Move over (Insert the name of a flash in the pan character here), the newest comic book sensation is here and he's adorable...in a way. During Justice League: No Justice (2018), one of the villains that Brainiac recruited for his grand plan was Starro the Conqueror, an immense, telepathic starfish-like alien that had been a menace to the Justice League from its earliest days. Starro was seemingly killed in an act of apparent self-sacrifice when it was literally ripped apart by one of the Omega Titans. Flash forward to Justice League (2018) #10, Batman reveals that he has a literally new crime-fighting assistant in the form of a fragment of the original Starro, which had grown a miniature body of its own. Batman cleverly named this new partner "Jarro," as he was kept in a jar, and was using the newly independent alien telepath for some completely necessary psychic probing.
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| Batman and...son? Art by Francis Manipul |
But a funny thing happened between Batman and his new assistant, Jarro. Thought Jarro was capable of the same cosmic-level telepathy as Starro, he was basically an infant from a developmental standpoint. As Batman was the first individual with whom the "newborn" Jarro had seen, it imprinted upon Batman, much the way newly hatched goslings and ducklings do with the first animal that they see that is larger than themselves. As a result, Jarro thinks of himself as human (at least so far) and sees Batman as his "Dad." As a result, Jarro has displayed a rather adorable tendency want to please Batman and actively seeks his approval in everything he does.
Another of Jarro's lovable attributes is that he wants more than anything to not just become a Robin for Batman, but he wants to be the best Robin that Batman could ever have. This desire is wonderfully illustrated in Justice League #20 in the form of a dream sequence that begins with Batman giving chase to none other than Deathstroke. Deathstroke is on the verge of escaping an exhausted Batman when he calls for an assist from Robin. Jarro, clad in full Robin regalia, gleefully responds to Batman request with "On it, Dad!" Robin the Star Wonder then affixed himself to Deathstroke's face and subdued the world's greatest assassin with little effort. Batman is so pleased with his son's performance that he tells Jarro that he is his "favorite Robin ever" just as Jarro awakens.
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| Jarro dreamed that Batman needs his help to take down the dastardly Deathstroke thus cementing, in his imagination, his place as Batman's favorite Robin from JusticeLeague (2018) #20. Art by Jorge Jimenez |
It's unknown if Jarro will ever attain his heart's desire of full-fledged Robinhood, but it is worth noting that even in the idealized world of Jarro's dreams, Deathstroke is recognized as a challenge too big for even Batman to handle alone.
