Warning! Spoilers for Batman: Urban Legends #4 by DC Comics below.
Batman just avoided repeating his biggest mistake as a hero, as he saved Jason Todd before his former sidekick was killed by a DC Comics villain. In Batman: Urban Legends #4, the Red Hood is frozen solid by Mr. Freeze and before he dies, like he famously did in Batman: Death in the Family, Batman is there to reassure him everything will be fine.
Batman has seen many of his closest allies around him die at the hands of his villains – including the more recent death of Alfred. However, his arguably biggest mistake was not saving Jason Todd, who was gruesomely killed by the Joker in the iconic Batman: Death in the Family storyline by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo. When Jason was resurrected and took the mantle of the vigilante Red Hood, he lost trust in Batman for failing to be there for him when his life was on the line. Now, Bruce Wayne is getting the chance to avoid repeating history and save the former Robin.
In Red Hood & Batman’s story in Batman: Urban Legends #4 by Chip Zdarsky, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Marco To, Adriano Lucas, and Becca Carey, Jason Todd takes on Mr. Freeze. After getting trapped in a frozen building – Red Hood calls out for Batman, relaying a message to Oracle for help. Batman drops his current murder investigation and immediately jumps into the Batmobile, as he has flashbacks of losing Jason in Joker’s attack. As Red Hood’s frozen body falls out of the back of a truck, one of Freeze’s henchmen points a gun at the chilled hero. Batman arrives just in the nick of time and defeats the stooges. When he checks on Jason, who can barely speak, he’s told “you… you’re.. h-ere…” as a smiling Batman responds “always.”
While the comic ends with Batman getting frozen and being confronted by a new villain and Mr. Freeze, the moment between him and Red Hood is really notable. Jason Todd has already died once because Batman failed to save him in time. Seeing the Dark Knight prevent his second death and assure him everything will all right is quite touching.
Batman and Todd’s relationship might not ever be fully fixable, but by preventing the former Robin from being killed by one of his villains, he might have gained some goodwill from the person who completely lost trust in him. Batman and Red Hood will have to continue to support each other and work together to stop Mr. Freeze. What happens after that between the two is anyone’s guess – but for the first time in a while, there’s some hope Batman and Jason Todd can be trusted allies again. Batman: Urban Legends #4 is in comic book stores now.
