The Outlaw is coming home. After finally putting an end to Underlife in Mexico, Jason Todd has made the decision to return to Gotham City. With the aid of his new allies Wingman and Bunker, the Red Hood plans to return to the city where he was beaten down by his adopted father, Batman. But why? What would possess Jason to go back to Gotham when he knows that Batman will be waiting for the Outlaw to slip up? Simple. Good, old-fashioned revenge.
(Spoilers Incoming)
As we see the Gotham skyline close in on the Iceberg Lounge, Red Hood’s dialogue reveals that the club has a new owner, one just as bad as the last. He knows this for a fact, because the new owner is him. As Jason is being interviewed for Gotham News, he is asked why he bought the club after Cobblepot disappeared, to which he responds, “The position came up out of the blue and I saw an opportunity. Naturally I asked myself…’What would Bruce Wayne do?’” Elsewhere in the club, a man tries to get away after stealing a patron’s wallet but is stopped by Suzie Su (one of Jason’s old enemies). Jason has hired her and her sisters to perform various jobs throughout the club. One of them ends up being harassed by members of the Falcone crime family, to which Jason has Miguel (Bunker) bring them to the “igloo suite”. However, once they arrive, Bunker uses his powers to drop them in the water surrounding the club. We then get a flashback of what happened immediately after the fight with Solitary. Bunker inadvertently created a sinkhole that swallowed the entire prison. As Bunker breaks down at the thought of what his life has become, Jason comforts him and assures him that they will be fine.
In the present, Jason is in his office with Suzie about to toast to “the straight and narrow”. However, at that moment, the Batwing flies right next to the window in Jason’s office. Suzie immediately draws her gun and heads for the door before being laid out by Batman, to which Jason calmly offers the Dark Knight a drink. Batman confronts him and warns him that coming back to Gotham was a mistake that he would have to pay for. Jason replies, “Take me in…. Oh wait, it just occurred to me. It was Red Hood who shot Oswald Cobblepot in the face. But I guess you’ll come up with a perfectly reasonable explanation why you’re dragging one of your foster sons to the Gotham City police…I’m looking forward to the chance to explain my side of the story in court…See if you can convince them to send me to Arkham. Wouldn’t it be a riot if I wound up in Joker’s old cell?” At that point, Batman says nothing and leaves through the window, to which Jason tells him, “Stop by anytime, dad.” Then we get the perfect line that sums up how Jason sees Batman: “I don’t hate him. I just can’t be him.” Jason then reveals that he has Penguin trapped inside the Iceberg Lounge in order to make him watch as Jason brings down his entire empire in front of him.
All I can say to sum up how I feel about this issue is “yes”. Not only has Jason taken over the Penguin’s club, he did it in a way that keeps Batman from being able to do anything about it. I’m in love with the idea that Jason’s grand plan is to make Cobblepot watch his empire burn away as he’s helpless to stop it. Typically, we only get to see Jason’s violent vigilante side, so seeing his ability to manipulate all the people around him for his plan is such a nice change of pace. In addition, the dialogue between Jason and Bruce was perfect. In my head, that’s exactly how their relationship should be right now. Hopefully the rest of the arc will stay on this course and we get to see Jason in this position for a long time to come.