Red Hood and the Outlaws #17 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I only realized that I had missed this issue when I was putting away issue #18 and now, after having read it, I sort of wished that I hadn't.

Lobdell does some weird stuff here with Jason, making it unclear if he misunderstands Jason's history or if we're supposed to believe that certain aspects of it are now part of the larger ret-con.  For example, Jason comments that he had to die to get the chip off his shoulder, despite the fact that it was dying (and Bruce not avenging him) that actually put the chip on his shoulder.  He's also weirdly protective of Tamara, pledging to protect her every day of his life, as if they were married.  (Also, thank God that Lobdell wasn't given the responsibility of writing "Nightwing."  Dick claiming that his relationship with Starfire cost him the ability to care about anyone else is about the most un-Dick thing that I could possibly imagine him saying.  I can't fathom the damage that Lobdell could've wrecked to his character had he been writing that title instead of this one.)

The weirdest part, though, is that we never really get an answer to Joker's assertion that he created Jason.  After Lobdell seemingly confirming that sequence of events as canonical during "Death of the Family," Bruce denies it here.  Given that we learned at the end of "Death of the Family" that Bruce is generally right about Joker, we're essentially left to believe Bruce's version.  Lobdell could be leaving some wiggle room, since Bruce doesn't outright deny the facts, just the conclusion that Joker "made" Jason.  But, again, if Joker did know those facts, then he definitely knew Jason's identity and we get on the identity issue that was the core of my problem with "Death of the Family" all over again.

Speaking of Bruce, it seems odd that he simply more or less forgives Jason for being a murderer.  So much of the breach between Jason and the Bat-family in the DCU was based on the fact that they felt responsible to bring him to justice for his crimes.  Here, Bruce essentially tut-tuts his methods but congratulates him for his results.  It's a bizarre moment and one that I'd more or less like to forget.

At any rate, issue #18 is an infinitely superior issue to this one.  In fact, I think I'm going to re-read it, just to make sure I remember it that way.