Suicide Squad
Warning : This article bear discussions of suicide and spoilers for Suicide Squad : Get Joker ! # 3 .
Jason Todd ’s bow asRed HoodinDC Comicsis one of the most dramatic for any character in the Bat - Family . recover an old alias used by the Joker , Red Hood introduced a level of barbarous wildness that the Bat - Family had long obviate , ab initio making him a villain . But as hisrelationship with Batman mendedover the years , Red Hood has become a necessary vocalism countering the contradictory aspects of Batman ’s moral codification . If there is anyone today that would call Batman out on his shortcoming , it is Jason Todd .
As Batman ’s 2nd Robin , Jason was famously killed by the Joker in 1988’sA Death of the Familystoryline by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo . Jason ’s death as Robindrastically change the course of Batman ’s publishing history , and was emblematic of the dark tenor that hung over many comics in the 1980s . His return decades later as the brute vigilance man Red Hood pushed Batman ’s character to newfangled territory , as Bruce Wayne was wedge to reckon with his past unsuccessful person as a father , mentor , and superhero . Now , as a attached phallus of the Bat - Family , Red Hood is poised to finally move out from the shadow of his death as Robin , which makes his characterization inSuicide Squad : Get Joker!all the more troubling .
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Despite the fact thatA Death in the Familywas released almost thirty - five years ago , Jason ’s death at the hands of the Joker continues to define his graphic symbol in the eyes of some writers , apparent in theBlack Labelminiseries , Suicide Squad : Get Joker!The miniseries details a version of Task Force X led by Red Hood as they ship on a mission to find and pop the Joker . In dividing line to his stories in current DC continuity withBatman : Urban LegendsandTask Force Zseries , Suicide Squad : Get Joker!as its title suggests , found Jason ’s characterization totally in his Joker victimhood . At the end of the third issue by Brian Azzarello and Alex Maleev , the Joker tells Red Hood that he only mattered when he was dead , urging him to end his own life . The issue cease on an equivocal note , with readers leave unclear whether or not Jason kill himself or the Joker .
Tragedy is often used as a starting point for type in comedian : the devastation ofSuperman ’s home planet of Kryptonis the ultimate example of this . And while Jason Todd ’s death is a significant part of his graphic symbol ’s arc , it would be incomplete to say that it is the only event of note . Jason ’s arc set out in victimhood , but is later delineate by personal office once he embrace the Red Hood persona , a fact thatGet Joker!ignores in lodge to prompt reader that the Joker is a terrible individual . By go out Jason Todd purely as a dupe , Get Joker!omits the most empowering part about his character : his refusal to be define by the worst thing that ’s ever pass off to him . It is this piece that makesRed Hood such a central chemical element to the Bat - Familyand DC Universe as a whole : he illustrates the authority that survivors have in overcoming their trauma . As such , Suicide Squad : Get Joker!comes across as deeply retrogress because it ignores everything that happened to Jason Todd ’s character after 1988 .
Red Hood Is An Expression of Jason Todd’s Agency.
The Joker ’s financial statement thatRed Hood only weigh when he was deadfails to realize the two chapter in Jason Todd ’s arc as a character : victimhood and way . For Jason , becoming the vigilante Red Hood after his resurrection was a powerful act of self - determination , as he domesticize a former assumed name of the Joker for his own intention : to protect people on his own damage . As define in the " Under the Hood"Batmanstoryline from Judd Winick , Doug Mahnke , Shane Davis , Eric Battle , and Paul Lee , Jason ’s use of lethal force out and guns while crimefighting was a rejection of Batman ’s rigid moral code just as much as it was a refusal to let Gotham ’s malefactor go unpunished . In adopting the Red Hood theatrical role , Jason choseneither to become a more"respectable " vigilante like Batmanor Nightwing , nor become a cruel villain like the Joker , and this decision defines his grapheme ’s complexness in comedian today .
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As such , Red Hood ’s character is uncongenial with the themes ofSuicide Squad : Get Joker!because the narration repeatedly undercut the agency at the center of Jason ’s case . WhileSuicide Squad : Get Joker!takes place out of DC ’s current continuity , it is unmanageable to conceive that a character as angry and acid as Jason Todd would voluntarily mind to anyone speak about his self - deserving , much less the Joker . To put it in linear perspective , Red Hood crusade and defeated Ra ’s al Ghulin a Lazarus Pit with weapons draftsmanship superpower from his own somebody in orderliness to prove to his foe that he was n’t " break " like everyone enounce he was .
Red Hood’s Actions Counter How Victims Are Portrayed In Comics.
Beyond providing the basis for his vigilante persona , Jason Todd ’s agency powerfully subverts the way that victim and survivor are often portray in comics . His commitment to making his own decision pushes back on Batman ’s pulsation to safely sanctify victims , introducing a level of moral complexity that provide a nuanced panorama on how fury determine the course of one ’s life . In contrast to other characters in Batman ’s life , Jason Todd seek activity , rather than memorialization , in response to the violence he has faced . Being kill by the Joker forced him into a peaceful role in DC Comics , but being resurrect as Red Hood gave Jason Todd the chance to specify himself on his own terms . In a musical style plagued bytropes such as " fridging,“Jason Todd ’s arc provide an alternate way for victims to watch their identity element beyond their own psychic trauma .
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Red Hood ’s decision to forge his own path beyond the Joker challenge what is expected of victims such as himself , and pose the base for his development as a complex reference . As much as Red Hood ’s office has helped him discover who he wants to be , it has also led him to do some dreadful things , a fact explore to heartbreaking consequence in the"Cheer " storyline inBatman : Urban Legendsfrom Chip Zdarsky , Eber Ferreira , and Eddy Barrows . In core , this trait plays an crucial function in defining Jason Todd ’s humanity as a fictitious character .
In comparison toother penis of the Bat - Family , Red Hood is not as concerned with adapt to a heroic paragon . As a character who has had more than his fair portion of difficulty in life-time , he will never achieve the same type of aspirational condition as Nightwing or Tim Drake . Even so , Jason Todd ’s arc as a character is profoundly endow in its geographic expedition of the tension underlie a survivor ’s search for themselves in the wake of their darkest moment .
Ultimately , this is what makesRed Hood ’s appearance inSuicide police squad : Get Joker!so disappointing . The journey that the persona has been on for the preceding seventeen geezerhood was disregarded in Holy Order to return to a condition quo from 1988.Red Hood ’s character has painstakingly proved how subsister of violence do not have to be defined by their past , but it is clear thatSuicide Squad : Get Joker!was more concerned with hearten the spectacle of the Joker ’s cruelty than reflect the current human beings of strip .
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Suicide Squad : Get Joker!#3is now useable from DC Comics .
