InsaneJournal

We start with Jason and Bruce on an unusual stakeout at....



Instantly I know I'm going to love this. In the middle of a racetrack Bruce is wearing a suit that probably cost more than the combined annual salary of everyone else in the stand put together, and is all business. Jason, on the other hand, is stuffing his face with concession food!

This is business because there have been a spate of odd accidents amongst Gotham sportsmen, a high-diver who nearly broke his back attempting an impossible quintuple somersault, and a hanf glider who swooped too low and was nearly killed when he crashed. Jack Hogan, three time winner of the Indianapolis 500, may be next!

What Jason appears to be doing in this next image has long been a source of sniggering from those who wish to read it in a smutty light... I will refrain from comment.



So it's an instant dash to change into costume, which they managed just as Hogan attempts a lethal turn and flips out...



And this has all the context it needs... seriously...



I love Robin's expression, biting his lip as he worries over Batman. This is clearly Robin as a young kid (The story later confirms that he's 12), who is worried he's out of his depth half the time. And even though he probably is, he keeps going anyway, that's what being brave is all about.



It's worth noting that Batman takes the time to reassure Robin of how brave he was and how vital his aid was. (And there's something about Robin following up Batman's shout of "Medic" which reminds me of what my nephews used to do, copying their dad because copying dad is always cool)

They get Hogan to the hospital, where he can't explain his actions but does note that he'd do it again in a moment if he had the chance....

Bruce and Jason head back to the Batcave to check out Hogan's blood sample... Again I love the art here, Bruce feeling around for the slide, Jason staring at it to no obvious end, and Bruce's and Jason's priceless expressions as Jason hands it over. Jason is SUCH a kid here. (Take that psycho-Jason fans! Ahem.. sorry)



It's a Scarecrow toxin, and cue another nice little scene I've had to cut, where the plot exposition for readers about who the Scarecrow is is given in the form of Jason having to show to Bruce that he's done his homework, and can recite the past of Professor Jonathan Crane...

They decide to split up, Robin will stake out Hogan's hospital room in case anything happens to the CURRENT target, whilst Batman will stake out the home of Alvin Kenner, a stunt cyclist, who is a likely NEXT target.

Sure enough, the Scarecrow comes a-calling on Hogan, having given the medical staff on that floor of the hospital a mild case of pathophobia (fear of disease) to make sure he's not disturbed... Hogan takes Scarecrow to task for not warning him about the side effects of the chemical he'd bought which was supposed to remove any fear he had when competing...





Jason starts to hallucinate about recent events, with a burning, skeletal Batman emerging from flames...





I love those last pages, partly because the Scarecrow apparently carries a nice little wheeled baggie for transporting kidnapped Boy Wonders more easily, but mostly for those last with Hogan, it's horrible, and sad, but I confess I giggled a little.

The Scarecrow next makes an appearance at Alvin Kenner's penthouse...



Batman immediately goes to offer him one which, as it turns out, was a mistake, as Scarecrow hits him with a dart...



Oooh, that's a bit of a low blow there Batman, Robin's still in training, but it seems a mite thoughtless.

The darts are anaesthetic tipped, but the Scarecrow hits him with another kinds which...



When Batman wakes up, he opens the envelope... and that's when it starts to get scary...



I've always said that Batman frowning would be terrifying, but Batman smiling? That would be SERIOUS wetting oneself time, and no one does creepy smiling Batman as well as Alan Davis.

Meanwhile, at the Atlas Quarry, Scarecrow is introducing a captive Robin to another aspect of being the Boy Hostage... you have to listen to the villains GLOATING.... "Batman isn't here yet..."





I love the fact that Davis went to the trouble of showing the cut stitching around the place where Robin's insignia had been removed. And again, he does GREAT expressions...





Luckly he managed to avoid the four trucks heading towards him by jumping straight up in the air.... Then on to the rest of the complex...





Batman shifting between thrill seeking adrenaline junkie, and coldly logical manhunter, is nicely done... the bit about "I'm already halfway... No I'm ONLY halfway" is great.

Next up, a classic trap which could have come straight from the 1940's or 50's.... in fact, some of it did... A giant, steel, spiked-covered Batman-crushing tube heading towards him...





Jason is many things, but he has a lousy poker face. From crying real, if manly, tears, to sheer joy in a second or two...isn't it cute?

Batman takes out Scarecrow with a single uppercut to the jaw...



And again, I find the obvious parent/child relationship overcomes any sort of inapproprate implications of their relationship.

Batman explains that, as the guns were fixed in place, all he needed to do was used the air trapped in his cape when he fell in, and controlled breathing, to outlast the guns firing duration.

And the final bit is a nice exemplar of Batman's concerns over Robin at times like this....



"Yeah, years after you've ACTUALLY been murdered by the Joker, and then come back as a psycho maniac who is as unlike this version of you as it's possible to be, we'll look back and have some yucks..."

Looking at this a few more times, I really have to add a word in praise of Adrienne Roy as colourist. We're used to a more sophisticated colour range these days, with computer colouring options and improved printing and paperstock, but Roy is quite prepared to make the limited colours work for her and isn't afraid to amp up the colours. They amplify the cartoony feel to the art (just look at just HOW bright Robin's tunic and cape are compared to everything else in any scene he's in) without making it look childishly OVERbright.