Saturday, July 18, 2015
Red Hood - Accountable - P. A. Nolte
1/ Outside a boarded-up brownstone in the run down part of Gotham is The Batmobile, sans a front tire. The back tire was being viciously attacked by a 13-year-old with a crowbar until Batman arrived. Now he is being hit in the stomach by that same 13-year-old with that same crowbar. (Batman #408.)
Jason (Caption): You ever read Atlas Shrugged?
2/ A line of betting booths at an upscale racetrack. In the background, Batman is fighting off two large, bald men in matching green suits. The look on his face is one of terror as he observes what his partner is doing. In the foreground, Robin is on top of Two-Face, who he's knocked to the ground. Robin's hands are wrapped around Two-Face's neck and he shows no sign of letting go anytime soon. (Batman #411)
Jason (Caption): I hated it, except for one part.
3/ The Joker smiling down at an unseen Jason Todd. His eyes are red. Both his face and clothes are splattered with blood, as is the crowbar dangling in his left hand. The background is black. The Joker is all Jason Todd sees before he dies. (Batman #427)
Jason (Caption): "A lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one's reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one's master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person's view requires to be faked..."
4/ Talia al Ghul watches as Jason Todd is revived in a Lazarus Pit. His back arches in pain as the murky water splashes around him. Ra's al Ghul is also in the water, and looks furious that his daughter has so cavalierly interrupted one of his ritualistic baths. (Batman Annual #26)
Jason (Caption): I like the accountability of that.
5/ Batman's reflection in the Red Hood's helmet.
Batman: This isn't about vengeance, Jay. It never was.
Batman: It's about justice.
Red Hood: Tell it to The Joker...
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A banging script, Phil. I dig the amount of care and research demonstrated with the panels you've lifted, but I love the through line you introduce with the Atlas Shrugged element, all building elegantly to that final panel. Well constructed piece, my man.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I just finished reading most of Jason's Post-Crisis appearances last week, so the timing of the prompt was a lucky coincidence.
DeleteNice way to encapsulate Jason's early career into one page! The only thing I'd change is the length of the Atlas Shrugged quote. 2000 AD has a rule in their submission guidelines that no caption / balloon should be over 25 words, and no more than three per panel. So maybe breaking the quote up into different captions could ease the reader's eye.
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