InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "We do not sow."

runespoor7 (runespoor7) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-06-25 23:51:00

Entry tags:

char: batman/bruce wayne, char: neron, char: robin/red hood/jason todd, creator: howard porter, creator: mark waid, event: underworld unleashed, publisher: dc comics

What would you give...
Four scans from Underworld Unleashed, which was written in 1995.

For context: Neron (satanic archvillain) is going around the DCU, attempting to strike bargains with good and bad guys alike, granting them their fondest wish in exchange for... their souls, mostly. (For the 'marriage to the love of their life and their unborn child' version, it's the third door on the right.)

The narration is overblown, which sort of fits, but which is also the thing that kept me from declaring this a Perfect Moment a while back.

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	icon_uk 2009-06-25 05:14 pm UTC (link)
	Nice bit of horror there. The "not quite like a pumpkin" bit lingers rather in the mind, as do the "shuffling footsteps". (Reply to this)

	sistermagpie 2009-06-25 05:22 pm UTC (link)
	Jason looks like a wonderful combination of vibrant and sinister in that shot. Nice. (Reply to this)

	daggerpen 2009-06-25 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	... okay, I'll admit it- that "pumpkin" line made me shudder. (Reply to this)

	foxhack 2009-06-25 06:41 pm UTC (link)
	Wait, he wanted to erase Damian? reads Oh. (Reply to this)

	espanolbot 2009-06-25 06:58 pm UTC (link)
	Bruce should take a page from the Shade's book and just flat out insult him when he makes the offer. Though the Shade has the handy things of being both immortal and immensely powerful, so I guess it gets past. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	daningram 2009-06-25 07:22 pm UTC (link)
	Smarting off to Neron was likely one of the reasons why Neron empowered so many Starman villains with exactly what they needed to tear Opal City apart. Mist, Rag Doll and Dr.Phosphorus did some serious damage with their upgrades. So yeah, not a good idea to smart off to Satan. He holds a grudge. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	runespoor7 2009-06-26 01:45 am UTC (link)
	Bruce was too busy being heartbroken that he was going to say no to really think about making a convincing Goddamn Batman impression. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	icon_uk 2009-06-27 05:14 am UTC (link)
	Mongul tried that too, he defied Neron. Neron broke his neck like a twig without even appearing to strain. He can be refused on his offer that comes with the territory, he will not be insulted without retribution. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mysteryfan 2009-06-25 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, intriguing. Well-done creepiness all round with the writing and the art. I like the use of sound in this story. I also like the open-endedness of what kind of Jason he'd get back. I mean, a Robin's feet shouldn't... shuffle. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	darklorelei 2009-06-26 12:30 am UTC (link)
	I agree. It's very 'Monkey's Paw'-esque. (Reply to this) (Parent)

psychop_rex
2009-06-26 02:34 am UTC (link)

This is a nicely creepy moment, I agree, but it always struck me as a little bit off. I mean, surely Bruce's greatest wish would be to have his parents back again? That is, after all, the central feature of his career - that it was all caused by the death of his parents. Wouldn't the reversal of that be the natural thing to offer him?
And incidentally, has it been genuinely confirmed that the Red Hood Jason actually IS - or was - the Jason Todd who got pulpified by the Joker? I mean, in the years since then, it has been pounded home over and over again that Jason was, indeed, dead as a doornail. There was actually a retelling of the death that had Batman search for and find Jason's corpse - which was, in his own words, 'already growing cool to the touch'. It was recognizably him - we weren't in 'slipping the costume on another corpse to throw them off the scent' territory; his face was undisfigured. And I presume, therefore, that since Bats found the corpse, he made sure to have it buried, so we're not in 'he was only MOSTLY dead' territory, either, unless you think a guy can return in good health after being buried and embalmed. The 'alternate Jason' explanation makes sense to me, but none of the others do.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

runespoor7
2009-06-26 02:42 pm UTC (link)

Jason was really dead. He was brought back to life (by Superboy Prime punching time retroactively, but that doesn't matter). So yes, there were magical forces at work. But "make no mistake, it is him", in the words of the narrative of Batman Annual #25.

I think Neron must have thought about the issue and decided Bruce would be even less likely to agree to his parent's return than to Jason's. Bruce is as aware as the reader that his parents' death is Batman's origin, and such a offer would ring more alarm bells that just bringing Jason back.

Also, Jason's death was unnatural in a way Thomas and Martha's murder isn't; parents aren't supposed to bury their children, after all. Neron's playing on the guilt chord as well, and while Bruce sometimes feel guilty for his parent's death (according to the writer or the version of the story), he was responsible for Jason.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

psychop_rex
2009-06-26 04:33 pm UTC (link)

Ah, yes - magic - gawdsdammit. The laziest laziest LAZIEST way of bringing people back from the dead that has ever been come up with. I mean, it's one thing to off a character with plans to bring him back in the near-future - hell, the Joker has made a career of doing just that - but after such a long time, and so much history - pfooey. Why not just say 'we changed our minds 'cause we thought it'd sell more comics,' and get it over with?

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	icon_uk 2009-06-27 05:16 am UTC (link)
	I mean, surely Bruce's greatest wish would be to have his parents back again? Fair point, though I think that his parent's death is the bigger "tragedy", but Jason's death was his bigger "personal failure" (Reply to this) (Parent)

	proteus_lives 2009-06-26 02:35 am UTC (link)
	A very well-done little snapshot. Excellent dialogue and even if Batman said no, Neron still performed a demon's duty. He created pain, sadness, agony and doubt. (Reply to this)