#rhato

But anyone else remember when DC was going to nerf Jason in the aftermath of DotF but they backpedaled when the fan backlash from the leak was INTENSE? Whether they wanted him just mutilated or they wanted him going full villain as result...

The cover was leaked, when the artist put the photos up on their personal art site. I do not know WHEN this happened in relation to the acid event happening... Just that when the story came out this cover was supposed to be from 2 issues later.

This was the story where after the hell the Joker put everyone through, and that anxiety inducing story was finally done, they kicked us in the balls and had Joker do one last big fuck you to Jason- having tempered with his helmet.

The acid helmet happened in Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011-2015) #17.

The leaked cover WAS to be the cover of issue #19.

We then spent the next few issues with Jason in a medically induced coma and they're fighting to save his skin, while Alfred is pissed that Bruce refused to admit him to an actual hospital. He's got face coverings on during this.

Then because of the backlash of the cover, they nixed it, and changed it to :

"Sometimes they are crazed vigilantes pretending to love us like a son..."

There is...a LOT to unpack there, and more to unpack about what we've just unpacked...

this time it was some guy who doesnt seem to understand the main issue 'jason fans' have w batman beating red hood in rhato rebirth 25. like yes, red hood appeared to have killed penguin on live tv, seemingly breaking the no kill rule.

however, the issue is that it is the same set up as in rhato rebirth 1, where red hood 'attempts' to assassinate the mayor, but really doesnt and even cures him of a virus. at the end of that issue, jason asks bruce to trust him, that he did it that way to go undercover. and bruce said if he thought jason was in too deep he would pull him out, and if he killed, actually took a life, then bruce would come for him.

lo and behold, a literal master marksman shoots penguin in the face and gets beaten by batman in rhato rebirth 25. thats just bruce doing what he promised, right? wrong, because jason is a master marksman with a number of non-lethal rounds, and even most non-lethal rounds will kill when shot point blank. that means he chose rounds that wouldn't. a rubber bullet directly to the face will kill someone, and yet penguin didnt die. if you read the entirety of rhato rebirth, you can tell jason is not dumb. this was not an accident that pemguin is alive.

making rhato rebirth 25 the exact same as 1, where batman sees red hood doing something potentially shady and only sees his former actions, completely ignoring that batman's whole creed is about second chances. he ignores that this is the exact same set up as the start of their deal, and only sees red hood with a gun in someone's face. does not consider that red hood has kept the rule even in private, has proof black mask is alive despite completely falling off the map after a fight with red hood. heard red hood say he hates the rules but he's following them, has seen red hood turn down multiple opportunities to kill someone he'd argue as better off dead.

jason 'killing' penguin even fulfilled the same point as 'killing' the mayor. it is to go into deeper cover, but bruce doesnt know that because he saw a literal beat-for-beat same setup as was done with the perfectly fine mayor and thought the exact same thing as he did then. this is supposed to be one of the best detectives in the world and he can't see an imitation set up when it smacks him in the face?

Anyone else remain haunted by the New 52's implication that Jason had a much younger sibling?

Because I still fucking am.

It was never shown/brought up again of course.

*Normally I cite what issue #, but given I didn't go get this today and it's been in my phone for ages, and I don't want to go through TPBs to figure it out...

i wonder if that makes the scene where essence attempts to kill him remain canon now, especially since it explicitly states his soul is innocent, moreso with how they're pushing for jason to be on friendly terms with the batfam (seemingly out of nowhere every time it happens)

personally i hope this means we might get more mentions of the all blades sometime, it was an interesting plot device that got underutilized imho (that one batman/superman annual where jason got to use the all blades was actually kinda good and i hate how little people talk about it 😭)

Sorry anon, unfortunately I haven't read rhato and I don't want to so I can't help you with that one.