The worse thing about liking Jason Todd as a character(from utrh and on, nu52 made me want to chew metal) is that he will never be able to fulfill his original narrative purpose if he is in a comic with Batman.
All the interesting little tidbits you could pick out of gamut of terrible to mid post utrh pre nu52 appearances, are left to subtext(because in the times he was being written being hinted at being queer just made you a 'darker'/'mature', throw away lines that might imply things like CSA and such were used to make him seem more irredeemable, blah, blah).
As ham fisted the 'war on drugs' narrative was as a product of the times and the writer, the underlying conflict of his appearance in those comics was the conflict he created by presenting a different option to Bruce's way of doing things. In the comics it's EXPLICITLY mentioned that crime is DOWN post Red Hood takeover.
Basically, her was Ghostmaker before Min Khoa became a thing.(if Min Khoa is actually a newer character and not some obscure callback refitted for the modern era).
His purpose was to point out Bruce's flaws in thinking, in his rules. To shine a light on the collateral of Bruce's actions and lack thereof. As many have pointed out he is the 'imperfect victim' violent, vengeful and threatening.
Because he was framed as being a RIVAL to Bruce in fighting, in planning, in manipulation.
But we can't let that kind of narrative stand, not in any of the Batman comics he appeared in after that.
There is, of course, the fact that many writers for DC had a grudge against Jason and have explicitly mentioned hating him since his days as ROBIN, before Winick did the utrh storyline.
His narrative purpose as a dark mirror for Bruce couldn't stand, because if it did they would have to face him killing actually named characters in Gotham. Or even showing Batman in a negative light if they truly wanted to dig into a conflict between the characters.
Instead he was stretched like taffy and shoved into whatever mold a writer could conceivable crunch him into(like more than one comic book character). So he alternates(before nu52/rebirth) between a mad, delusional sociopath or a cold, calculated danger with all of Batman's talents and none of his restraint. He also seesaws between incompetent and dangerous depending on which character they want him to prop up or knock down depending on their personal tastes.
Ignoring any pre-established motivations or system of morality that he explicitly HAD in his first post-resurrection appearance.
I like Jason Todd for the characters potential and like most comic book readers I take what I want from the comics and ignore everything else because that's my prerogative.
There's a REASON those that are fans of his character want him to either be a villain again or to be mostly removed from Batman comics except for select cameos and it has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that he can never live up to his potential as a character when in those kind of ensembles.
Because writers don't want to or CANT by editorial mandate, use him for the purpose he was created for post-ressurection.
This is coming from a guy who fucking LOVES fix-it and Batfamily fics, but as many can attest--what you like in ur fanfic is entirely different from what you might like from the original material.
Anyway, rant over.
