OMG, I got my wish! They hug it out! Literally! Hurrah!
Lobdell gives us a gift here, delivering Jason from the rage that has defined him since he returned from the dead and bringing him back into the fold of the Bat-family. Unlike everything about the Bat-books over the last few months, this moment actually feels like something planning for a while. After all, the symmetry couldn't be better: as two Robins exit (with Damian dying and Dick leaving), another one returns. If anyone deserves this moment, it's Jason.
Lobdell does a pretty good job (particularly for him) of taking us on a tour of Jason's sub-conscious, showing how much he has allowed his life to be defined by Joker. In fact, it's actually the only Bat-book to address the aftermath of "Death of the Family" directly, showing how Joker's assault on the Bat-family leaves Jason contemplating his tortured relationship with him. Moreover, it also opens the door to Jason contemplating his role within the Bat-family itself, with Lobdell showing that Jason's way of dealing with his past has largely been to destroy it.
Above all else, Lobdell uses Jason's supporting cast brilliantly to transition Jason to this new phase. Alfred provides the warmth that Jason's entire life has been lacking and reminds Jason why he would want to return to the fold in the first place, why family is important to someone who needs it as much as Jason does. Moreover, Ducra understandably plays the role of Jason's therapist and pushes him to put aside his past so that he can live in the present. Finally, Bruce does what needs to be done to set the stage for the final reconciliation and tells Jason that it's time to put aside the blame and come home. By using these characters so effectively, Lobdell makes the final moment feel organic, a hard-won truth that Jason only now lets himself believe.
Honestly, I couldn't be happier. I've been waiting for this moment since Jason returned from the dead. Judd Winick did a great job in the DCU of showing the understandably violent initial phase of Jason's rebirth, where his rage drove him to become the deadly vigilante that he was as the Red Hood. But, it's time to draw a line under that chapter. After so many missed opportunities with this character, I feel like his oddly extended adolescence is coming to an end. DC is actually going to let Jason become an adult, to put aside his baggage and rise above his tragedy. I really doubted that we would ever get here and I'm really excited to see where we're going. So, thanks, Scott Lobdell, for righting this ship before you left. I think we're actually good now.
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