Warning! Contains Spoilers For Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Red Hood #1!
Batman has a unique relationship with each member of his extended family of crimefighters, but his most complex dynamic by far is with Jason Todd, the former Robin who was killed by the Joker and resurrected, becoming the anti-hero known as Red Hood. Now, as the Gotham War threatens to tear the Bat-Family apart, Red Hood has paid Batman the ultimate compliment, in an unexpected way.
Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Red Hood #1 – by Matthew Rosenberg, Nikola Cizmesija, Rex Lokus, and Troy Peteri – finds Red Hood training the criminals of Gotham, using the Caped Crusader’s own tactics.
In the course of training Catwoman’s new criminal class, Red Hood reveals his true feelings on Batman and just how unstoppable a figure Batman truly is.
Jason Has Never Denied That He Learned Everything From Batman
In Gotham War: Red Hood #1, Batman comes up, while Red Hood is training two pairs of criminals; the criminals ask if Red Hood thinks they’re ready to go toe-to-toe against Batman. Red Hood finds this idea hilarious, saying that Batman is one of the greatest fighters to ever live. While this is certainly true, it’s unusual to see Jason talk about Batman positively, especially to a group of criminals – and while what Jason said was certainly high praise, it’s not the true compliment Jason gave Batman. Jason honors Batman in a way that Bruce surely will not be pleased about: by using Batman’s own training methods to help Gotham’s criminals.
Jason Is Elevating Gotham’s Criminals With Batman’s Own Teachings
Batman puts all of his Robins through intense training, teaching them about criminology, detective work, and martial arts. Jason went through this training program, learning everything Batman had to teach him. While Jason clearly disagrees with some of Batman’s philosophy and ideas, it is clear Jason never had a problem with Batman’s actual training. This has been shown numerous times throughout Jason’s history, such as when Jason used Batman’s training as Red Hood to manipulate both Batman and Joker. Despite the two being at odds right now, Jason’s continued adherence to Bruce Wayne’s training is the sincerest compliment he could give the Caped Crusader.
When Jason is put in charge of training Selina’s batch of thugs, Jason doesn’t come up with a training regiment on his own; instead, he puts the thugs through the same training that Jason himself went through. That is the ultimate compliment that Jason pays Batman. Throughout his entire life as Red Hood, Jason has continually fallen back on Batman’s training time and time again. Despite their core fundamental disagreement, as two very different types of heroes, Red Hood still knows that Batman is one of the best to ever live, and that few, if any, can surpass his skills as a fighter and a teacher.
Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Red Hood #1 is on sale now from DC Comics!
