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A review by saoirseak
Batman: Second Chances by Dave Cockrum, Chris Warner, Norm Breyfogle, Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, Jo Duffy, Ross Andru, Max Allan Collins, Denys Cowan
5.0
This collection contains one of my favourite Batman stories of all time.
No, I'm not talking about Jason Todd's origin story, or the issue where Nightwing confronts Batman about his hypocrisy in firing one sidekick and immediately finding another.
I'm talking about Batman #412, where Bruce and Jason fight a punk mime.
...Okay, in all seriousness though, I love most of the stories in this collection. Jason Todd is my favourite Robin, and while I love some of the stories that have been told about him after his death/resurrection, these original Jason-Robin stories get to the heart of the character. I've spent a lot of time frustrated at more recent retcons (and people only familiar with those retcons) which depict Jason as a violent thug who was always destined for evil. It's nice to see these stories back in print as a counter to that sort of thing.
My one complaint is that issue 414 (a dark, violent Batman solo adventure, drastically different in tone to the stories around it) was included in the collection while issues 424-425 (crucial Jason-Todd-as-Robin reading material) were not. If you like this book, seek out those two issues!
No, I'm not talking about Jason Todd's origin story, or the issue where Nightwing confronts Batman about his hypocrisy in firing one sidekick and immediately finding another.
I'm talking about Batman #412, where Bruce and Jason fight a punk mime.
...Okay, in all seriousness though, I love most of the stories in this collection. Jason Todd is my favourite Robin, and while I love some of the stories that have been told about him after his death/resurrection, these original Jason-Robin stories get to the heart of the character. I've spent a lot of time frustrated at more recent retcons (and people only familiar with those retcons) which depict Jason as a violent thug who was always destined for evil. It's nice to see these stories back in print as a counter to that sort of thing.
My one complaint is that issue 414 (a dark, violent Batman solo adventure, drastically different in tone to the stories around it) was included in the collection while issues 424-425 (crucial Jason-Todd-as-Robin reading material) were not. If you like this book, seek out those two issues!