Warning: contains spoilers for The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #3!Even before his resurrection as the new Red Hood, Jason Todd was a complex character. While he was a dedicated hero as Robin, Batman suspected he had murdered a criminal even at that early point in his life. When Jason returned after being killed by the Joker, he went on a killing spree in Gotham's underworld, and while he later found a measure of redemption, he's still prone to choosing the lethal route when the opportunity presents itself. For years, Red Hood has existed in limbo - a killer who targets killers, but whose resolve and emotional complexity present him as a hero. Now, however, Jason is back to following his worst impulses, uttering five little words that prove he's acting from a place of malice, not heroism.
In Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine Di Giandomenico's The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #3, Jason Todd admits something that has set his character progression back a few years. While Jason has been doing his best to grow as a character and seek out less lethal means to deal with criminals, he still struggles when it comes to Joker. In an effort to be more in line with the Bat-Family and avoid the tragic ripple effect of killing, Jason Todd gave up the use of guns, opting to use a pair of crowbars instead. Unfortunately, this new attitude doesn't seem to have stuck, as Jason has gone right back to using guns as he tries to kill Joker.
After tracking Joker to Harley Quinn's home, Red Hood fires on his killer, just as the Clown Prince of Crime jumps into the river. While Harley assures Jason that Joker's battered state means he's almost certain to drown, Red Hood replies that he needs to get his hands on Joker before that happens. It's not enough for the villain to simply die, Jason explains - "I wanted to kill him." Jason recently got a new lease on life after events conspired to convince the world that Red Hood is dead, but it seems that rather than embrace a new life or even establish a fresh civilian identity, Jason has gone right back to hunting the man who killed him. While unhealthy, this could be justified if his goal was to stop the killer who targeted him hurting anyone else, but Jason's admission to Harley shows that's not what's driving him. Red Hood isn't trying to kill Joker to protect anyone - he simply wants to murder him for his own satisfaction.
Jason Has Every Right To Hate Joker... But He Shouldn't Kill Him
Jason is entitled to hate Joker and even to pursue him, but in doing so he's embracing his worst impulses. The desire to murder another person, even one as dangerous as the Joker, is a corrupting influence that has no ties to actual heroism. Indeed, Batman's central struggle is not allowing Joker to mold him into a monster who takes life for his own satisfaction. That's exactly who Joker wants to turn Gotham's heroes into, so it's no surprise that later in the issue, he expresses affection for Jason. While Red Hood's trauma and desire for payback are more than understandable, they still come from a place of rage and hate. Stalking Gotham looking for payback - and endangering others in the process - isn't the work of an antihero, but an outright villain, showing the same instincts that made Red Hood a mass murderer on his return to life.
Gotham has seen many killer 'heroes' who are nothing of the kind, but fans' affection for Jason means they don't want to see him swallowed by the same darkness. As long as Jason Todd is motivated by the personal desire to kill rather than truly heroic attributes, Red Hood remains a villain, albeit one who fans desperately want to see find some peace.
The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #3 is on sale now from DC Comics!