Jason Todd
23 years ago - Jason Todd is born to poor parents in Gotham City.
13 years ago - 10-year-old Jason Todd's mother leaves his father. Jason is told that she died.
9 years ago - 14-year-old Jason Todd's father is killed by Two-Face. He is found stealing components off the Batmobile by Bruce Wayne, who begins training him as the new Robin when Dick Grayson is fired.
8 years ago - 15-years-ago Jason Todd, exhibiting recklessness and violence as Robin, is pulled from active duty by Bruce Wayne. He leaves to find his mother, discovers that she is working with the Joker, and is killed. Talia Al Ghul attempts to recover Jason's body to bring him back in a Lazarus Pit, but Bruce stops her.
1 year ago - Bruce Wayne, dosed with Jonathan Crane's toxin, fears that Red Hood is a returned Jason Todd, but is able to learn his identity with the help of Talia Al Ghul.
The fact that Jason Todd has remained dead in our version of the DC continuity might seem to be one of the more polarizing elements of our timeline, but it's also one of the earliest decisions we made. As our story has evolved over the years we've had more than a few reactions from people whose personal headcannon differs from ours, but strangely we have very few people disagree with this one. As popular as Jason's modern day role as Red Hood right be, I think most readers instinctively know just how important this take on Jason is.
Jason Todd's Comic HistoryThe role of Robin in Batman comics had largely been pushed aside as early as 1969, when Dick Grayson left for college. Batman in the seventies continued to work with him occassionally but was largely a solo act while Dick focused more on the Teen Titans. By the eighties the New Teen Titans were the biggest book in comics, and pretty much every series was looking for ways to include new young characters, including Batman. Dick Grayson was of course busy over in the Titans, so writer Gerry Conway intruduced a whole new Robin, Jason Todd.
Jason, as we originally met him in Detective Comics #529 in March of 1983, was a twelve year old redheaded circus acrobat. His parents were killed by Killer Croc while trying to help Batman but Jason had already found his way into the Batcave, worked out that Bruce was Batman, and gotten his own costume. |
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Jason Todd continued to appear as a recurring part of Batman's stories from that point forward, and by Batman # 366 in December of that same year, he put on one of Dick Graysons old costumes, dyed his hair black, and leapt into battle to help Batman fight the Joker. by issue #368. he was officially the new Robin.
All of this happened only a few years before the Crisis of Infinite Earths, and in 1987, right after Frank Miller's Year One story arc reset elements of Batman's story, Jason's backstory was reset, making him a street kid that Batman had caught stealing the tires off the Batmobile, since a common complaint about him was that he was just a carbon copy of Dick Grayson. You often hear that fan reaction to Jason Todd during this period wasn't great, but the fact is this was largely by design. Within a few issues of Year One, legendary Marvel writer Jim Starlin began his run on Batman. It's a great run, but Starlin was very vocal about the fact that he didn't like the whole concept of Robin, and particularly disliked this new Robin that he was was being saddled with. He depicted him as being notably unlikeable, with a sizeable chip on his shoulder, and worst of all, often disobeying Bruce. The tension between the characters was always well written, often centered on their conflicting views on justice. This led to Batman #424, where it's heavily implied that he actually killed someone. Starlin regularly proposed a story that would actually kill Jason, and by the end of his run he got to do one, although with a particular caveat... |
A Death in the Family1988's Death in the Family is a particularly good arc, and it's role in Batman's history is huge. Bruce finally accepts that Jason wasn't ready to be Robin, and that he was rushed into the role. Sidelined, Jason discovers that his mother is still alive and leaves to find her, and Bruce eventually joins his investigation. They eventually track her down in a legitimately touching reunion... until we discover that she's working with the Joker. When she learns that her son is Robin, she turns Jason over to him. Joker's beating of Jason with a crowbar is one of the most tragically iconic moments in Batman's history. The issue ends with Batman arriving at the sight of an explosion, knowing that Jason didn't escape....
Readers then found this add. The outcome of the last issue of the arc depended on fan feedback. There were over 10,000 votes, and the margin was only 72 votes in favor of his death (my brother insists that he voted more than 75 times, and claims that he therefore killed Jason Todd). The repercussions of the death of Jason Todd have permeated every part of Batman's story. The glass case in the Batcave displaying his costume (which is actually a visual that predates Jason, coming from Dark Knight Returns) has become a vital part of his world, reminding Bruce of his greatest failure. |
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The Case for Jason being DeadIn the long run, Jason really wasn't around for very long; barely five years. There are stories featuring him as Robin, but none of them come even close to the lasting impact of his death. I would even go so far as to say that the lingering reminder of Bruce's failure to save Jason has gone on to be a core part of the mythology of Batman. Even more, his presense is also part of the story of the entire Bat Family, as they're all reminded of what the cost of their mission can be if they fail.
Jason Todd has, of course, come back into continuity, and has managed to carve a niche for himself in the modern continuity. There's a whole generation of readers who are more familiar with his role as Red Hood than they are his role as the omnipresent spectre of the past that lingered in the Batcave, but for our timeline there was never any question how we would depict this story. Jason's death is by far the best contribution any supporting character has made to the Batman mythos, and he is one of the most important parts of Batman's story. |
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