Bats and Bug Zappers: Why I'm Enjoying the Jason/Kyle Rivalry

I've been seeing this idea here and there in certain places regarding Kyle and Jason, essentially dismissing their characters' interaction to a good guy/bad boy type rivalry over Donna.

This is strange to me, because I have a deep aversion to that sort of infantile love triangle. It's never portrayed well on any side. Either it's told from the good guy's perspective, which comes down to "Women only go for jerks." Which smacks of an entitlement and bitterness I've seen far too often in real life. Newsflash guys, the reason women don't date "nice guys" like you is that we can actually SEE the bitterness and entitlement. It becomes very obvious very fast. You could be the nicest guy in the world, genuinely, and just incredibly shy, but if we sense that frustration and resentment toward our gender, we're probably not going to date you. The other guy might call us annoying pet names and posture and generally act like a jerk, but he isn't the one pinning all the bitterness and dissatisfaction of his own life on our shoulders.

Or it's from the bad boy's perspective. The bad boy is dashing and smooth, while the good guy is bland staid milquetoast. The girl then ends up a conquest and prize in what amounts to the bad boy establishing dominance over the milquetoast. Yeah that's flattering.

But I digress.

I've been liking the relationship in Countdown/CotU/et al though and I really think it's because there really isn't a triangle.

Yes, Kyle is attracted to Donna. They'd been together a long time and he'd probably be keen on restarting their relationship. She was also there when his mom died and he's just coming out of a very traumatic time, so the emotional ties are going to be important.

He doesn't particularly like the chemistry he sees between Donna and Jason. But I don't actually read it as possessive so much. He's not irked because Donna's got chemistry with another man, he's irked because he doesn't like Jason.

And to be fair, who can blame him?

Don't get me wrong, I think Jason's a pretty interesting guy now that they've settled on a consistant personality for him that isn't snidely whiplash. He's dark, but he's got a lot of good reason and everyone with a brain can understand why he reacted badly to the Jokester for example.

But Kyle doesn't really know any of that. Where would he have found any of that out? It's not like Bruce gives Power Point Briefings on the ins and outs of his Robins. Tim Drake had already been well established as Robin for about two years when Kyle got the ring. Dick and Jason had the same costume, I'd be surprised if he'd known there WAS a dead Robin.

He seems to have some idea who Jason is now, true, but I'd imagine that's because Jason was running about as Red Hood and wreaking havoc for a while. Bruce probably ended up briefing the others with something like: "This is Red Hood. His real name is Jason Todd. He used to be Robin."

That'd be all the others really need to know. They're warned to expect a heavy level of competence, martial arts ability, and general Bat-trained creepiness. There's no reason they need to know about his death or any of that other stuff. And while he MIGHT tell a close friend or ally like Clark or Diana the truth, Kyle really doesn't fit in that category.

All Kyle likely knows about this guy is that he's an ex-bat, that he's terrorized Star City, New York, and Gotham. He's attacked Oliver Queen and company. That's about it.

And then when they meet, there's the added complication of Ryan being yoinked away from them. Kyle wants to go after him. Save him. Whatever. Jason wants to push on. Both attitudes are reasonable and both are in character. But Kyle's from a work culture that heavily, heavily emphasizes "Leave no man behind." The recent Parallax stuff just drills that even deeper.

Bats and Green Lanterns are pretty well known for their ideological differences. Kyle's the only one who EVER managed to get along with Bruce without the inevitable clash of wills. The Bats ideology is based on causing fear, tight self-control, strict physical training, and back up plans galore. The Lanterns ideology is based on overcoming fear, adrenaline, emotion, faith and sheer mindless determination. This isn't to say they're stupid (though sometimes Hal or Kyle really skirt that line, :-P) or that they're not capable of clever schemes. But in general, back up plans and second guessing aren't their thing. Bats also brood, where Lanterns repress and try not to think about it. (Though admittedly, in Guy's case, repression involves punching things)

Batman's scary enough that Kyle avoided the clashing that Hal, John and Guy fall prey to sometimes, but Jason's not that far from his own age. So the ideological clash returns in full force. The Ryan thing drills that home. Jason sees it as moving on with the goal since they can't help him. Kyle sees it as abandoning an ally to their fate. It's difficult.

(This may tie in with why I'm actually very happy with the lethal force directive in GLC, and I hope it stays around for a while. I'm not saying I want the heroes to kill, necessarily. But it makes yet another contrast to Batman. Batman can't kill. It's such a cornerstone of his ideology. Slippery slope and all that. But the GLC are soldiers and law enforcement. Making the call, taking a life, should never be an easy thing, but they should be able to do it if they have to. And it'll mean more if/when they don't.

And then there should be Internal Affairs type investigations and inquiries when it does happen...that could make for some interesting stories right there.)

Kyle definitely doesn't like the chemistry between Donna and Jason, but it's not possessiveness. He's not staking a claim. When Donna left Kyle and eventually started seeing Roy, he was a bit jealous, but he got along fine with Roy. This isn't "my girl is shacking up with that guy" anger. This is "someone important to me may be getting involved with someone dangerous." He's worried.

That's a completely different situation. If they were dimension hopping with Roy, or Ryan, and Donna started with the vibes with one of them, he'd probably sulk a little. Grumble. Mope. But he wouldn't be hostile. They're not dangerous. Where Jason?

Well, those decapitated heads in a duffle bag seem to support Kyle's attitude.