a knife he has to cut a rope that was holding some rock slabs. According to Riddler, the slabs fell on Batman, pinning him. Riddler then blew him up with dynamite (which he set off using a latern’s flames).

As soon as he finishes his testimony, Two-Face calls him a liar; gets permission to take the entire court outside, sets up a deathtrap using the dynamite Riddler claims he used to kill the Batman, and orders the bailiffs to tie Riddler to the trap and light it all on fire. 

They do, and the Riddler promptly passes out. Two-Face then walks onto the trap himself, and nothing happens. As Two-Face explains, “dynamite does not explode in fire! It can be lighted only by electric spark or percussion!” 

Riddler is eliminated as a potential candidate and escorted from the courtroom (with an apparent $25,000 fine for the dynamite display). 

Several other claimants retract their claims, and Ra’s adjourns the court for the day. 

Also, Bronze Age Riddler makes a surprisingly convincing Bruce Wayne, all things considered (this was back when he still had black hair; rather than red). 

Batman #293, “Luthor’s Testimony”

This issue takes up immediately where the last one left off, with Lex Luthor of all people taking the stand in the costume you can see in the picture above. It’s...certainly something, all right. 

Cluemaster, Killer Moth, the Cavalier, and some random gangsters are also at the trial. Most are impressed by Luthor’s amazing(ly hilarious) new outfit, which I’m pretty sure he only ever wore once (for this trial).

Luthor does his usual grandstanding before launching into the story of his latest plot to kill Superman. 

Said plot involved a fake robbery to lure Batman into a trap that would allow Luthor to put Superman’s mind into Batman’s body. 

Luthor then punched Superman-in-Batman’s-body to death and launched the body into space. Luthor says that now he’s leaving to go back to Metropolis, where he’ll put his own mind into Superman’s body so that he may become Super-Luthor. 

Two-Face proceeds to demolish Luthor’s story, first by calling in one of Luthor’s goons to reveal that Batman had infiltrated Luthor’s gang by posing as a henchman, and then calling in Superman himself to prove that, in fact, Superman’s mind is still in its body.  Superman just dressed up as Batman and pretended to be Superman-in-Batman’s-body to fool Luthor. 

Exposed as a liar, Luthor storms out of the room, but not before yelling at Two-Face for “colluding with Superman” and insulting the criminal pretensions of everyone in the room. 

Also, Two-Face somehow managed to convince Superman to grant every villain in the courtroom amnesty. (Although if I’m remembering the fourth part of the story properly, I think “Two-Face” is really Batman in disguise, explaining why he was so easily able to get into contact with Superman and probably making the amnesty fake.)

The comic ends with the Joker’s signature laughter; he’ll be the last villain to give testimony in front of the kangaroo court. Sadly, I don’t have that issue, so I won’t be reviewing it here. 

Batman #296, “The Sinister Straws of the Scarecrow” 

Scarecrow has henchmen he calls “Strawmen”. They have weird costumes and exist to give him someone to deliver all his lectures to and test his fear gas on. As usual, his speeches to his underlings sound...well...like simplified college psychology lectures. 

Otto the burly henchman’s deepest fear is Batman. What a surprise. 

Phobias namedropped by the Scarecrow (and narration boxes): phobophobia (the fear of fear), pyrophobia (fear of fire), algophobia (fear of pain), pathophobia (fear of illness), taphephobia (the fear of being buried alive), inutilophobia (the fear of not being able to carry on one’s work) and “chiropterhomopobia”. The last is especially interesting since it’s not actually a real word; it’s a fictional one that manages to effectively follow the formula used for naming phobias. “Chiropterophobia” is the fear of bats. “Homophobia”, in this case, is the fear of men (homo referring to our species name, homo sapiens); therefore chiropterhomophobia would be the fear of bat-men. Good work with conjugation there, writer! 

Anyway, the Scarecrow uses a crook named Skibo’s taphephobia to convince him to give them the location of the turnpike bond money he stole from Gotham City’s National Bank several months ago.

The next day at the bank, the money is returned, puzzling Bruce Wayne. Wayne goes to interrogate a crook who talks in confusing criminal slang, who tells him that Skibo was the one who fenced the stolen bonds. 

Batman tracks Skibo down...and finds him being assaulted by the Scarecrow, who believes that the bonds he returned to the bank were counterfeit. This is problematic for the Scarecrow because it suggests that Skibo was able to withstand his fear of the Scarecrow and disobey his orders, which would interefere with his ability to intercept criminals who are obeying his orders to return stolent money and take the money for himself. 

Batman, Skibo, Scarecrow, and his goons get into a free-for-all that ends up causing an explosion. In the chaos, Scarecrow and the goons escape and Batman gets information out of Skibo about the Scarecrow’s plans. 

Scarecrow and his goons then go after a thief who stole a valuable Gutenberg Bible, but before they can use the fear toxin on him, Batman shows up and they use it on him instead. It affects Batman, but he shakes it off and manages to defeat the Scarecrow and his goons as well as capture the thief who stole the Guetenberg Bible. 

The story ends with Batman telling Commissioner Gordon that he found the case exhilarating. 

All-in-all, a pretty standard Scarecrow story. 

Batman #308, “There’ll Be a Cold Time in the Old Town Tonight” 

Some guy named Jacob Riker has betrayed Mr. Freeze. The man in question is promptly murdered by Freeze and his henchmen. 

In this issue, Mr. Freeze is wearing an outfit that’s reminiscent of Captain Cold’s, but with a bubble-helmet and pink shades. 

Catwoman shows up in Bruce Wayne’s office to tell him that she’s reformed and wants to invest money in Wayne Enterprises. Bruce agrees, and also agrees to meet her for dinner at some point next week. She also brings a cat with her to this meeting, because of course she does. 

Lucius Fox introduces Bruce Wayne to his daughter, Tiffany, who works in a drug rehabilitation program sponsored by the Wayne Foundation. After exchanging pleasantries, Bruce tells Lucius to give him a complete rundown on what Selina’s been up to, presumably so that he can know if she’s on the level. 

He moons over Catwoman for a bit before getting called into action by the Batsignal, and he subsequently arrives at the scene of Riker’s murder. The guy is frozen solid and very dead. 

Some rich guy name Mr. McVee comes to Mr. Freeze; he’s exchanging all his wealth in exchange for the promise of immortality. 

Unfortunately, the process turns the man into a Popsicle zombie. His body is alive, but his brain is dead. 

Also, Mr. Freeze has a girlfriend named Hildy, whom he loves and is planning to make immortal (as he himself effectively is). Unfortunately for him, she does not reciprocate his feelings and is using him solely as a means of staying young forever. Interestingly, she’s blonde, just like Nora usually is (Nora, of course, didn’t exist at the time this was written). 

Meanwhile, at STAR labs, a medical treatment goes wrong and kills somebody. 

Batman finds and breaks into Mr. Freeze’s hideout...and is promptly attacked by Mr. Freeze and his Popsicle zombies. Mr. Freeze dubs them his “Ice Pack”. 

Mr. Freeze manages to take Batman out of the fight by freezing his legs, which causes him to fall to the floor. This allows him to be captured by the Popsicle Zombies and put inside Mr. Freeze’s immortality machine. 

Batman is apparently turned into another mindless Popsicle zombie as Mr. Freeze exposits about how lonely his life is and how much he loves Hindy. 

Mr. Freeze leaves Hildy in the room with the Popsicle zombies, at which point Hildy starts to talk to Batman about how she thinks he’s cute and she’d rather be immortal with him rather than with Freeze (who she’s planning to kill in any case).

Unfortunately for her, Mr. Freeze overhears her and is predictably furious, pointing his Freeze Ray directly at her face. 

Batman saves her from an icy fate by attacking Mr. Freeze, revealing as he does so that he had only pretended to be frozen by the machine (having disconnected several of the building’s extra power lines). Cue another fight with Freeze and the Popsicle Zombies. 

Batman uses a piece of ice to break Freeze’s bubble helmet; preventing him from giving any more orders to the Popsicle Zombies. He then fights Freeze some more. The Freeze Ray goes flying and gets grabbed by Hildy, who plans to kill both of them. Unfortunately, the gun backfires on her and she’s killed instead. Mr. Freeze is arrested. 

Meanwhile, we learn that the dead guy was the Blockbuster, Mark Desmond, and that he isn’t quite as dead as the people at STAR Labs think. 

Justice League of America #167, “The League That Defeated Itself!”

The splash page is of Superman punching Hal Jordan Green Lantern in the face.

The explanation is pretty quickly forthcoming: the Secret Society of Super-Villains has swapped bodies with the Justice League. The Wizard from Earth-2 is in Superman’s body, Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash is in Green Lantern’s body, Plant-Master is in Wonder Woman’s body (ew), Star Sapphire is in Zatanna’s body, and Blockbuster is in Batman’s body.

The real Justice League are trapped in the bodies of the villains and locked in a cube-shaped cell. Superman guides Hal into using his new super-speed to help them break free of the cube.

The Joker stars in a Hostess Fruit pie ad!

The villains have left for Earth, leaving the heroes (who are trapped in their bodies) alone on the JLA Satellite, along with an unconscious Red Tornado, whom they promptly wake up.

Naturally unaware of the switch, the Tornado attacks them and they fight. Zatanna manages to bring the tornado down using Star Sapphire’s powers, and the JLA go off to find their bodies on Earth, with Batman telling Zatanna that she’ll have to reverse the spell as their only magician.

Green Lantern gets some information out of Hijack (who I think is a member of the Royal Flush Gang) by pretending to be Reverse-Flash. The information helps them locate the Society’s HQ.

As soon as they break into the building, however...they’re promptly incapacitated by Green Arrow (except for Zatanna, who remained outside). Green Arrow is suspicious of the way Superman is behaving and decides to keep an eye on him and the others who “located” the HQ of the Secret Society.

Justice League of America #168, “The Last Great Switcheroo”

This issue picks up where the last issue left off. Ollie and Hawkman are supsicous about the behavior of their allies, while Black Canary ad the Elongated Man don’t think anything unusual is going on.

Eobard traps the “villains” in a diamond cell, and then the Wizard chucks the diamond into another dimension!  

The Wizard covers for himself by claiming that the “villains” have been put into “time-stasis” by “Green Lantern”’s ring. “I just tossed the diamond into an orbit around the solar system! They’ll remain there until science perfects criminal rehabilitation.” For some reason, everyone except Green Arrow immediately accepts this excuse.

Red Tornado breaks free of the trap Zatanna-in-Star-Sapphire’s-Body had to put him in last issue and criticizes the decisions he made in the fight with them.

Zatanna then arrives on the satellite and convinces Red Tornado of the swap that’s taken place.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, the Secret Society and the remaining members of the Justice League are, at least allegedly, guarding some jewels for the Mexican government. Elongated Man, Hawkman, and the Flash are also becoming suspicious of their supposed allies.

And then Eobard ruins everything in the most Eobard way possible: forcing a kiss onto Black Canary!

The real Justice Leaguers fight and defeat the impostors (except for the Wizard, who left to “patrol the city”)...but before he can step in to salvage his plan, Superman uses the Wizard’s own magic to take his body down.

Zatanna reverses the mind-swap, and the day is saved.

Was it this story that later got retconned to include more mindwiping thanks Identity Crisis, or am I thinking of a different storyline?

Flash #275, “The Last Dance” 

In this issue, Iris Allen dies! 

The story starts with Barry in the grip of a teenaged girl with ESP powers (no, really. Cary Bates, the issue’s writer, really liked the paranormal). His marriage with his wife Iris has been struggling, and she fears that he might be cheating on her. 

She’s also spying on him by bugging his costume rings with “micro-mini homing signal devices”, which just goes to show that literally anyone in the DCU can invent amazing technology at the drop of a hat. 

Stalking the stalker is Clive Yorkin, a character from the plot thread that’s been building up to this issue. He’s kind of based off of the brainwashing scene in A Clockwork Orange and hates the Flash and Barry Allen. 

The teenager uses her mental powers to force the Flash to meet her at a motel and take off his mask, which he does. She’s apparently disappointed by the results, complaining that there’s nothing remarkable about him, and promptly storms out. 

Iris arrives in her car just as the girl storms out, and discovers that she’s coming from the room that her tracker has Barry in. She storms inside and accuses Barry of cheating on her, then runs out in tears.

Also, right before she storms out, Barry looks at himself in the mirror and thinks “ “Ordinary”? What in blazes is that supposed to mean? I may not be Robert Redford...but I always thought I was sort of sexy...at least, that’s what Iris told me.” It’s mildly hilarious. 

Iris promptly gets into a car wreck with a tanker truck. Barry manages to save both her and the two truck drivers from the massive explosion that this causes. 

Barry convinces Iris that he wasn’t cheating and the two promptly make  up. 

Meanwhile, Mysterious Shadowy Man on the Phone tells someone to kill Barry Allen at a philanthropist’s upcoming costume party for all of the employees of Central City’s government (e.g., police officers, firefighters, etc.) The Mysterious Shadowy Man on the Phone will eventually be revealed to be the corrupt police chief of Central City, Chief Paulson.  

Iris and Barry decide they want to have kids, then kiss. D’awww! 

Iris’ costume for the party arrives; she’s going as Batgirl. Barry was planning to rent a Batman outfit, but it was already rented, so Barry ends up going to the costume ball dressed as himself (that is, the Flash).

Clyde Yorkin is still stalking both of them. 

Barry’s friend from work, Frank Curtis, arrives to pick the couple up. Hilariously, he’s also dressed as the Flash. 

The theme of the party is “Dress as Your Favorite Super-Character”. Iris comments “it’ll be interesting to see whether we get more heroes or villains!”...which raises a question: Namely, why is everyone totally okay with people dressing up as people who are, in their world, real costumed criminals? That’s always seemed odd to me. 

Clive Yorkin sneaks into the trunk of Curtis’ car and slips out as the other three head for the party.

Inside the mansion, we see a huge number of people dressed up as famous DC characters, including Hawkgirl, the Calculator, Heat Wave, two Green Lanterns, Zatanna, Aquaman, Green Arrow, two Black Canaries, Abra Kadabra, Batman, Wonder Woman, Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash, Star Sapphire, Supergirl, Pied Piper, Poison Ivy, Captain Cold, the Golden Glider, the Top, mustachioed Superman, some guy in a purple costume I can’t ID, Mirror Master, the Golden Age Sandman, and Captain Boomerang. 

The Golden Age Sandman is actually an assassin in disguise; he was hired by Chief Paulson to get rid of Barry Allen before he discovered his corruption; he drugs Barry by “shooting” him with his Sandman gun. One of the Green Lanterns is actually Hal Jordan, who pops up to say hi to Barry and Iris. A later story will reveal that the Captain Boomerang in this issue was the real Captain Boomerang, and that some of the other Rogues were also actually at the party so they could, quote, “party and pick pockets”. Yet another subsequent issue will reveal that the Reverse-Flash at the party was in fact the real Eobard. So...which of the other Rogues do we think were at the party? We know that the Captain Cold isn’t real; he’s “Phil from Vice”.  That means that the Golden Glider alongside him is probably not the real one either, and it seems unlikely that the Top here is the real one, since he was dead at this point. So that leaves the Pied Piper, Mirror Master, and Heat Wave as possible candidates. 

Chief Paulson calls Barry to meet him in his office at 9 AM the next day; Barry agrees but notes that the man seems oddly tense. 

Curtis, still dressed as the Flash, goes outside for a smoke break and gets jumped by Yorkin, who mistakenly believes him to be Barry (until he rips his mask off, at which point he just throws him off the balcony.)

Barry sees a Green Lantern making the moves on Iris and gets upset until Hal reveals that he’s the real Green Lantern and congratulates them on their plan to become parents. He then flies out the window, and somehow all the party goers are fully convinced that it’s just a really elaborate costume. Huh?

Iris tempts fate by saying that “this might be the happiest moment of my life!” The two go off together to get some privacy...but then Barry begins to feel dizzy, as though he’s been drugged. Iris goes into the bathroom to get him some water...and then Barry hears her screaming! He bursts into the bathroom to see Iris on the floor, with Yorkin standing over her. Yorkin then jumps out a window as Barry runs to his wife. 

A bunch of the guests, including Mustachioed Superman, burst into the room to see what the commotion is, and Barry passes out. Curtis bursts in a few seconds later to learn that one of his friends needs a hospital....and that the other is dead! It’s a very effective cliffhanger. 

[thequeenxofhearts]

Jason Todd x Reader | Meeting with the Joker 3/3

Summary: In the final chapter of this three part story, Jason and the Reader go to the GCPD, where Reader meets the Joker to find out why he killed her father.

WARNINGS: Reader’s meeting with the Joker is dark, mentions of reader’s death.

WORD COUNT: 1579

Part1: https://thequeenxofhearts.tumblr.com/post/620167346577965057/hospital-jason-todd-x-reader-13

Part2: https://thequeenxofhearts.tumblr.com/post/620711832975540224/jason-todd-x-reader-recovery-23

Jason pulled into a parking space outside the GCPD.

You and he climbed up the stone steps, hand in hand.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“Jason, I need to.” You replied, and he nodded. You knew he didn’t like this idea, but you needed to do this, you needed to see the Joker and ask why he did what he did. You knew he probably would not give a straight answer, but it made you feel at easy just to ask him, ‘Why did you kill my father?’

 Commissioner Gordon was waiting for you inside the building, and you saw he was standing with Dick Grayson.

“Dick?” Jason asked. “Jason, Y/N!” Dick exclaimed, you could tell he was relieved to see you.

“Where did you find him?” You asked.

“Batman came for the plans for the chemical plant yesterday, we went over them together. I put a team together and went with Batman and Robin to the plant, sure enough the Joker was hiding in a bunker. Many of the workers were unaware of the bunker.”

“Where is now? The Joker?” You asked.

“In the interrogation room.” Commissioner Gordon said.

You looked at Jason, and he sighed. “Can we see him?” He asked.

Commissioner Gordon nodded, and he led you, Jason, and Dick through the station and into a room.

Bruce was stood in there. “Y/N? I wasn’t expecting you to come here.”

“I need to Bruce.” You replied. Bruce looked at Jason, and then at Dick, before he looked back at you, and then he nodded.

You noticed a large window in the room, and as you stepped closer to it, you saw the Joker.

 You could tell he had put up a fight with Batman and Robin; his purple blazer was torn, his green hair dishevelled, and his bleached skin was dirty.

But he was staring at you, it was a two-way mirror, you didn’t know how he was doing it, but you were sure he was looking at you. The others noticed it too.

You could feel the tension coming from Jason, and the room was completely silent, until the Commissioner cleared his throat, “We’re waiting for Doctor Bartholomew to arrive, then he’ll be taken back to Arkham.”

“Can I speak to him?” You asked, staring at the Joker.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Y/N.” Dick replied.

“I agree.” Commissioner Gordon added.

You looked at Bruce, and he looked at you, “You think you’ll get answers from him?” He asked.

“It might help.” Jason suggested.

You heard Dick sigh, and he exchanged glances with the Commissioner.

“It’s not my decision.” Bruce replied.

“I can let you speak to him, but I can’t let you go in there alone.” Commissioner Gordon said, you nodded, “Ok.”

 Commissioner Gordon unlocked the interrogation room, and you followed him in. He quickly closed the door behind him. Two police officers stood on the other side and were prepared for the Joker if he somehow managed to free himself of the handcuffs and ankle cuffs.

“Well, well, well.” The Joker smiled, “Looks like someone made a speedy recovery!” He laughed.

Jason, Dick, and Bruce stood remained in the other room, watching the meeting take place. Jason’s clenched his fists as he listened to the Joker’s laugh.

Bruce put his hand firmly on Jason’s shoulder.

 “Guess you came to ask me why?” He asked, leaning back in the chair.

You nodded, “What did you have against my father?”

The Joker shrugged, “Nothing. It was just fortunate that he would answer the door instead of you.”

Goosebumps covered your body, and your heart almost stopped, “The bomb wasn’t intended for my father, was it?”

The Joker chuckled, “No it was not.” He threw his head back and laughed, manically. You took a shaky breath.

 “Bastard!” Jason growled, clenching his fists again.

 “Why?” You asked.

The Joker leaned in closer to you, the Commissioner cleared his throat, almost as if to warn him.

“Because of lover boy.” He winked, you narrowed your eyes at him. You hoped he did not know Jason was the Red Hood, but he probably did.

“Oh, Y/N, stop pretending. I know Jason is the Red Hood!” He exclaimed.

Commissioner Gordon raised an eyebrow, “What? That’s ridiculous, clown!”

The Joker laughed again, “Oh it’s true, Bruce Wayne is Batman.”

“Alright, that’s enough!” The Commissioner exclaimed, “You left a bomb on the doorstep of Mr Y/L/N’s house, because you followed Y/N from the city, and you hoped to kill her, not her father. You know she is dating Jason Todd, adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, that’s how you know who she is!”

“Wow, that’s a story I’d pay to read!” The Joker exclaimed, “But I hate t’break it t’ya, Commish, Jason Todd is the Red Hood. I should know, I killed him.”

The Commissioner tutted, “You’re wasting our time now. Doctor Bartholomew will be here shortly, and you’ll be taken back to Arkham.”

The Commissioner stood up from the table, and you quickly followed him out of the interrogation room, and then he locked the door behind him.

 Jason ran around the corner and pulled you into his arms, “It’s ok.” He whispered into your ear.

“He wanted to kill me.” You whimpered.

“I won’t let him.” Jason replied, holding you tighter.

“Take her home, Jason.” Bruce spoke.

Jason turned to Bruce, the two held eye contact for a few seconds.

“Let’s go.” Jason whispered.

 The journey home was a blur.

The entire journey, you kept thinking about what the Joker had said; that the bomb was intended for you, because he knew your death would have a huge impact on Jason and Bruce, and the other members of the Bat-family.

You kept thinking if you had not gone to the bathroom you would be dead now. But maybe your dad would still be alive.

“Hey.” Jason interrupted your thoughts; he was holding a steaming mug of hot chocolate for you.

You smiled as he sat next to you.

“Try not to think about what he said, Y/N.”

“I can’t.” You replied, Jason wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you close to him.

“You can, just try and think about something else.” He muttered, “Everything is going to be ok; I’ll make sure of it.”

You looked up at him, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes narrowed.

“What are you going to do?” You asked.

Jason’s face softened when you spoke, and he smiled down at you. “Don’t worry about it.”

  A little while later, you fell asleep, and Jason carried you to the bedroom and laid you on the bed.

Quickly and quietly, he changed into his Red Hood outfit, and climbed out the window.

He had left a detector by the window and by the front door so if anyone were to come into the apartment, he would know about it, and he could race home to you.

He also left a note on the bedside cabinet, in case you were to wake up whilst he was gone, but that was unlikely; the paracetamol the doctor had given you would put you into an undisturbed sleep for hours. Jason requested it from your doctor when the burns made it unbearable to sleep at night.

 Red Hood arrived at the top of Wayne Enterprises, and Batman was waiting for him.

“I think I can guess why you wanted to meet me here tonight.” Batman spoke, and he turned his head to the dark city below him. “Uh-hu.” Red Hood replied.

“I won’t let you kill the Joker.”

“I’m not going to, but I can’t let him stay in Arkham. You know he’s escaped many times before.”

“The Joker needs help, and Doctor Bartholomew and the other doctors at Arkham can give him that help.” Batman replied sternly. “They haven’t done a very good job, have they?” Red Hood replied.

Batman didn’t respond to that; he knew Red Hood was right. But he did not know what else he could do to protect the city from the Joker, other than killing him.

“If he gets out of Arkham again, which he will, you and I both know Y/N will be the first person he’ll look for, and I can’t let him do that, because then I will kill him.”

“What do you have in mind?” Batman asked. “Take him out of Arkham and have him transferred to a more secure facility.” Red Hood answered.

“I’m listening.”

“Black Gate, Iron Heights, or Belle Reve. Either one of them has got to take him. Get him out of Gotham. It’ll protect the city, and my Y/N.”

“Hmm…”

“You’re not going to argue against that?” Red Hood asked.

“No.” Batman replied, “I would like him out from Gotham, as much as you. After what he did to Barbara, you and now Y/N and her father. All those civilians he has killed, homes he has destroyed, and doctors he has killed and injured as he escaped from Arkham. I will say Belle Reve is probably the best option for him.”

“But?”

“But Doctor Bartholomew must agree with it, and the Mayor and the head of Belle Reve. I will arrange a meeting between the Mayor, Bartholomew and Belle Reve.”

“I want him gone from this city, Batman.”

Batman nodded. He pulled out his grapple gun and flew into the dark night.

Red Hood returned home, maybe Gotham will finally be safe from the Joker.

[aion-rsa]

The Batman Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

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The Batman trailer is finally here, accompanied by Nirvana’s “Something in the Way.” The two-minutes-and-a-half of footage presents a nightmarish new take on Gotham and the Dark Knight, an impressive feat considering only 25% of the movie has been shot so far, according to what director Matt Reeves said during the DC FanDome digital event.

Matt Reeves’ Batman reboot explores the early days of the Caped Crusader’s career, about two years into it, and focuses on a younger Bruce Wayne who is haunted by his past as well as a new villain who’s leaving victims all of the city for him to find.

We see in the trailer as Batman is hunted by a serial killer who is leaving him letters at every crime scene, teasing that the movie will feel more like a detective story than the usual action take. The trailer also gives us our first look at several villains, including Penguin, Catwoman, and a gang that seems to call back to a group first introduced in an animated series.

While the trailer makes quite a few things clear about this new Batman movie universe, there are a few lingering questions left in the promo’s wake. So we’re going breaking down the trailer to see what’s really going on in The Batman. And if there’s anything you spot in the trailer that we missed, let us know in the comments!

Before we get started, take a look at the trailer again:

Okay, let’s get started:

The trailer kicks off the character reveals right away, giving us our first look at The Batman‘s version of the Riddler — at least I’m pretty sure this is him. The riddle-obsessed villain isn’t really known for wearing a full facemask with glasses over it, but as you’ll see throughout the trailer, this movie seems to play like an extended fever dream full of grotesque baddies set against an almost overbearingly dark Gotham City.

This is the perfect version for this new take on the Riddler, who seems more like a serial killer here than the grinning megalomaniac we know from the comics, video games, and Batman Forever. In fact, Paul Dano’s Riddler looks about as far the opposite of Jim Carrey as you can get.

The trailer definitely sets up the Riddler as the main villain of the piece, a killer obsessed with getting to the Batman by leaving behind corpses and messages for the Dark Knight at his crime scenes. Above, we see one such victim, his face wrapped in tape with the words “No more lies” written over it.

Uncovering a lie seems to be a major aspect of the movie, as its a message the Riddler repeats to the Batman several times in the trailer. It suggests the Riddler knows something about the Caped Crusader that no one else does. Does the villain know that Bruce Wayne is the masked vigilante? Or does this lie run much deeper than that?

The fact that the Joker movie also dealt with the idea of the Wayne family’s hidden past — in that case, that Thomas Wayne may have had an illegitimate son — and that this movie could have at least one potential connection to last year’s Taxi Driver-inspired character piece makes me think the Riddler knows a secret about Bruce’s past. The Riddler, who seems to be speaking to Batman throughout the video, tells the Dark Knight at the end of the trailer that “he’s a part of this,” meaning whatever the villain is doing was designed to punish Bruce for something.

Reeves has said that his take on Batman is more of a detective story than an action movie, and this trailer definitely delivers on his promise. We see Jeffrey Wright’s Jim Gordon investigating the crime scene the Riddler leaves behind at the start of the trailer, while a forensics team takes photographs and gathers evidence.

One piece evidence is a green envelope left behind for Batman. Inside is a card with a riddle that I can’t quite make out, but it’s undoubtedly meant to lead the World’s Greatest Detective to the next clue in the Riddler’s twisted game. We also see that the Riddler has also picked up a few things from the Zodiac Killer’s book of riddles, as he leaves behind a code for the Bat to crack.

A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of a framed newspaper at the crime scene gives fans of The Dark Knight and The Long Halloween a nice easter egg to mull over. We already knew John Turturro was set to play crime boss Carmine Falcone in the movie but now we know that his comrade in crime/rival Salvatore Maroni also exists in this universe and has been busted for transporting drugs at some point before the start of the movie. Was Maroni one of Batman’s early targets? Maybe we’ll find out.

Here’s an excellent look at what the top half of the new Batsuit looks like. It’s pretty much a suit of armor, although the cowl and cape seem to be made out of leather. And as we already knew, this Batsuit has a collar, which is a pretty neat addition to the usual suits designed for the movies.

This scene also confirms that by year two of Batman’s career, he’s already on good terms with Gordon and the GCPD, although something tells me that relationship ain’t gonna last very long…

I have no idea who this is, but I’m going to guess it’s The Batman‘s version of Commissioner Loeb, the corrupt head of police that preceded Gordon. Since the movie is getting a GCPD-centric spinoff on HBO about the corruption inside the police force, I’m going to assume this version of Loeb will be a bit closer to the power-hungry chief introduced in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One.

We also get a look at the new Batcave, which is about as minimalist as the Dark Knight’s secret lair can get. In fact, it looks more like a garage than a secret underground science lab/high-tech surveillance station. It even looks like this version of Bruce spends more time working on his Batmobile than on his computer piecing mysteries together. Can you even call that a Batcomputer? It looks like a workbench with a dual-monitor PC setup. Does this dude even get wi-fi inside his underground mechanic shop?

Bruce is at someone’s funeral for someone I don’t recognize when a car comes crashing through the church. Inside seems to be a man with a bomb and a letter for Batman strapped to his chest. Does the Riddler know Batman is attendance already or does he think this latest scheme will lure him there?

Either way, we also get our best look at Pattinson as Bruce. It’s interesting to see a version of Bruce who doesn’t sport slicked back billionaire hair. Instead, Pattinson wears more of an emo slick — very fitting for the mood of this trailer.

We get our first look at Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle doing what she does best: stealing. Reeves said during DC FanDome that this version of Selina hasn’t quite morphed into Catwoman at the start of the film and is instead still being shaped into the master thief we know and love.

The trailer shows us a brief snippet of Selina taking on Batman, suggesting that the characters will be at odds with each other in the movie. But could this be the start of a love-hate relationship like what we’ve seen in past takes on this duo? This should be interesting.

We also get to see Colin Farrell’s absolutely incredible transformation into the scarred Oswald Cobblepot, who, according to Reeves, is still working his way up the crime ladder in this movie. He’s not yet the powerful crime lord known as the Penguin, but it sure seems like he causes plenty of havoc for the Bat nonetheless.

Here’s why I mentioned that Joker connection earlier. The gang of face-painted goons that challenge Batman in the trailer sure look inspired by the Clown Prince of Crime. My initial reaction was that The Batman was doing the Jokerz, the Joker-worshiping gang introduced in the Batman Beyond animated series, but what if these guys were actually inspired by Arthur Fleck’s actions in the ’70s-set movie?

We know that by the end of Joker, Arthur has a cult following rallying around him, despite the fact that he’s admitted to murdering quite a few people by that point. His followers, who don their own clown makeup and masks, see Arthur as a freedom fighter, someone fighting for justice in a corrupt city where the rich have it all and the poor have nothing. It wouldn’t be surprising to see that Arthur has become a symbol all these years later, inspiring the next generation to go out into the streets and cause their own chaos.

I know WB has said that both The Batman and Joker exist in their own universes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the studio was suddenly anxious to tie these two movies together after the massive success of the latter. If Pattinson ever does take on the Joker, you can bet your Batarangs that WB will try its very hardest to make it the Joaquin Phoenix version of the villain.

Anyway, we eventually watch as Batman beats the ever-living shit out of one of these clowns. It’s a bit…much.

While Batman and the GCPD seem to be on good terms at the start of the trailer, things have certainly taken a turn later. We first see Bats getting into a scuffle inside an interrogation room surrounded by cops and then later escaping a building while police officers shoot at him. That second shot actually seems to recreate the famous panels from Year One where the Dark Knight escapes an abandoned building surrounded by the GCPD with the help of a swarm of bats, a scene that also inspired an action sequence in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

Why are Batman and the GCPD suddenly at odds? It’s possible this is part of the Riddler’s plan to destroy the Bat. Has the villain framed the Dark Knight for something? Or has Batman gone too far in his search for justice?

The new Batmobile is front and center towards the tail end of the trailer. It’s a very cool and surprisingly realistic take on the Batmobile unlike what we’ve seen in past movies. This muscle car definitely looks like something Bruce would have worked on himself inside the Batcave.

Finally, we get a look Batman sans mask. There’s no elegant bachelor under the cowl in The Batman but a beaten down, soot-covered man who looks more troubled than any other Bruce before him. Pattinson’s Bruce almost looks more inspired by The Crow than Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, or Michael Keaton before him. It definitely looks like he’s taking the character in a new direction.

We’ll find out for sure when The Batman hits theaters on Oct. 1, 2021.

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[everybodysacritic]

Film Review: The Dark Knight

My rating: 8/10

The Dark Knight (2008)  is the second film in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. It is a film following DC superhero Batman, and his struggle with stopping a notorious criminal called the Joker.

The film starts with a heist. An action-filled burglary with some masked men takes place at a bank in Gotham city. The Joker is revealed to be one of these men just before killing the rest of them, taking all of the money for himself in a getaway car. When the Joker’s car reaches a parking lot ‘Batman’ appears, getting hit by the criminals. Several men posing as Batman are easily defeated by them before the real Batman arrives in his famous Bat-mobile. The hero tells them off in a low (slightly ridiculous) voice, then disappears.

Bruce Wayne, Batman’s true identity, is a character shrouded in wealth. The only people who know about his double life are his butler Alfred, his Business manager Lucius Fox, and his ex-girlfriend Rachel. Politician Harvey Dent praises Batman and the work he does for Gotham city, and although he is dating Rachel he does not know of Batman’s true identity.

“If you’re good at something never do it for free.” - Joker (Heath Ledger)

A group of criminals led by a man named Mr. Lao make fun of the Joker while in a meeting. The Joker makes an entrance by walking in on there meeting while laughing maniacally. The Joker wants them to hire him to kill Batman, knowing that they are all too afraid to try. The criminals are skeptical of Joker’s ability to kill Batman, so he tells them to think about it and leaves.

“Why so serious?” - Joker (Heath Ledger) 

The next time he is seen, the Joker is sneaking in to where the group of criminals have camped out. The Joker tells the criminals about how his face was scarred by his abusive father when he was a kid, carving a smile into his face with a knife because he was being too serious. Being much more aggressive than last time, he kills a couple of them and threatens the rest.

Batman plans to stop the Joker from continuing his crimes. He starts by getting the tools that he needs from his business manager, Lucius Fox. Bruce is then able to find crime lord Mr. Lao, and stop him. Batman flies in, takes Mr. Lao, and drops him off at the police station to be arrested.

“You want order in Gotham? Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in. Oh, and every day he doesn't, people will die. Starting tonight. I'm a man of my word.”  - Joker (Heath Ledger)

Soon after, the Joker kills a batman impersonator and hangs him from a building. The Joker broadcasts a video across Gotham saying that for every night that Batman does not unmask himself and turn himself in, he will kill an innocent person.

"Some men just want to watch the world burn" - Alfred (Michael Caine)

Bruce does not give in, but soon faces the consequences when the Joker kills the mayor of Gotham. Batman struggles with what he should do. The Joker doesn’t seem to be motivated by anything but wanting to cause chaos, and he never seems to be able to find him until the Joker has already killed a person.

"The night is darkest before the dawn. The dawn is coming." - Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart)

Bruce contemplates turning himself in, but Alfred and Rachel implore him not to. Despite going against their wishes, Bruce decides to turn himself in, but not before telling Harvey. Due to Harvey’s unwavering faith in the Batman, he tries to turn himself in as Batman so that Batman can continue doing good for the city.

"To them you're just a freak like me. They need you now, but when they don't they'll cast you out." - Joker (Heath Ledger)

The Joker’s people kidnap Harvey and Rachel. Meanwhile, the Joker is caught in the process of fighting Batman as his plan unfolds. The Joker is taken into an interrogation room where Batman tries to get information from him about where Rachel and Harvey have been taken. Even using violence does not get the Joker to tell them, only using the opportunity to taunt Batman.

"In their last moments people show you who they really are." - Joker (Heath Ledger)

They end up figuring out that Rachel and Harvey have been taken to separate building with bombs about to go off. They try to get there as fast as they can, but Rachel killed, and half of Harvey’s face is burned off.

"Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair! " - Joker (Heath Ledger)

The Joker’s next move is to blow up a hospital. Harvey makes a deal with the Joker when he’s in the hospital to get out before he does it. The Joker persuades Harvey into changing his view on morality, and to direct his anger at the police instead of him. The whole incident changes Harvey into a very different person. The Joker blows up the hospital, and Harvey escapes.

Another creepy video is released telling the citizens of Gotham to leave if they do not want to be part of his game. Many of the citizens try to leave Gotham city on boat. Meanwhile, Batman decides to bug everyone's phone to try to find the Joker.

For what he calls a ‘social experiment’, the Joker then hijacks two of the large boats leaving Gotham. He gives each boat a detonator. On one boat there are prisoners, while the other has regular citizens. Both detonators will blow up at midnight if they do not do anything.

"I took Gotham's white knight and I brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!”  - Joker (Heath Ledger)

Batman finds the Joker as he is waiting to see what will happen with his ‘social experiment’. They end up fighting as the people on the boats argue about what to do. Eventually midnight strikes, and both boats have not detonated the other, revealing that they were never going to blow up at midnight in the first place. The Joker then reveals to Batman the plan that he has set in motion: to crush the spirits of Gotham by causing Harvey to join his side. Batman leaves as the Joker is taken into custody.

“You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time, but you were wrong! The world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased, unprejudiced, fair.” - Joker (Heath Ledger)

Harvey, who has renamed himself ‘Two-Face’, now blames the police for what happened to him and Rachel. After killing several other officers, he kidnaps officer Gordon's family and lures him to an abandoned parking lot. He flips a coin to determine whether each of them live or die, and it does not end well for the son. Harvey is about to shoot Gordon’s kid in order to get his revenge, but is interrupted by the arrival of Batman.

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain." - Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart)

Batman tries to reason with Gordon, telling him that the Joker was just using him to prove that a man as good as him could fall. Gordon will not listen to him, and so Batman kills him. 

"He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero, he’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector. He’s a dark knight." - Gordon (Gary Oldman)

Finally, Batman decides that him and Gordon have to lie and say that Batman is the one who killed the people that Harvey did. It is the only way that the citizens of Gotham do not lose hope. Gordon agrees, and the film ends.

The Dark Night is an impressive movie with a depressing message about corruption and morality. Heath Ledger's acting is amazing in his role as the Joker, as he is able to play a terrifying villain while also being comedic. The movie is shot mostly in dark lighting, further pushing the overall mood. The makeup and costumes add to the acting (eg. the Jokers messy makeup and bright red smile make him look terrifying). All of the sound effects and special effects are very well done. Overall, the Dark Knight is an impressive film.

[thecomicsnexus]

DETECTIVE COMICS #524-526, BATMAN #357-359 MARCH - MAY 1983 BY GERRY CONWAY, DON NEWTON, ALFREDO ALCALA, DAN JURGENS, CURT SWAN, RODIN RODRIGUEZ, DICK GIORDANO AND ADRIENNE ROY

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Batman is on the lookout for the associates of the crimelord called Tony Falco, who has been already captured by the authorities. However, during his investigations, Batman learns that most of them are being recruited by the Squid, a former spy turned gangster.

Meanwhile, Dick Grayson goes to a circus in New Jersey, where his friend Waldo introduces him to the Todds, the circus' trapeze artists. Unknown to Dick, the circus' owner, Mr. Sloan is being blackmailed by a crook only known as Croc, who runs a protection racket.

Later, Batman has learned that the Squid is planning to get rid of all competition to become Gotham's first crimelord. Knowing this, Batman prepares a plan to save Tony Falco, who is bound to be sentenced and prosecuted in court. After the session, Falco is sentenced to prison, but during transport, the Squid releases him and takes him to his hideout. In the abandoned aquarium, Squid reveals that he already knows that the man he just released is not Falco, but in reality is Batman in disguise. With his plan discovered, Batman has no choice but to fight Squid's henchmen, but he is easily outnumbered and captured. Finally and in revenge for their past encounter, Squid throws Batman inside the tank where his giant squid will devour the Dark Knight.

Batman has been captured by the Squid and is currently struggling against the crook's giant squid pet. Batman manages to break free and escapes from the deathtrap. The only member of the criminals in the whole place that notices Batman's escape, is the one that they call Croc, but the thug departs remarking that this outfit 'smells of loser'. Outside he notices the Batman fleeing, looks up and still does nothing calmly letting him go.

Later, Bruce returns to Wayne Manor, where Dick Grayson has organized a party with his new friends from the Sloan Circus, the Todd Family. When Bruce arrives, he is taken to a room, where Dick and Alfred take care of his wounds. Unfortunately, Trina Todd enters the room looking for Dick and she notices the Batsuit near Bruce, who is full of bandages. Even though Dick tells her to forget about the whole incident, they know that she most likely knows the truth.

Moments later, Squid has gathered his gang again. Ranting about setbacks, he attempts to make plans for his next gambit to murder Batman. His men are uncertain about his chances some even consider leaving as Croc has. Meanwhile, Waylon has already found a convenient place one hundred yards outside of Squid's secret headquarters in the aquarium and using a sniper's rifle (the Mannlicher VIII) kills the Squid as part of his attempt to take over Gotham's underworld, and as payback for the Spy's earlier threat. He then leaves having used one single bullet which had penetrated his rival's heart.

The next day, Batman and Commissioner Gordon learn about the murder of Squid and they know that whoever killed him is the person they should be worried about with Batman saying that there was a witness namely the bullet which entered the spymaster's heart.

Killer Croc enters the Tobacconists' Club and proceeds to appoint himself the new head of the Gotham underworld, filling the void left by his murder of the Squid. However, the members of the organization are not convinced and they prepare some challenges to test Croc.

In the meantime, Batman connects the bullet that killed the Squid to a prototype gun, of which only three were ever made and one of which is owned by an arms dealer in Gotham named Specs. From Specs, the Dark Knight learns of Croc and the fact that he lives in a deserted part of Gotham called “Hell's Point”.

When Batman informs the current situation to Robin, he makes a connection between Croc and a protection racket being run on the Sloan Circus, thanks to information given to him by Trina Todd.

The members of the Tobacconists' Club have decided to test Croc by sending him to steal a high tech computer from S.T.A.R. Labs and Croc succeeds without any trouble, even causing major damage in the process. The criminals of the club are satisfied with Croc, but he leaves them with a threat to eliminate them if they don't take him seriously.

After learning about Croc's location from a street gang, Batman waits for the criminal at his home. Enraged with Batman's appearance in his home, Croc destroys the building and flees from the place, but Batman follows closely. Cornered, Croc jumps to the dark waters of the river below, where Batman loses sight of him.

Batman is unable to find the body of Killer Croc after their previous encounter, but the Dark Knight is hesitant to declare the criminal dead. And had he look a little closer, he would've been right.

Less than twenty four hours later, an angered Vickie Vale ends her date with Bruce Wayne after Bruce, in essence, tells the news editor that their relationship is not serious.

At the Sloan Circus, Robin tells Joe and Trina Todd about Killer Croc and his ties to the group that is trying to extort money from the circus. Robin asks the duo for their help in capturing Croc and after a discussion, the aerialists agree.

Later that night in the tunnels below “Hell's Point”, Batman tracks down Killer Croc and the combatants battle once again. The fight, however, leads to the duo being separated and Batman finds himself dragged away by the Gotham Sewer as Croc again makes his escape.

Batman breaks into the Tobacconists' Club to learn the whereabouts of Killer Croc from the club's presiding officer, Filbert Hughes. Croc breaks into the Gotham City Jail and murders mob boss Tony Falco, the last obstacle to Croc's climb to the top of Gotham's underworld. But the jail's alarms alert Batman and soon the Dark Knight and Croc are battling for the third time; a battle that ends quickly as Croc's brute strength overwhelms Batman.

Back at Wayne Manor, Dick Grayson becomes concerned with his asking the Todds to keep their eyes on the man running the protection racket on the Sloan Circus, fearing it is becoming too dangerous. Bruce becomes enraged and says he is tired of “citizens�� waiting for someone else to save them and that the Todds made a commitment that they need to fulfill. Bruce's outburst saddens Dick and he leaves the manor feeling that Bruce is “getting to be a stranger”. Bruce, sorry over his outburst towards Dick, calls Vickie Vale and apologizes for the things he said to her the night before, knowing the apology will never be enough.

At the Sloan Circus, on the cliffs overlooking the New Jersey Palisades, Joe and Trina Todd follow the man working for Croc extorting money from the circus just as Dick arrives and learns of the Todds' actions. Meanwhile at the Gotham Zoo, the Todds find Killer Croc but soon learn they were expected.

In Crime Alley, Joker has gathered some of the most relevant of Batman's enemies and he informs them about a plan to murder the Bat and eliminating their new adversary: Killer Croc. However, there are two among their ranks who don't want part in their scheme. Talia and Catwoman escape from the place and they both set out to warn Batman about the plan.

Meanwhile, Dick Grayson has learned that Joe and Trina Todd have gone looking for Killer Croc and he takes their only son, Jason to Wayne Manor. At that moment, Commissioner Gordon and Barbara are investigating the meeting place of the criminals, who have escaped massively from Arkham Asylum. In the building, Barbara finds an important clue and she decides that it's time for Batgirl to act. Minutes later, she arrives at Wayne Manor, where she contacts Dick and tells him about the massive breakout. Dick is shocked to learn that Barbara has once again learned their identities, even after losing them, to which Barbara replies that she is a detective and not a dumb girl. Together once again, Batgirl and Robin start looking for the criminals and most importantly, for the Todds.

In the meantime, Batman, Catwoman and Talia are working together to stop the lunatics and they confront Riddler, Mad Hatter, Cavalier and Scarecrow. The heroes manage to defeat them, but the Mad Hatter is apparently killed in his escape attempt. Shortly afterwards, the criminals are delivered to the Gotham City Hall. The unlikely trio then work together to defeat and capture Mister Freeze, Black Spider, Signalman and Spook. With this victory, the heroes get a new clue to the criminals' plan and they return to the Batcave to investigate.

All this happens as Jason Todd is alone in Wayne Manor and he starts looking for the kitchen to get a snack. However, he gets lost and finds the secret entrance to the Batcave behind the grandfather's clock, which was wide open in the first place, and he goes down the stairs until he finds the secret cave. Todd soon deduces that Bruce Wayne is Batman and while searching among the cave's relics, he finds Dick Grayson's old costume from his days at Haly's Circus and he wears the outfit.

Meanwhile, Batgirl and Robin have learned that Killer Croc's lair is at the Gotham Zoo and they rush to the place only to find that the Gotham City Police Department have already surrounded the place. When Robin and Batgirl get inside, Robin learns that Joe and Trina have been murdered by Killer Croc and the pain caused is too much for him to bear.

Killer Croc is soon contacted by the Joker, who wants to make a deal with him by giving him the chance to murder Batman and the new crime lord agrees, unaware that Joker plans to double-cross him.

When Batman, Catwoman and Talia arrive to the cave, they use the Batcomputer to learn the next location where the criminals might strike and they go on the Batmobile. In a foolish and childish act, Jason Todd jumps into the truck of the car, seeking the thrill of adventure. Elsewhere in Gotham, Batgirl and Robin interrogate the leaders of the Tobacconists' Club about Croc's location and a ruthless Robin gets the answers that he needs.

Batman, Catwoman and Talia are the first to arrive at Adams Brewery, where they find several of the crooks already beaten to a pulp. They realize too late that they have been lured into a trap and they are promptly captured and tied by Croc's men, with assistance from the Joker. Outside of the building, Jason leaves the trunk of the Batmobile and investigates the scene, locating the trapped heroes. Outside, Robin and Batgirl confront more villains who were part of Joker's plan and were waiting to get inside to eliminate Croc

Inside the building, Croc allows Batman to fight and the two of them engage in combat while Batgirl and Robin take care of the remaining thugs including the Joker, who realizes that his plan has gone wrong. Batman and Croc have an even combat, but eventually, Croc's superior stamina gives him the upper hand and he plans to use a big pipe to kill Batman. It is then that Robin reveals that Croc has killed the Todds and Jason, who was looking the whole fight, descends upon Croc, throwing him off balance and allowing Batman to knock him unconscious. A frantic Jason then attacks the unconscious Croc in a fit of rage for the murder of his parents. Batman and the members of the Bat-Family restrain him while Batgirl releases Catwoman and Talia from the death trap.

Afterwards, Croc and all the criminals have been captured and peace has returned. Bruce Wayne says farewell to Selina and Talia, who have found an unlikely friendship in one another with the only common thing that they both want to see the other dead. Bruce then returns to Wayne Manor, where Dick takes responsibility for the death of the Todds and he wants to adopt Jason. However, Bruce doesn't like the idea and instead, he decides to look after the young orphan, much like he did years ago with Dick.

REVIEW

Gerry Conway wanted to bring Robin back to the bat-titles, but he wanted to make him younger. Marv Wolfman wanted to have Dick Grayson for himself (and keep him at the age he had). Apparently this is how Jason came to be. You can hear all about it in this interview with Gerry Conway.

If you don’t recognize Jason Todd in this picture, don’t worry, you are familiar with the Post-Crisis version of the character. Before Crisis, Jason was blonde (or redhaired?), and was also a circus performer. This is the first time I ever read Jason’s origin pre-crisis (turns out this story is later cataloged as not happening in Earth-One, for whatever reason).

If I tell you the basics about Jason, you will think he is an exact copy of Dick. However, Gerry Conway did a good job in not making this a “Kid Flash” origin story. We are led to think that his parents are going to die in the trapeze because of the protection racket. But his parents die tracking Croc instead.

There is something going on with Batman in these issues. He feels like he is a loner and starts alienating everyone around him. Reading this book about Robin “Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 Years of Robin, Nightwing and Batman”, there are a couple of theories about Batman and Robin. The most important one revolves around childhood drama. Bruce Wayne swore revenge unto others (an on to himself) by embarking in a futile war against crime. There is no way Bruce can win in the end, so there is nothing ending his mission. Psychologically, Bruce never grew up.

The moment he finds Dick Grayson, both of them can talk about their traumas, and even better, can put an end to the Grayson’s killer. This brings closure to Dick Grayson. He decides to be loyal to Batman in his mission, but this is not his quest. Dick goes to college and then to the Titans, while Batman continues fighting alone.

In these issues, he alienates Vicky Vale and Dick Grayson, more than once. There is something else going on, that I still haven’t figured out (why does he let Killer Croc escape?). Bruce even says that Dick has grown up. In his traumatized mind, he cannot relate to Dick Grayson anymore. He needs to talk to another traumatized kid. Enter: Jason Todd. So, if you ever think that is too creepy that Bruce Wayne adopts orphans all the time. Well, this explains that a bit better, as in his mind, Bruce Wayne is still that ten year old kid. A very intelligent one, of course.

This is also the reason he cannot prosper in love or in forming a proper family. But he can form a family of people that share his quest. Always in company, always a loner.

This story is also hard for Dick Grayson. As he warns Bruce that it was a mistake to involve the Todds, only to see them killed by Killer Croc. This is why Dick in the end decides that he may be the one to adopt Jason Todd. Bruce stops him there, because he knows he can relate to the kid even more. I have to admit, that the idea of Dick adopting Jason crossed my mind. The two are too similar and have many things in common. Is it wise to let him become Robin, though?

Well, this Robin will survive (unlike his post-crisis version), but then erased from history.

This is a massive development. After more than 40 years of Dick Grayson as Robin, we get a new one. Nothing will be the same for the Robins after this.

Killer Croc is a very intimidating villain, and you can understand why he became evil as well. This is a well written story, even if it is not very creative with Jason’s origin.

Batgirl know Batman and Robin’s identities (something I thought already happened in the seventies), in a way, this is the beginning of the Batman Family as we know it these days.

Jason is also not an annoying brat. That’s a plus.

In the art we have a confused Curt Swan (who drew the wrong dinosaur), and a fresh Dan Jurgens (who just a few months before started working for DC). Jurgens art looks like Aparo sometimes, but that is probably Giordano’s inks.

Don Newton and Alfredo Alcala do most of these stories though (I understand those fill in artists were put there to give them room to complete the anniversary issue).

I give this story a score of 9

[twothreads-archive]

CHARACTER META - PART 1. ( INSPIRATIONS )

So, I decided to turn this meta into two different parts. This first part, the “inspirations” part, is the part where I basically just list up all the most important quotes, scenes and overall storylines from other canon Joker stories outside of the telltale game, that I take inspiration from when it comes to my portrayal of John (note that when I say inspiration, I mainly mean that I look at what kind of mindset / person it takes to say and/or do these things, not that my John actually has done any of these things yet...)

The second part, which will be the “character study” part, will be in another post, and will be the post where I talk about how everything listed here plays into my portrayal of John, and basically try to explain as much as possible about John’s mindset / behavior / beliefs / etc, etc.

Anyways, this part is basically just for those who are interested to know just exactly what it is I’m looking at, and what I keep in mind while I try to flesh out John’s character beyond what just the telltale games did, because (as I will get more into in the second part of this meta, the John we see in the telltale games, and the John you mostly see in my interactions on here, is just a facade that he puts up, and not actually the real him.)

Either way, here’s the list of the most important things I draw inspiration from.

                                                                 inspirations

THE DARK KNIGHT

“ Do I really seem like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it. I just do things.” - The Joker, about himself

“ I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.” - The Joker, about his “plan” so to speak

“ See, their morals, their code... It’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble.” - The Joker, about people in general

“ Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Alfred, about the Joker. 

We also have a few scenes in this movie I think is important to his character too. There’s the scene where the Joker laughs while being beaten by Batman in the GCPD interrogation room. There’s the scene where Batman is driving the Batcycle towards the Joker, and Joker, in turn, walks towards him, shooting at random cars driving by, while talking about wanting Batman to hit him. There’s the scene where he gets thrilled when Dent decides to flip his coin on whether or not he’ll shoot him in the head, and there’s the scene with the Joker laughing while he’s falling towards his death, before Batman saves him.

Every scene he comes up with a new backstory for how he got his scars, are also scenes that I find worth taking note of.

And of course the iconic scene of the Joker burning up basically a small mountain of money.

There’s also the scene at the very beginning, where the Joker comes up with a plan to rob a bank, except he executes it by telling some of his men, individually, to kill the others once their part of the job is finished, basically setting them all up to take out each other, until there’s only one left, who the Joker then proceed to kill, before driving off with all the money alone.

THE KILLING JOKE

Here, I think the storyline overall is a very important aspect of his character. For anyone unfamiliar with this comic, we see the Joker trying to prove his point to Batman, that everyone can go insane by just having one bad day. Though instead of targeting Batman directly, he decides to prove his point by targeting Jim Gordon. So the Joker and some of his men shows up at Gordon’s home, shoots his daughter, right in front of him, the bullet ending up paralyzing her. then the Joker proceeds to take Gordon with him and tries to mentally torture him to break him and make him go “insane” just to prove to Batman that he’s right.

There’s also a few quotes from this comic that I find important to his character.

“ Most repulsive of all are it’s frail and useless notions of order and sanity. If too much weight is placed upon them... they snap.” - The Joker, talking about people in general

“ Faced with the inescapable fact that human existence is mad, random and pointless, one in eight of them crack and go stark slavering buggo! Who can blame them? In a world as psychotic as this... any other response would be crazy!” - The Joker, about people in general

“ No. I’m sorry, but... No. It’s too late for that. Far too late.”  - The Joker, after Batman offers to help him at the end of the comic.

BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS

In the Arkham Origins game, I look at how the Joker is shown to be capable of pulling off making others believe he is Roman Sionis ( Black Mask ) by dressing up as him, imitating his voice, general mannerisms, behaving more “sane”, etc. I think it really shows an interesting aspect of his character that we don’t get to see a whole lot outside of telltale, which is that he is very talented at deception, acting, manipulation, etc, and that he’s not necessarily always blowing things up or killing people off left and right.

There’s also the scene where the Joker was ready to be shot by a bazooka by Bane, laughing excitedly as he’s blown off the building and falling towards his death before the Bat saves him (quite similar to near the end of the Dark Knight movie.) Then, after Batman saves him, he even puts a gun to his head, with every intention to pull the trigger, only to see if the Batman would save him again or not.

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY

Here, it’s not so much the Joker’s quotes I take inspiration from, but more the various Joker thugs on the streets talking about him.

“ Today, however, we shoot ‘em. Yesterday we took 'em in the back room and burnt off their skin. But sometimes, Joker just lets anyone join. Keeps things interesting. [...] You’re just lucky you joined on a good day.”  - The Joker’s men, talking about Joker’s way of “recruitment”

“ At least with the Joker, you know he’s got a plan.” - one of Joker’s men, arguing why he thinks it’s better to work for the Joker than Two-Face.

“ The Joker’s crazy.” - thug 1 “ At least he’s funny.” - thug 2 “ ‘til he kills ya.” - thug 3. - ( Joker’s men, discussing working for the Joker)

“ We do this for the Joker!” - Joker’s men, basically expressing their loyalty for the Joker, even when he’s sick and possibly dying.

There’s plenty more quotes like these, but you get the drift. Some of them aren’t so sure about working for the Joker, while others actually seem to like / prefer working for him.

There is also two scenes with the Joker that I find important in this game. First, the one where Harley approaches a tied up Batman, wanting to remove his mask, but the Joker stops her, because he doesn’t want Batman’s identity to be revealed as he thinks it would spoil the fun.

The second, which is more the overall storyline, is that the Joker wants a cure from the deadly disease he has, so he won’t die, showing that sometimes he actually doesn’t want to die / is worried about death.

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT.

In the Arkham Knight game, I take inspiration from the “flashback” scenes that Batman hallucinates / sees Joker’s memories, where the Joker physically and mentally tortures Jason Todd (a teenager at the time) for an extended period of time, and the flashback scene (and Killing Joke reference) of the Joker showing up at the Gordon’s house and shooting Barbara Gordon, paralyzing her, then taking photos of her to show her dad in an attempt to drive him insane.

I also draw inspiration from the generally really dark sense of humor he shows in this game, such as "joking” with Batman by saying that he can’t really save ALL of Barbara, as he (the Joker) killed half of her already, or after he shot Barbara, saying “oh, don’t pass out just yet. Show a little spine.” etc. You get the drift. Really dark “jokes” that aren’t really jokes at all.

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

While I don’t draw a whole lot of inspiration from the animated series, I do think a few small scenes are kind of interesting that we don’t really see a whole lot of in other Joker canons, and that is that in certain moments, he actually does seem worried at the thought of dying. e.g. in the ‘Last Laugh’ episode where he’s dangling upside down over a pit of fire, a wire around his foot being the only thing between him and certain death, while he’s not terrified, or even straight up scared, he does seem mildly concerned at the thought of Batman not saving him. Or in the ‘Joker’s Favor’ episode, when Charlie threatens to blow them both up with Joker’s bomb, the Joker seems genuinely worried, scared even, at the thought of dying there with him. Even to the point of being relieved when Batman shows up, and then, when Charlie tosses the “bomb” at him (which turns out just to be a fake bomb.) he runs to take cover behind Batman.

I also notice in the animated series, that the Joker often pulls out dangerous toys / weapons a lot, which are usually in locations he’s familiar with / spends time around, for example one of Gotham’s abandoned carnivals, which suggests that he makes sure to have lots of getaways and back-up plans to get out of unexpected situations that may arise.

... There’s probably a whole lot more canon Joker stories that I also take inspiration from that I just can’t think of right now, but if I do think of something, I’ll update this list later. For now, I think this summarizes the most important things I look at pretty well, though. So, stay tuned for the second part of this meta, where I go into detail about how all this plays into my portrayal.

                                                          [ PART 2 ]  - [ PART 3 LINK TBA ]

[addicted-to-dc]

Jason Todd/Red Hood X ArkhamKnight!Reader- Set Your Demons Free (Part 3)

Set Your Demons Free, Part 2

Warning: Guns, descriptions of injuries/death, kidnapping

Sorry for taking so long to post this!!!!  Things have been very chaotic in my house.

Your mind was full of distractions as you grappled to the convoy’s location, your mission clashing with Jason’s confirmed revival.  Questions flooded your mind, some focusing completely on your revenge to kill Bruce, but others concentrated on Jason.  How would he affect your mission?  How is he alive?  Why is he against your efforts when Bruce was the one who got him killed?  The red bat symbol on his chest flashed into your mind, instantly answering one of your questions.  He was working for Batman again, even after he was the one who killed Jason.  This revelation only angered and frustrated you even more, making you have mixed emotions on your mission and Jason.  He was the one you were avenging, but now he’s back, ruining your plans to take over Gotham.  What he said still echoed in your mind. The Joker did.  How could he say that?  Batman was the reason why he was killed. He nearly beaten me to death with a crowbar, and when that didn’t finish the job he exploded the warehouse that I was in.  

Your mind instantly shoved your frustrations temporarily aside as soon as the crashed convoy was in your sights.  One of your men was dead on the ground, his limbs contorted in odd angles. You should have worn a seatbelt, you scoffed in your head.  On the ground, about six meters away from a vehicle, Barbara was crawling away from the wreckage.  Clenching your jaw, you pulled out your gun and fired a warning shot, watching as she stopped crawling to cover her head.  Stomping over to her, you lifted her off of the ground and tossed her over your shoulder, despite her screams of protest.  Looking around, you examined the layout of the area, searching for anyone who would attempt to rescue Barbara.  Jason would have, you thought angrily, but he’s been temporarily taken care of.

You pressed the comm on your helmet, “This is the Knight, I have Barbara Gordon. Send transportation for pick up immediately.”

“We’ll be there in less than five minutes, boss,” one of your men responded over the comm.

“You’ll never win,” Barbara seethed from behind you.  “He has defeated every villain that challenged him, you aren’t any different.”

“That’s where you are wrong.”

----------------------------

Besides the chattering of your men, nothing else could be heard without special equipment or metahuman abilities, but luckily you came prepared.  You knew that Batman would show up to rescue Barbara, but what he didn’t know is that you were always a couple steps ahead of him.  He was always predictable, even when you were (Y/H/N), but now you use it against him.  Using the vents to get around was a good way to get around the base, but it also allows the enemy to know where you are.  Watching him exit the vent, you scoffed internally at the stupidity of your men, and remained focused on him.  Firing three shots into the tile, you jumped down from the rafters and continued firing until you landed a blow on Batman, knocking him to the floor.

“Oh no, no.  You’re not going anywhere, Old Man,” you growled, planting your foot onto his chest.  “Tri-weave, titanium coated armor plating.  Nice.  Unless you know exactly where to shoot.”

You placed your gun on his side, carefully aiming it at the weakest part of the armor.  Pulling the trigger, you watched as he jolted and groaned in pain. You stepped over his wounded body and laughed, enjoying the way Batman was suffering.

“You’re good, Dark Knight.  Even better than I remember.  It’s going to make it even more satisfying when I kill you,” you started, walking away from him.  “Don’t worry about Barbara.  I’ll take better care of her than you ever did.  Batman’s in the control room.  Show him what happens when he messes with my city.”

Walking out of the room, a few of your men ran past you to enter the control room.  You knew that they wouldn’t be able to handle him, but they were just the distraction.

“Ram the tank into the doorway!” you ordered your men, keep him in the control room as long as possible!”

“He’s here!”

“Engage!” you yelled into the comm, knowing that Batman was using the Batmobile remotely to take down your tanks.  

Explosion after explosion, you knew that they were barely scratching his vehicle.  Soon the ground stopped shaking, one last explosion went off, indicating that Batman had blown the tank out of the doorway.  Growling, you started running through the hall, determined to be prepared when he arrives.  You knew he would go after the convoy, he couldn’t resist the temptation to take you down and rescue Barbara.  Well, you guessed you disappointed him again.  You had given one of your men a copy of your voice modifier, misleading Batman once again.  Clicking your wrist communicator with a smirk, you waited for him to answer.

“You think I didn’t know you were tracking my broadcasting location?” you asked, letting out a fake laugh.  “Here’s a lesson, Batman: I know how you think, which means I know how I can beat you.”

You ended the call, knowing that he would get busy interrogating one of your men for your location.  Cobblepot had already been paid, so Batman would be doing you a favor if he does go after him.  All you had to focus on was dealing with Barbara and Stagg, but you knew Scarecrow could handle his part of the deal.

-----------------------------------

“Scarecrow, my men have stopped reporting in, and that only means one thing.  You have seconds at best.  Are we ready?” you notified him through the comm, not caring if Batman could hear what you were saying.

“Not yet,” Scarecrow answered.  “The Cloudburst must be fully charged.”

“Then we’ll have to do it offsite,” you stated, jumping into the helicopter.  “Prepare for extraction.”

As the you lifted off, the militia could be seen scurrying around your city, almost looking like ants.  They were acting similar to them, taking orders from the queen ant and doing her will, but they also had differences.  These men had chosen voluntarily to work for you, to take control of the most crime ridden city.   Seeing Gotham from a distance would make someone think how small they are compared to it, but you weren’t thinking that for a second.  Seeing Gotham like this felt like it was challenging you, daring you to finish what you have worked so hard for.  I’m setting my demons free, dad, you thought, I hope you’re proud.  

[static-ink-blog]

Batmom Origin Part 1: The Enemy -Bruce Wayne

A/N: Going for Batmom this time. It’s based on Batman: Year One and explores what it would have been like if Batmom had been a cop at that time. Hope you enjoy. Also remember, requests are open, so feel free to send something in.

    Coffee was your one relief these days. Sadly you were also pretty sure you couldn't be able to function without it right now. Taking another sip you went over the information of the last few days in your head again. You caught your partner accepting money from a mobster. While you couldn't prove it since it would be your word against his, it only confirmed your long tome suspicion that he was a corrupt cop. Thing was the whole station, from the every-day officer to the Commissioner Loeb, had corruption running thick. You had no idea who to trust. No wonder Gotham was a mess.     Hearing someone enter, you looked up. James Gordon. You nodded at him in greeting. He was a good man, you got along. Aside from that, he was not only clean and refused money from the side violently, the guy was also said to had attempted investigating corrupt cops before getting discredited and coming to GCPD five months ago.  "Want some?" you asked holding up your cup.     "That was the idea." Gordon nodded, taking out a cup from the cabinet.     You smiled and took the coffee pot. Filling his cup first, you emptied what was left in your own cup. "Long patrol?" you asked.     He sighed. "We found a group of drug dealers."     "The ones you had been looking for?"     "Yes, that new drug is becoming a problem. They in the hospital right now." he explained. His voice was even but his eyes glared at the wall on the other side of the room.     "Hospital?" you asked confused. Even with a group, taking down dealers usually didn't result in all of them being sent to the hospital. Unless some of the more trigger-happy cops were on the case. With Essen taking over as his partner after Flass got hospitalized that shouldn't be such a big problem anymore, she was reasonable. Then again, many of the other cops 'had their own way of doing things'.     "We weren't the first to find them." Gordon sighed. He was angry, the type of angry that steamed from having months of work thrown back in one's face. With the dealer in the hospital, the big fish behind them would have time to cover his tracks before the police could question them and find a connection. "They were beat to a pummel when we found them. Mumbling about being attacked by a demon."     "Another sighting of the Bat then?" you concluded.     "Hmm." Gordon hummed, taking a sip of his coffee. "Twenty sightings now that we're aware of."     "Chances are that they were many more that we are not aware of, ones that people don't report to the police."     Nodding, your colleague silently agreed with you. "The news call him the Batman nowadays. People think him a hero."     "What do you think?" you inquired, studying him carefully.     His eyes sharpened as he scanned your face. "You want my professional option?"     Quickly you checked that the door to the break room was closed and that you were in fact the only ones in the room. "No." you turned back to him once that was confirmed. "Just you're honest option."     Before he spoke, he was quiet for a moment. "Well..." he started slowly. "Somewhere out there is a guy who dresses up as a giant bat to scare the shit out of the thugs that he goes around beating up. It brought the quota for street crime down, most people think twice now. But he isn't working with us and that causes him to interfere with our work. In the course of his short career he has broken several laws himself. Trespassing, Assault, Withholding of Evidence -you name it. If he really wanted to change things, why didn't he join the force? We're just missing something here. Nobody really knows why he does the things he does, what motivates him. As it lays this vigilante is uncontrollable, through I admit that gives him a huge advantage." Looking up from his coffee Gordon met your eyes. "You want my option? I think Gotham is a mess. And only a wonder can still save this city. So it is no wonder that some dark avenger decided to show up."     Thoughtfully you sipped your coffee. There was no denying the facts, even if important evidence always found their way back to the police. "Still, as officers we can't just pardon someone who breaks the law just because he does good." you reminded yourself. You had to protect the law first, always.     Neither of you was able to say more before you heard footsteps  and the door opened. Your partner, Jordan Rich, stock his head into the room. "There you are. Commissioner Loeb is calling everyone together for a meeting right now." he informed you.     "Do you know what it is about?" you asked as Gordon gulped the rest of his coffee down in a hurry.     "Apparently the Bat crashed the Commissioner's dinner party and threatened him and his guests." Rich said. "I never seen him this mad before." With that he left.     "Must mean he wants the Bat hunted down immediately." Gordon said grimly, turning to leave. "Did I mention the Bat is unpredictable? He must have known this would happen."     Frowning you looked down at the cup in your hands. "Gordon." you called, making him stop in the door. You looked at him with determinated eyes. "I don't believe Gotham is beyond saving." That is why you became a cop, why you stayed one despite knowing how deep corruption ran in the force. This was your home town and you weren't willen to give up at this city yet."     "Like I said." Gordon told you. "A wonder."

    Gordon's predication came true, Loeb gave the order to hunt down the famed Batman. All other investigations became secondary. Over all the police force was unevenly split between corrupt cops the vigilante was a throne in the side and honest cops who were getting frustrated with the 'hero' showing them off. It seemed your option about the assignment wasn't shared, but you weren't as stupid as to say something.     Filing and reviewing reported of sightings you and the other cops were hardly able to narrow down the field of suspects. The witnesses were too far in between, their statements were to fantastic. Flass, Gordon's former partner, himself was very stubborn about the Bat being a demonic monster after the vigilante broke his arms and legs, sending him to the hospital and off-duty for now.     Sun was long down by the time you left the station. It was late and this job could get to you. And with your car in the garage, you had to walk and hope you caught the subway train in time. Else you had to sit there for an hour. Frowning you hurried your step.     Halfway there a car came to a sudden stop  next to you. Four men stepped out, coming towards you. Ski masks hid their faces and they were holding baseball bats. Their leader was too familiar as that you couldn't recognize him. Slipping in a defensive stance you let them corner you in an side alley. That guy was your partner Rich. Looked like Loeb was sending a warning after you got that mobster in jail a few days ago.     Once you got them where one couldn't see you from the street, you got ready. Witnesses would never speak against them, not with the Commissioner twisting things in the background. In the same way he could twist it against you should you win. Not that there was a big chance for that. Your attackers had the clear advance. Still, you refused to go down without a fight.     The first attack didn't take long. They threw themselves at you, weapons high. At first you managed to dodge and even to get a few blows in yourself. But then they got you and you had to bite back a scream. Stealing yourself you knew it was only the beginning.     Except it wasn't. Out of nowhere a shadow descended from above. He took down your four masked attackers before they could see him. Turning to you he waited for your next move.     Cape, mask, the symbol on his chest- his costume left no doubt. Wide-eyed you starred at Batman. The entire force was out looking for him and here he was. You glanced down to the knocked out men on the ground, then focused back at him. He had saved you.     Tense you watched each other's every move. You were a cop. He was a fugitive of the law. Duty demanded you brought him in. Both of you were aware of this. Your face hardened. "Next time." you declared, at the same time a warning. This was a one-time thing, then you would be even.     Batman studied you, trying to figure out your game. But he couldn't detect any hidden plot in your actions. He gave you a nod. Wiping out his grappling hook, he quickly disappeared over the rooftops.

    "Officer Y/l/n, I assume?"     Stopping in front of the elevator you looked up at the voice. You had just finished a assignment of interrogating one of the chair members of the WayneCorp's Science Research Facility and were on the way back to headquarters to hand your report to Gordon and his current partner Sarah Essen. She was good and a real help in narrowing down the suspects for Batman, which lead to you questioning rich men across Gotham.     Bruce Wayne stepped next to you, giving you a professional smile. "The security service informed me of your presence in the building." he explained politely. "Is there perhaps a way I could assist you? We from WayneCorp will of course fully cooperate with the law enforcement, but may I ask the reason of the investigation?"     "Nothing you would have to worry about, Mr. Wayne." you insured him. It surprised you hat the WayneCorp owner was even here today, but you didn't let it show. As far you knew he just returned from a trip to Europe. He had every right to be here. "The investigation won't affect WayneCorps. Unfortunately, I am not on liberty to reveal any more details."     "I understand." Wayne said slowly, nodding to himself. His eyes never left you. There was something in those eyes, something you couldn't put a finger on. "Of course we will respect that. But please, should anything come up, don't let us hesitate to let us know." The elevator arrived and opened with a soft 'ding!'. All gentleman-like the man spread his arm out to invite you in. "Please, at least allow me to accompany you outside, Officer."     You nodded in acceptance, not sure how you could deny his request even if it felt like he was keeping an eye at you more than anything else. He followed you inside the elevator and you pushed the button for ground level. Beside you, Wayne stood silently, deep in thoughts. Taking this chance you studied him from the corner of your eye.  Essen believed Bruce Wayne did not only belong on the suspect list, but the only even if they had no proof whatsoever. Gordon had tried to get a interview for a while, believing his vacation accident had been a cover up to the wounds Batman had received a few months ago. Wayne was also widely known as playboy and heart-breaker. They didn't come from nowhere, the man was rather good-looking. Studying his face you tried to compare it with your memories of when you met the Bat.     "Like what you see?" Wayne's voice ripped you from your thoughts before you could get anywhere. A small smile played on his lips. Playfully he raised an eyebrow.     Embarrassed at being caught you looked straight ahead of yourself, schooling your face. "Wouldn't you like to know?" you couldn't resist teasing despite that.     Bruce grinned. Interesting. "Oh, but you can trust me." he said. "I can keep a secret."                 "Can you now?" you countered in mock-skeptic.     "Very much so. Let's say Saturday at eight?" he asked with his most charming smile, already sure you would bite. This way he would have a whole evening to make himself a profile of you. He knew the cold facts, had done his research on you after that one night. Y/n Y/l/n -one of the few clean cops in Gotham, lived her your entire life. You did good work, were clever, determinated and had good instincts. The type of cop that didn't let feelings get in the way of duty, but still not always following the book. But you let him go. Bruce needed to know if you understood, even if he had to risk getting close. Batman had found an ally in Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent last night, but he knew he needed better connection if he wanted to help this city. So Bruce Wayne needed to find out how you stood to the vigilante. "I know a very good restaurant that you might enjoy. Their deserts are simply legendary."     "Like your reputation as heart-breaker, Mr. Wayne?" you inquired innocently. When he blinked in surprise you laughed. The face he made was priceless. Still, as fun it was to flirt with him, you weren't going to accept and end up as a one-night-stand under many. "You should know better than to flirt with an officer on duty." you added with a wink.     Thankfully he laughed with you, not taking it you bad. "Perhaps." he admitted. You had spunk. "But where is the fun in always playing it safe."     Shaking your head good-humored you decided to bring your game to an end. After all you did were on duty and he was a dangerous man to trust your heart with. "I'm afraid I am a very busy woman, Mr. Wayne."     "Ah, yes, I heard of the hunt the police is having for -Batman, wasn't that what he's called?" he changed the subject. Maybe he would still get some answers.     "That is correct, Mr. Wayne." you clenched your chin. You never did report your encounter with Batman. Luckily enough neither did your attackers, despite most of the -including your former partner Rich- having become residents of Gotham hospital for a time. At first you told yourself that giving the circumstances, not reporting had been the logical course of action. You had let him go, after all, not even trying to bring thankfulness or to get even. It was a dangerous track of thoughts. One that as an officer could cost you a lot. Which was why you avoided those questions as much as possible. Batman was a fugitive. Working outside the law couldn't be spelled out to the way of a hero. Right? "It won't be a problem much longer." you told Wayne and yourself, ignoring how wrong it sounded to your ears. "The entire force is on the look-out for him and won't hesitate to bring him in on the first given chance."      Bruce looked at you curiously. "No matter the circumstances?" he questioned.     Giving him a sharp look, you turned to face him. "By all due respect, Mr. Wayne, what are you implying." It was like he had caught on to you, his question seemed uncanny and you didn't like it one bit. There was no way the playboy could know, but it still put you on the edge.     "Simple holding small-talk, Officer Y/l/n. I wasn't implying anything." His eyes told you a different story. There was that glint again in them. "Though I apologize should I have offended you."     Narrowing your eyes you returned his glance. It was the corrupt cops, you told yourself, it was a ugly rumor going around. Wayne couldn't know about you. "Well then, as it stands, our officers do everything in our power to capture this vigilante, I assure you. Personal options aside." you declared stubbornly. "The Bat won't stand a chance." Like ordered the elevator stopped and the doors opened. With a departing nod you left Wayne there, making your escape.     Unnoticed by you the man's glance followed you through the hall as he joined his waiting butler outside the elevator. Bruce's eyes didn't leave you till you disappeared through the front doors.     A smile formed on Alfred's face as he followed the other's glance. "Something caught your interest, Master Wayne?" the butler asked amused. He had a knowing glint in his eyes.     "Perhaps." Bruce admitted. You were a challenge, something he had to figure out. And the type of person he wanted to get to know outside of his playboy facade. Unlike Alfred he didn't notice the small grin on his lips.

    "All units report to Gotham Harbor immediately." came the order  over the police radio in your car. "Batman has been sighted at Dock 35." You were already waving through traffic to get to your destination. "Suspect confirmed to be highly armed and dangerous." Your tires squeaked as you rounded into the harbor. While the voice on the radio started ordering selected units to put up blockades you got of the car, leaving it hidden between containers. "Gordon." you called over the radio you carried on your uniform. He was the on in charge on the situation and had called you in when they first got news.     After confirming your location being on the other side of the dock from where they were you were ordered to search moving towards them while they came from the other side. Batman was somewhere in the area between you. Main concern seemed to lay with not letting him escape again like the last time he got cornered and escaped with the help of his pet bats. "But be careful." Gordon warned. "Everyone else here is searching in teams of two. Seeing as no new partner was assigned to you after Rich yet, you'll be on your own. Don't go taking unnecessary risks, you hear?" His warning had the authority of the task-leading officer, but you knew it was mostly your friend speaking.     Gun at the ready you slowly moved forward. Heavy rain masked the sounds around you, so you were extra cautious. Turning around a corner, your gun shot up. A fast movement and a glint of metal, in the next second your gun was thrown out of your hands and landed on the ground with a batarang impaled in it. Spinning around again you faced Batman again, slipping in a defensive stance. He did the same. Recognizing flashed over his face, but it didn't ease his stance.     Your eyes scanned over him instinctive to find a weakness and widened. His side was bleeding, a lot. Just by looking at him you could tell the effort it took him to stay upright. The wound on his side seemed deep, like from a knife. It had to be treated right away. Biting your bottom lip you reached for your radio slowly. You keep your eyes at him as you did, expecting him to attack. His eyes narrowed and he took a step towards you. Acting fast you spoke into the radio. "Suspect moving towards Southwest." His fist stopped inches from your face. Unflinching you found returned his glance. "He is coming towards you guys." you continued to lie through your teeth over the intercom.     Batman studied you with an unreadable face. "Got it. Stay on him." Gordon answered, before barking orders to the others. Blinking a bit you cleared your head. Reaching out you took hold of the arm he had still rised in mid-strike and pulled it over your shoulders, glad that he let you. Despite you offering him support, he didn't put any weight on you. "We have to get out of here." you frowned. You could understand that he had no real reason to trust you, but it wasn't like he had a choice right now. He was losing to much blood, soon he would not be able to fight any of the force off.     "Why are you helping me?" the Batman demanded to know. After all last time you met you had promised him 'next time'. Could it be that you really understood?     You sighed. "For one, I must be going crazy." you said. Being an officer, you knew exactly what you were doing. If they found you with him.... Yet you couldn't make yourself bring him in or even walk away. Come what may, you would help him.     "That isn't an answer." he disagreed. But he know that time was of essence. Leaning at you as much as his pride permitted, he let you lead him to your car. He let you hide you on your backseat, under a blanket. Stupid, letting himself get cornered in the first place. It was a risk, a huge one. If you wanted to you could now drive up to the headquarters and tomorrow's news would talk about his capture. Bruce wondered why he trusted you so much, even if he had few options. There was just something about you.      His bleeding was bad, you didn't like it one bit. You drove fast. Using the intercom you placed false leads and created a fictional car chase, till you got close to a blockade. Claiming he was losing you built the base for the real escape. Would you just leave during a search people would get suspicious. Likely scenarios would be that they would stop you and search your car, resulting in them finding Batman. So you needed a cover. "Where is he?" you shouted at the men on the blockade. When they couldn't answer  you drove back and through the a near parking house. Over the radio you gave your 'report' and listened to Gordon search the streets. It didn't take long till the search was called off. Meanwhile you had wasted no time searching for the fictional car and instead drove with one goal in mind.     Pulling the blanket off his face Batman pressed it against his wound to stop the bleeding, but stayed down. It wouldn't do if someone saw him through the windows. "You still haven't answered my question.'' he remarked. His head was getting dizzy from the blood-loss, but he would never admit that out loud.     Not taking your eyes off the road you shook your head softly. The answer was the same one than the real reason why you let him just go that night. Why you felt so conflicted about the hunt for him. And it was crazy. Maybe that was why you never wanted to admit it till now. But it was the truth. Taking a deep breath you nodded to yourself. "Because you are not the enemy." you said.     Bruce's eyes widened for a moment before he closed them in relief. So you did understand. After being hunted for months, by criminals and law alike it was nice to hear someone say that. To find an friend in this city.     You parked in a small garage. With it's door closed you helped him out of the car and through a connecting door into the house. "I take it you would like to avoid hospitals?" you asked as you lead him into your living room, supporting his weight till you reached the couch.      He nodded, watching as you retired a large first aid kit. Batman took off his cape and top, the latter he needed help with to his embarrassment. Carefully you got to work, cleaning his wound with alcohol. Out of respect you ignored when he hissed under his breath. "What were you doing at the docks?" you asked to give his mind something else to work with. Finished with cleaning the wound, you started on the stitches.     "Following up a lead." he explained. "The Roman is behind the new drug. A shipment is supposed to come in two days. But he is clever. No way of tracing it back to him."     Stopping for a moment you frowned. "We have a file with leads to different connections pointing to the Roman at the station." you offered. "None were ever proven, giving the investigation was stopped by the commissioner. Loeb claimed it was wasting tax-money and leading nowhere."    "Sounds like payroll to me." He gave you a thankful nod, accepting your help. Some of those leads might be just the one he needed. Your fingers hushed over his wound, resuming their work. They were only barely touching his skin, and he could hardly feel your stitches. It made him wonder how often you had to give stitches that you developed this level of skill. When you were done, you wrapped bandages around him to protect the stitches.     "Rest for a while." you offered, putting the kit away. "Nobody will expect you to be here." You weren't comfortable with the idea of him being out there just yet with how much blood he had lost. Leaving only for a moment you brought back some cookies and orange juice. It wouldn't help a lot, but at least a bit. To your surprise you found the living room empty and your window open.     On the table was a batarang and a note. The note was blank. Setting down the food and drink you picked up the batarang. You should have known that the Batman wouldn't take things easy and rest, through you still hoped he would take the rest of the night off. Moving over to the window you twirled the weapon in your hand. Of course he was nowhere in sight, but you weren't mad that he left without saying goodbye.     With a small smile you looked over to the note. "I guess I'm not the only one a bit without words, hmm?" you mused. Teaming up with the Bat seemed a bit surreal, you had hunted him for so long you didn't know what next. Your eyes fell to the batarang. Somehow it seemed unlikely that he leaves one with each possible ally. That was why it said so much. "Yeah, you be careful too." you said, looking out in the rain.

    It was so late, it was early. Alfred took the stairs down to the cave and joined Bruce, who save the pushed-back cowl was still in costume, in front of the bat-computer. He had healed from his injury from two months ago and seemed to want to make up for times lost. Not that he ever had taken nights off to rest, like the butler had repeatedly asked him at first.  The old man sighed. "I see you're working at another clue from Miss Y/l/n." he commented.     "If I can find proof for our theory, Y/l/n can take it to the DA and we not only get the dealer or middle man, but also the Roman himself." Bruce said, typing away. Y/n had been a huge help. Not only the option of coordinating his action with those of the force and having access to their files, but you also knew the city and it's demons like the back of your hand leading you to bring just as much to the table as he did in this investigation. He enjoyed working with you. "We nearly have him."     Alfred was glad to see Bruce had made a friend, but looking down at what he was holding he knew this required his attention right away. "Well, if you can tear yourself from the display for a few seconds, Master Wayne, a package has arrived." he said. "I dare say it would interest you."     Bruce waved it off, not looking up. "Put it on the side, I take a look lat-"     "Miss Y/l/n has send it." Alfred cut him off. He cleared his throat, satisfied when the man turned in his chair surprised and held out the small package.     "Y/l/n send this?" he asked hesitantly, eyeing the package as if it would bite him. The package without a doubt was addressed to Bruce Wayne. Despite that he couldn't think of any reason why Y/n should write Bruce Wayne, who you only knew as playboy that run into you once or twice. While you never seemed to dislike Bruce, this didn't offer any explanation as why you would send him anything.     "Indeed, they did." Alfred confirmed, waiting patiently. He didn't believe you would send anything that would be worrisome. Not from how Master Bruce described you. But it was troubling indeed that you would send something here just due to what reason you would send something. Which was why he had brought the package to the cave as soon as he had received it.     Finally Bruce took the package, turning it carefully in his hand before opening it. What was inside was a bit of a shock. Y/n had send him a cup and a small slip of paper. The paper had 'I switched it out and got rid of it' written on it, the cup had a bat-motive on it. "Do you know what that means?" he turned to Alfred. Of course he knew what it meant. Someone from the police had found proof to his identity. You must have found it before they could learn what it really was and switched out the evidence to protect him.     "Well, what can I say." the butler sighed. "It means that after the batcave, the bat-computer and the batcar we now also have a bat-cup. Wherever shall I find bat-coffee?" He looked at the man he had raised since he had been a child and softened at his worried face. "Aside from that, it means you had made a good friend you can trust. Don't you ever belittle that."     The vigilante frowned and turned back to the bat-computer. It also meant he was too careless, allowing such evidence to exist in the first place. Bruce looked down at the bat-cup. He smiled a little. It was nice to know that he had someone who had his back, always. "About that bat-coffee, Alfred."     "By all due respect, Master Wayne, it is five in the morning and you have a long day ahead. I'll be happy to let you have the bat-cup for breakfast, but right now it bat-bed time."

    Soft music rang through the room. Escaping to the buffet with the excuse of getting something to drink you left Gordon to face the reporter Vicki Vale on his own. He would be alright, you couldn't help with the questions about his promotion anyways. The GCPD was going through a hard time right now with Flash and Leob's trial, but you believed things were finally getting better. To help with the press image Bruce Wayne had been as nice as to throw this party, promoting the force goal to move pass corruption. It gave you also a rare occasion to dress up.     "A glass of champagne, Miss Y/l/n?" You turned around, smiling as you found Bruce standing behind you. The champagne he held out for you had a bit different coloring than the champagne on the table, making you guess it's secret. With a small chuckle you accepted the drink and took a sip of the soda. Bruce once told you that he never drank alcohol in case Batman was suddenly needed, something he knew you agreed on. "Might I say that you look beautiful tonight." he added, and he meant it. It was a wonder you weren't swarmed by admirers.     "Why, you aren't quit as bad yourself." you smiled, blushing a bit. You looked out to the dance floor. "No date tonight?" Of course you knew it was part of his cover, but you lately couldn't help but be annoyed by all his one-night-stands. If someone were to ask, you wouldn't be able to say why.     His attention focused curiously at the small frown at your face. "No, not tonight." These dates were needed to keep his playboy image up, but for a few weeks now he didn't like having them close. It felt wrong somehow. He wondered if he was starting to get paranoid, at least then it would make sense. Bruce followed your glance to the dance floor. A small smile tucked at the corner of his lips. Ever the gentleman he stepped in front of you and held out his hand. "May I ask for this dance?"     "I'm a terrible dancer." you started, but he only quirked an eyebrow and gave you that smile of his, and you felt yourself giving in. Bruce handed your drinks to one of the waiters before leading you to the floor.     The music shifted. Bruce's long, graceful fingers curl around yours. His other hand presses against your back, pulling you close as you place your free hand on his shoulder. A smile slips on his face, one you find yourself returning. He leads you effortlessly, and you follow his lead, trusting him. To your surprise the steps come to you easily. Neither of you really notice that you dance closer to  each other than the other dancers in the room for in that moment they ease to exist. There was only Bruce and you.     Not once do you take your eyes of him. His blue eyes softening and you can see the joy in them. Bruce stares at you with an intensity, as if you were holding the answer of an elusive unanswered question, a question you weren't sure he knew himself. You told yourself you were going to get over the butterflies in your stomach and look away from his memorizing eyes, start noticing the things around you again.     Eventually the song would end. But then and there, you wanted  to forget it would.

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