Book of the Week: Batman Annual #25


Everybody loves a mystery. The only thing better than a really good mystery is a really good resolution. And you know it’s a really, really good resolution when someone who doesn’t even know the mystery thinks it’s amazing.

I know practically nothing about Jason Todd. I read the issue of Teen Titans he was in, and the last two issues of Batman (which I bought and read the same day as this isue). I know about the Hush/Clayface thing. But I haven’t read Hush, I haven’t read Death In The Family, I haven’t read anything more than the last two issue of Judd Winick’s run. Yet the story of how he returned from the dead had me on the edge of my seat.

Batman Annual 25It’s not very often that someone gets brought back from the dead in away that’s original. Usually it’s a ninja ressurection, a clone, the old “he’s not dead if there’s not as body” cliche, or the even older and cliche-ier “he just looked dead, but he wasn’t.” Jason Todd died. He was rotting in the ground for six months. Then he wasn’t, because he never should have been. You can certainly groan at the seemingly unnecessary connection to Infinite Crisis (surprise, surprise), tying it to the biggest crossover of the last 20 years doesn’t take away from it all.

Then there’s the Ra’s Al Ghul stuff. There’s something that seemed just right about Ra’s and Talia learning about Jason Todd and making sure that they would be the only two people that knew he was alive. We don’t really know if they wanted to rehabilitate Jason out of respect for Batman or as a way to manipulate him. Hopefully somewhere down the line Judd Winick will get a chance to further explore that particular period of Jason’s life, and the seemingly lasting relationship he’s formed with Talia.

And how cool was it that they used the original art by Jim Aparo from the alternate ending of Death In The Family?

I’ve probably got a much different take on this issue than most who read it. I’m not a longtime Batman reader, I’m not a Jason Todd fan, and I didn’t have any emotional investment in the story or the reveal of why Jason’s not dead anymore (which also meant I didn’t have any expectations that could be let down). Given that, it’d take a damn good story to get me excited about it. And Batman Annual #25 was a damn good story.