More from Tony Daniel over at IGN Comics, this time talking about BFTC #2 and the motivations behind Jason Todd and his characterisation.

Also a small teaser for issue three - "next issue we get to see some more of Squire. We get to see a character named Batman Jones. And finally, the battle between Dick and Jason will make the fight between Tim and Jason seem small in comparison".

IGN: I guess there's no better place to start our discussion than Jason Todd. In the recent past his characterization has wavered quite a bit. We've seen him played as both a grim-and-gritty antihero and well-meaning yet misguided hothead. Here we see him portrayed as more of a full-blown villain than ever before. Can you talk about your take on Jason in Battle for the Cowl?

TD: Jason in his own mind thinks that he's taking the necessary steps to combat the evil in Gotham City. In his mind he's not doing anything wrong, he's fighting fire with fire. The big difference between Jason and Bruce is their approach. Jason was always a little bit more on the reckless, daring side, and he obviously has a screw loose after coming back from the Lazarus Pit. When you do come back from the Lazarus Pit, you're not one hundred percent right in the head, and Jason really wasn't all that right in the head to begin with. What I like about his character is that he really believes in the way he's going about his business, and in his mind he's right. In his mind he's not a bad guy.

IGN Comics: Anytime you work with an anti-hero character I think you always run the chance that some fans will embrace his or her willingness to go the extra mile and actually kill. When I was talking to Judd Winick about his initial run resurrecting Jason, he mentioned he was a bit surprised at fans' willingness to get behind Jason. By pushing him further towards the side of villainy than ever before, were you purposefully trying to make it clear that Jason is not a good guy and is in fact off his rocker?

TD: Yes. At this point he is beyond the point of no return in terms of ever being considered even remotely a hero. What I wanted to do here is put him in a place that he can't come back from. The things that he does here in Battle for the Cowl are things that can never really be forgiven. The only outcome would have to be imprisonment or something worse. But from this point on for Jason the gray area between good and bad has disappeared. It's crystal clear now that he is on the dark side.

For the entire interview click here...

(Source - IGN Comics.com)