Feels like an extra step in there.

Sometimes I might pick on a comic book that maybe needed another draft, which is a tad hypocritical, since I'm lucky if I knock out one draft around here. But the adaptation of this works so much better. From 2006, Batman Annual #26, "Daedalus and Icarus: the Return of Jason Todd" Written by Judd Winick, pencils by Shane Davis, inks by Mark Morales; featuring unused work from Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, and Mike DeCarlo.

I don't think any of Jason Todd's return was necessarily planned out from the start: like a lot of Jim Lee's X-Men, Hush felt like him drawing whatever the heck he thought would be cool, then leaving it to the writer to try and backfill some sense into it. I could be wrong; but...Then, there was probably a mandate to use Infinite Crisis and Superboy-Prime punching reality out of whack--or into whack, it's argued here: Jason was never supposed to die. Which may just be to repurpose the unused Death in the Family art!

Brought back to life but buried alive, Jason manages to escape from his grave: the narration notes Batman had placed sensors in the coffin, but "they were designed to go off if someone broke in...not if someone broke out." Yeah, I don't think sensors work like that. He then lurches around like a zombie for a while, until he's hit by a car and taken to the hospital, where he would be comatose for a year. Since Batman and Robin would not be effective if identified, none of the Bat-family (at the time) had fingerprints on file anywhere, so Jason isn't ID'ed, and the cops didn't search far enough to find his grave, which was quietly filled back in by groundskeepers who do not want any of that jazz. Which also seems like it would've set off those sensors...

Jason eventually wakes up, at least a little, and spends a year homeless on the streets, until a chance encounter with a bully: a former mobster-turned-drunk recognizes Jason's technique as that of Robin, and sells his story. Which, after some more reselling, makes its way to Ra's al Ghul and Talia. Ra's is not overly impressed, considering Jason too brain-damaged to be useful, or even tell them what happened. After another year, Ra's has tired of Talia trying to rehabilitate him, which seems to push her to toss Jason into the Lazarus Pit. R'as throws a little fit about being betrayed, but Talia tells Jason she did what she thought was right, and that Jason remained unavenged. She leaves him with a kiss and a shove off a cliff, but with a motorcycle, passports, and cash waiting for him. And his death certificate.

The question this issue wants to leave open: was Jason somehow corrupted by the Lazarus Pit, or brain damaged, or did the disappointment that Batman didn't kill Joker for him turn him bad. Your answer may determine how redeemable you think Jason is. There are then a couple pages with the shell game from Hush: Jason approached Hush with an opportunity to "get in Batman's head," fought Batman, then traded off with Clayface to cover his tracks. Jason was back: there's no mistake. 

 The 2010 DC animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood is one of my favorites, since it streamlines this process, and vastly improves it. The Superboy-punch and street year are removed, with the insert of R'as being involved earlier: he had needed a distraction, and hired the Joker, which led to Jason's 'death.' Feeling guilt over his purposeless demise, R'as arranged to steal the body before he was even buried, and the Pit revived Jason, as a scary lunatic, who kills some guards and tears off into the night. Despite some clunky expository dialog in the early stages (Batman and some goons tell a lot during the Amazo fight!) it's a favorite; and it's surprisingly good for not having the more traditional Kevin Conroy/Mark Hamill Batman/Joker. The voice of Bender, John DiMaggio, does a great Joker!  

I've mentioned the DVD before, and my DVD player didn't want to play it today! I hadda watch it on YouTube with ads like a goddamn savage; but I guess you can too! I suspect this link will rot out eventually...I also know I didn't buy this annual, or any other issues from Jason's return, new off the racks, yet I ended up with a lot of them over time!