Since his resurrection, Red Hood has believed himself to be better than Batman. However, Jason Todd’s most outlandish weapon already proved that he is, in fact, better than Bruce Wayne.
As Batman’s second Robin, Jason Todd operated as Batman’s inferior. He helped Bruce defeat Gotham’s rogues and developed a taste for violent crime fighting that Batman viewed as unsavory. Bruce tried to steer Jason away from his dirtier tactics, but unfortunately he didn’t have enough time to do so before Jason was killed by the Joker. Upon his resurrection, Jason came to believe that the only way Gotham could improve was if the criminals were killed, and he adopted the mantle of Red Hood to carry out his mission.
In Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth #1, written by Scott Lobdell with art by Dexter Soy, Red Hood’s secret weapon proves he’s mastered one thing that Batman never can: cheating. Jason interrupts the mayor of Gotham’s press conference in style, riding in on his motorcycle. Of course, Batman swoops in and interrupts, and Red Hood immediately engages him in a fight. The combat remains mostly hand to hand, until Batman tells Red Hood, “You know you can’t win this.” Jason snarkily responds, “In a fair fight? Probably not. But cheating? I’ve got that down.” He then activates the taser built into the Bat-logo on his chestplate, which effectively stuns Batman. With Batman out of the equation, Jason is free to turn his attention back to the mayor.
Although the taser is somewhat awkwardly placed on Jason’s chest, he excels at proving his point. Batman tends to stick to fair fighting tactics; even if he surprises an opponent with a gadget, he still keeps it to what he sees as ethical. Red Hood, on the other hand, has no such qualms, and perhaps he never has. Jason grew up on the streets, so when he learned to fight, his only objective was to survive by any means necessary. Fighting dirty has never been an issue for him, but it continues to be a set-in-stone rule for Batman. Jason defeating Batman by taking advantage of his unwillingness to cheat makes sense, and it’s likely to happen again and again in the future.
Even though Jason has given up his guns and is trying to reintegrate himself into the Batfamily, his irreconcilable differences with Bruce remain. DC fans will likely see Red Hood and Batman at each other’s throats yet again, and when they do, they shouldn’t be surprised when Red Hood cheats to get ahead.
