My Two Dads
Written By: Peter J. Tomasi
Art By: Dexter Soy, Dave McCaig
Letters By: Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 20, 2016
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
We have come to
the end of our six-issue sojourn through the dusty corners of Jason Todd’s
mind, and it is bittersweet, my fellow Arkhamverse fans. We knew going into
this that Jason Todd was Arkham Knight, we knew that the events of the video
game had yet to play out, and still I was enjoying this flashback romp. All
good things, etc., et cetera. If you read the first five issues of this
miniseries, then I don’t see why you’d stop now. And if you haven’t read any of
them, I can’t imagine why you’d start with the last one. So enough of the
unnecessary soft sell! Read on!
Explain It!:
While Bruce is out getting empanadas, Jason “Arkham Knight” Todd breaks
into the Batcave so he can hack into Oracle’s communications system. After
making fun of Batman’s formidable security, Jason spies something strange: his
Robin uniform suspended magically in a glass cylinder, lit by a single, doleful
spotlight. This is something long-time fans of Batman comics have seen for
twenty years, the weird and creepy shrine Bruce Wayne keeps to honor his
murdered sidekick. Over time, he’s also been shown to keep other costumes in
similar, singular cylinders (there’s your band name, you’re welcome) which is
strange because 1) suspending your crime-fighting costume in a giant glass
capsule is not really preferable to using a closet, and 2) it takes a little
away from the dignity of Jason Todd’s memorial, like after he died Bruce just
tossed his costume in its own pneumatic tube for lack of anything better to do.
It’s sort of like how a bride spends umpteen dollars on a dress that she wears
for one night and then stuffs in the bottom of some steamer trunk with sweaters
she hasn’t worn since high school.
The sight of this uniform sends us to familiar flashback territory again,
this time to the near-conclusion of the video game Batman: Arkham City: Batman
is in a theater battling someone he believes to be the Joker, meanwhile the
real Joker is very ill and manipulating one of his trademark overblown schemes
from his veritable deathbed (play the game if you want to know the deal!) Jason
is skulking along the catwalks, watching the fight unfold, when he encounters
the real, sickly Joker! This is it! Jason is facing his tormenting mentor! Now,
dear reader, is when the true deficits of comic book reviewing must be exposed:
what follows here is essentially a long, tortured conversation between Jason and
the Joker. And I can easily tell you the outcome of this conversation—Joker
gives Todd the idea to become Arkham Knight—but I will have done the great dialogue
a disservice. This is a cool scene, for those who have played the video games
as well as for faithful readers of this miniseries. It doesn’t contain a ton of
action (though they do get into a couple of scuffles of which Joker is the
cackling victor) but it has a lot of what the kids today are calling the feels. I don’t actually love the idea of
the Joker giving Jason Todd the idea to become Arkham Knight, it seems a little
too pat. But I do love this scene, and if you’ve got any investment in these characters,
then you will too.
Jason sort of pouts and is about to punch a picture of Batman and Robin
sitting on the Batcave computer—yes, Bruce actually keeps a picture like it’s a
day at the fucking office for him!—but thinks better of it and instead finishes
his mission and bugs out. Deathstroke checks in to tell him that his army is
ready and willing, and then it’s just a matter of setting into motion the
events that precipitate Batman: Arkham
Knight—which Jason freely admits is all to put Batman in his place.
After seeing the brutal tortures Jason went through in issues #3 and #4,
it’s tough not to feel for this knucklehead. But then you have to remember that
he held an entire city hostage in the video game so your heart won’t bleed too
much for him. Dexter Soy and company do a good job arting up this issue, as
they have through the whole series, but Tomasi’s writing runs away with the
show in a conversation with Jason Todd that is thrilling and gut-wrenching in
equal parts. If you haven’t read any of this series and you’re curious for
whatever reason, then give it a try—but from issue #1, if you please.
Bits and Pieces:
I had a lot of
trouble scoring this issue of Batman: Arkham Knight – Genesis. It is a pretty
talky comic book. But if you’ve been following the story all along, and know a
little something about the Arkhamverse as presented in the Rocksteady video
games, then you will definitely enjoy the dialogue. It’s been a good
miniseries—not the greatest, but thoroughly enjoyable and consistent in the way
monthly comic books should be. Hats off to Tomasi and Soy!
8/10
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