Arkham Knight Does One Character's Story Better Than Two Other Mediums.*Spoilers

The Red Hood AKA Jason Todd. One of the most badass characters in comic book history. His story can be found in (at least) three different mediums and his personality as the Red Hood is identical regardless. While the recently released Batman: Arkham Knight has depicted Todd's alter ego having an alter ego, the way that the game brought Jason Todd back and became Red Hood is (in my opinion) the best across videogames, comics, and film.

In my opinion his worst depiction amongst the three (still a great character origin) was in the comics. Is the Red Hood iconic? Absolutely. Todd's killer donned the persona before becoming the greatest villain in comic book history. It is not a lack of lore or back story that makes this the least interesting Red Hood origin, in my opinion. It is simply the convenience of his return. While it is similar to the film's adaption of the origin story, it has a beginning that is simply too easy to be considered good storytelling. With Jason Todd waking from the dead after Superboy-Prime alters reality, it feels like a really cheap way to bring back a charcter who's death was pivotal to Batman's lore. To me it simply feels too much like a cheap way to get a storyline going with little proper buildup.

The depiction that I would describe as second best would be the depiction in the Batman: Under the Red Hood animated movie. This features what the comic also uses, Jason being thrown into the lazarus pit. I like simply doing just this instead of having Superboy-Prime alter reality because the lazarus pit can solely be blamed for Jason Todd becoming an anti-hero. In the film Jason even asks Batman if he thinks it was the lazarus pit that made Jason Todd what he has become or if he was always on the path that led him to where he would be in that moment. The question is really left to be answered by the viewer making it ambiguous and powerful.

Arkham Knight really tells a more original story than the two which may be why I favor it over the others. For years it was and has been definitive that the Joker killed Jason Todd. Rocksteady changed it up a bit by asking a beautiful queation. What if Joker didn't kill him after all? This is where it gets good. The Clown Prince of Crime himself directly created the monster that would become the Arkham Knight/Red Hood. It makes Batman's failure greater that he was under the assumption that Jason was dead and tried to move on which only fueled Joker's brainwashing. It is great comic book style storytelling in an interactive medium.

Let me know your favorite Red Hood origin story or comic book story arc in the comments.

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Bryson Baker