WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P. #1, by James Tynion IV, Peter J. Tomasi, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Chris Burnham, Marcio Takara, Diogenes Neyes, David Lafuente, Sumit Kumar, Adriano Lucas, Rex Lokus, Nathan Fairbairn, Travis Lanham and Tom Napolitano, on sale now.

Jason Todd has had a rough history in the DC Universe. Created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton, Jason first appeared in 1983's Batman #357 and succeeded Dick Grayson as Robin. However, the hero proved unpopular due to his abrasiveness and was killed off by Joker thanks to a fan poll. Although he later returned as Red Hood, Jason's relationship with the rest of the Batman Family has remained quite strained, and in Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P. #1 they treat him pretty terribly.

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At the start of Pennyworth R.I.P. #1, the Batman Family gather for a ceremony dedicating a children's hospital to Alfred in something akin to a public funeral. Jason is among those in attendance, but the narration reveals he was explicitly told not to come to the event and actually had to sneak past security. The motivation for not wanting Jason there isn't clear, but it's probably because his legal status is a bit questionable due to his more violent style of vigilantism and his death. Having Jason in attendance might raise questions that aren't easy to answer. However, the fact he shows up to the funeral anyway and there are no problems indicates it was entirely possible to still have him in attendance without incident.

Still, as the book goes on, the Batman Family continues to treat Jason poorly. After the funeral, the Batman Family gathers for drinks at Noonan's Sleazy Bar. Ric Grayson -- who doesn't have memories of his time as Dick Grayson and, thus, with Alfred and the Batman Family -- goes behind the bar to start serving drinks, and Jason makes a crack about his predecessor serving him. When Ric responds by referring to Alfred as "the butler," Jason snaps that Nightwing isn't showing the fallen Bat Family member respect and questions why the original Robin even bothered to show up. Barbara Gordon/Batgirl responds by digging into both of them for not appearing during "City of Bane," during which Bane broke Alfred's neck. This frustrates Jason, as he stayed away precisely because he knew that, if he interfered like Damian Wayne/Robin did, Alfred would die.

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Although Jason is in many ways a major instigator of this confrontation, Barbara's remarks are particularly uncalled for, as there's no reason to doubt Red Hood had the best intentions in keeping away. Still, it's a tense scene, and everyone is grieving. However, Jason's frustration and anger at Alfred's death are treated as aberrant by the others. He absolutely should be treating the other Batman Family members with more kindness, but he was also the only one excluded from the funeral. Even Ric Grayson -- who doesn't remember Alfred -- was invited, while he was not.

As the night progresses, each member of the Batman Family tells stories about Alfred, including Jason. Red Hood reveals Alfred visited him with groceries and attempted to dissuade him from the violence that's defined his time as a vigilante. Although the talk doesn't change anything, Alfred later jumps in to save Red Hood from a pack of well-armed villains, saying, "You can always count on family."

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However, while Alfred emphasizes counting on family, Jason is unable to rely on his remaining Batman Family members. When his story is through, Jason decides to leave and not participate in "this weird crucification of Bruce, when he's hurting so much more than the rest of us." Jason shows a lot of compassion and empathy for Bruce in this moment, as he knows what it's like to fail someone, but no one seems to show him the same compassion and understanding.

At the very end of the book, Ric Grayson puts a picture up on the wall of the bar. When Bruce walks over to it, it's revealed to be an image of Dick, Damian, Alfred, Bruce, Barbara and Tim Drake in the Batcave. Jason is the only character missing from the image, and thus, he's completely absent from this tribute to Alfred.

There are a lot of reasons Red Hood might not be in this picture, but the fact he's absent from it combined with all of the other slights he suffers in the aftermath of Alfred's death really paints the Batman Family as outright hostile to its black-sheep brother. Jason isn't perfect, but Alfred still meant a lot to him, and the attempts to keep him out of the mourning process show he might not be the main reason the relationship isn't working.

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