#ig in sum i like the bones of utrh i simply find the meat questionable. seriously stenchy. revolting a bit

[roobylavender]

UTRH is a yay or nay for you? What are your thoughts on it?

generally a nay. my main contentions with it are as follows:

the bruce characterization is ass. granted i understand winick is operating within a specific post-war-games context, but i don't think that precludes him from applying bruce's no kill rule or character history properly. bruce is hesitant to play god, yes, and would hesitate to kill a villain of his own volition, but he's not opposed to allowing villains to die if saving their victims is a more pertinent priority. the bruce of pre-00s canon would not have prioritized saving the joker's life over saving jason's, at least imo. jason would have been his first and foremost priority and to hell with the joker, whether that meant letting the joker go or letting him die in the debris, etc. saving the victim would be paramount. ig you could argue that jason as framed within this specific situation was not a victim per se, but he was the general victim of the joker's transgressions, and i think bruce would value that not only in general but also specifically considering he nearly murdered the joker in the first place immediately following jason's death. i don't think bruce coming to his senses before he could actually do so devalues jason's worth as a victim in bruce's history

winick's approach to condemnable evil is severely flawed. it's not praxis for jason to dispose of every drug dealer on the street. that's an approach detached from any sort of material reality. and, to give winick some leeway here, i would be okay with jason nonetheless going through with all of this if there was any follow-up critically questioning jason as to those flaws in theory. but editorial engagement with jason as a character never seems to go beyond the basic question of whether or not it's right to kill. it never extends into the domino effect consequences of that decision to kill on a systemic level. it never really asks why killing is bad specifically in context of the victims it generates. the cheers story by zdarsky makes an attempt to ask that question, but it fails to stick the landing in a myriad of ways not only bc of how it mischaracterizes jason as a child but also bc of how it mischaracterizes his ultimate desires (bc obv jason's problem is feeling like he doesn't belong in the family. eye roll)

tangentially, the fact that jason's parents are removed from the equation entirely. this is concerning for two reasons. the more prominently discussed of those reasons is how the retroactive erasure of catherine and sheila from jason's narrative removes any opportunity to emphasize on the fact that he was not reckless so much as he was someone who cared deeply for people and thereby acted upon that care. the less prominently discussed of those reasons is how the retroactive erasure of willis conveniently removes any opportunity to engage with the flawed ideology as to designations of evil that i mentioned above. i am always amazed that so many writers, but esp winick, forget willis was alleged to have died, by starlin, in a death in the family, because he was a cog in the mob boss machine simply trying to support his family. willis potentially presents the greatest opportunity to criticize jason for his actions bc the people jason is doing away with, in part, are no different from his own father. the loved ones left behind when jason does away with gotham lackeys are no different from himself. they are the boy left to fend for himself in a dilapidated apartment, booting car tires to make a living. and the fact that no one wants to draw that comparison absolutely astounds me

and like. minor complaint in comparison ig but i feel like having bruce be the only one party to jason's return was stupid lmao. the guy haunted the bat mythos and everyone in it for fifteen years preceding his re-entry. you would think it'd make sense to give him the opportunity to terrorize them all upon return (i am not counting hush bc hush is a nonsense book and it should never have existed)

#outbox #ig in sum i like the bones of utrh i simply find the meat questionable. seriously stenchy. revolting a bit