Batman 650 - Mobile Edition

Back Issues
Batman 650
By Geoff Hoppe
December 6, 2006 - 21:37

DC Comics
Writer(s): Judd Winick
Penciller(s): Eric Battle
Inker(s): Rodney Ramos

Batman #650 wraps up a long-running storyline that brings the former Robin, Jason Todd, back from the grave. As it turns out, the Jason Todd look-alike in the “Hush” arc actually was Jason Todd (for the first half of the fight, at least). In 650, Bludhaven appears to have been nuked, Batman confronts Jason Todd in his Red Hood persona, and the fate of the Joker hangs in the balance.

Eric Battle pencils the fight scenes of this issue well, though his vaguely curvy approach to drawing the human form doesn’t suit Batman, Jason Todd, or Gotham city. His style of drawing suits a formless, comic entity like Plastic Man far better than it does the unyielding severity of the Dark Knight. Battle’s at a disadvantage, however—he follows on the heels of Doug Mahnke, whose clean lines and meticulous detail gave Batman and Red Hood a believable intensity.

File this story under “m” for “manipulation” (emotional). Judd Winick strings readers along for issues, only to (apparently) kill Jason Todd. Jason’s death doesn’t even make sense—if Batman is an expert in combat, why did he aim for Jason’s jugular vein, instead of a spot that would have merely knocked Jason unconscious? Sure, death and obligatory rebirth are part of comics, but the way Red Hood was resurrected, simply to die, reeks of soap opera rather than storytelling. The reader almost expects Jason Todd to wake up and rush into Bruce Wayne’s arms as he emerges, sopping, from the shower. Add to this that Red Hood was an interesting character, and you have another strike against Winick. Top it all off with the cheesy ending that ties into One Year Later, and you have an issue to avoid like the Legacy virus.

Worth the money? Not on your life.

BATMAN #620