Jason Todd was not Batmans first experience with a dead Robin, but it was without a doubt his worst. Sheila lives just long enough to tell Batman that Jason died trying to protect her. [56] Later, however, the pair come together, united by the ties of family. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. "If I had to do it again, I would certainly have kept my mouth shut. Dick, Damian, and Jason go to one of the Red Hood's weapon caches where he assembles a composite costume made from his biker and "superhero" Red Hood attire. [6], The vote was set up in the four-part story "A Death in the Family" that was published in Batman #426429 in 1988. With Jason in a coma and Batman still vowing to work alone, whos to say the Dark Knight might not have entered into a lone wolf period all the same? [31] Shortly after the events of "War Games" and just before "War Crimes", Jason Todd reappears in Gotham City as the Red Hood. On the 80th anniversary of Robins first appearance, Polygon is excited to present a look at some of that unfinished issue, including a high-resolution scan of rarely seen work from writer Jim Starlin, penciller Jim Aparo, and inker Mike DeCarlo straight from DC Comics archives. [19] The series focused on Jason Todd's redemption and introduced a simplified version of his origin story as the Red Hood in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0, a special prequel issue between #12 and #13. However, Jason secretly survived the gunshot thanks to the hidden body armor he was wearing at the time, and the Joker would continue to keep him captive at Arkham, eventually hiring Deathstroke to watch over him. Published Sep 18, 2021 Jason Todd's murder by the Joker has been revisited in recent DC Comics stories, and he deserves more than to be defined by his most traumatic moment. A Robin-bearing mask is found in the Batmobile, which never belonged to Dick or Tim, but is of the style that Todd wore as Robin, suggesting that he'd been stalking Batman. Staff at the company had been toying with the idea of using a then-cutting edge phone-polling system to allow DC readership real input on a story. Similar to his mainstream counterpart (Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths), this version of Jason was originally a young orphan living on the streets and met Batman while attempting to steal the Batmobile's tires. The two fight while Todd discusses the insanity of heroes for placing child sidekicks in danger. "Notes from the Batcave: An Interview with Dennis O'Neil". After escaping from Arkham, Jason hacks into one of Bruce Wayne's bank accounts, using part of the money to pay Deathstroke, while keeping the rest for himself. He is also well known for his tragic and violent death. Even after being brutally beaten, Jason still tried to protect his mother. He's appeared in movies, TV shows, and video. He only donned the suit when Two-Face trapped both senior vigilantes in a collapsed building, and he declined to don it again without Batman and Nightwings permission. After spending a year in a coma and subsequently another year as an amnesiac vagrant, he is taken by Talia al Ghul after a small-time crook recognizes him as Robin due to his combat skills on the street.[1]. The Many Deaths of Jason Todd is an Batman fic by Zoeleo, found on Archive of our Own. Anguished and seeking vengeance, he initially . [27] Jason has since repeated the same pattern of killing his teachers when finding them guilty after he has finished with his training. Introduced in 1983, the 1985 reboot Crisis on Infinite. Instead of being trained by various men after his return from the dead, Jason Todd was trained by an order of warriors known as the All Caste. Jason breaks free and fights them off all the same as Batman and Robin arrive. Jason Todd is implied to have died in the line of duty, although the exact details are not given. In it, Batman cradled Jasons battered body, his face raised to the sky in a rare smile, the tonal opposite of the published image, in which he sorrowfully lifted Jasons corpse. Jason Todd's death has loomed large in the mythos of the Dark Knight ever since, even after the character's return to life in 2005. He thought he could do what could never be done for him and 'make him whole'. Jason's mother is already dead by now and his father is serving a life sentence in prison, so he has been living on the streets. [75], In the Bombshells United storyline, Kate Kane and Renee Montoya meet Talia al Ghul and Cheetah in an underground labyrinth. Batman didn't get to him in time and Jason died in the explosion. But what if Jason Todd had lived? Having learned that Tim defeated the Joker by himself in their first fights, Jason seeks to best him in combat. Jason, ever the scrapper, only made threats in response to this. Timothy Drake eventually takes up the bat mantle when Dick Grayson refuses to and sets off to fight Todd, who easily defeats him. But a few years later, when the Crisis on Infinite Earths offered an opportunity to reimagine anything and everything in the DC Universe, Jason was significantly reimagined. Please enter a valid email and try again. But Jasons death was not forgotten nor immediately overturned. Having been trained in the use of Batman's batarangs in perfect aim, he has some lethally sharpened shurikens based on his former mentor's designs as throwing weapons. [1][26] For years, Todd learns various skills from various masters, assassins, mercenaries, and aviators around the globe, including guns, poisons and antitoxins, martial arts, acrobatics, and bomb-making. After stabbing Tim Drake in the chest with a Batarang, he and Dick Grayson battle down in the subway. With Red Hood still characterizedbyhis rage at criminals, it seems this reframing of his deathcontinues to dictate how he's characterized. He leaves behind a calling card that states "let the punishment fit the crime". 152 Joker brutally beat Jason Todd to near death. [40] Nightwing still wants to save Todd, but Todd refuses the offer, and instead allows himself to fall off a speeding subway into the Gotham River while stating they would see each other again soon. He then revealed that he's been waiting a long time to kill both Dick and Logan. [47] After Batman and Robin defeat the mercs, Red Hood rescues Scarlet and escapes using the helicopter. A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon, By submitting your email, you agree to our, The most tragic moment in Batmans history almost looked like this, Sign up for the [55] After Jason recovers and in the wake of Damian's death, Batman partners with Jason for the first time since Jason's days as Robin. Following the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC took the opportunity to reboot many of its properties. The famous scene of Joker clubbing Jason to death with a crowbar occurs in Batman #428, written by Jim Starlin and illustrated by Jim Aparo, during the controversial A Death in Family storyline. Batman Arkham Knight Jason Todd's death Joker kills Robin Torture scene NukemDukem 967K subscribers Join Subscribe 4.9K Share Save 1M views 7 years ago Spoiler Batman Arkham Knight Jason. Jason Todd resumes his persona as the Red Hood and appears in several issues of Green Arrow alongside Brick as part of a gun-running organization, which brings Batman to Star City. Most of the votes were actually for Jimmy Olsen, who was given AIDS. The Joker using a crowbar as his One-Handed weapon style is a reference to Jason's death; in which the Joker famously used a metal crowbar to beat the child hero to near-death before leaving him to die with his mother in an explosion. Freeze, Man-Bat, Deadshot, and Sun-Downer, who are allbrought back to life thanks to doses of the Lazarus Resin. The image of Joker repeatedly beating Jason in Jim Starlin's 'Batman: A Death in the Family' remains disturbing to this day, and this likely explains why it's become the story's focal point, but this has also served to spread a misconception about his death that is so powerful, even Red Hood gets fact and fiction mixed up. [19] The group included Roy Harper and Starfire. In the first line of his postscript in the first collected edition of that story, Batman editor Denny ONeil protested his own culpability in Robins death with one quote, We didnt kill the Boy Wonder. He then proceeds to fall back into his hero persona, ranting how he did what Batman never did. After a series of tests confirmed that it is Jason, Batman remains to keep his Robin costume in its memorial display case in the Batcave regardless; when Alfred Pennyworth asks if he wants the costume removed, Batman sadly replies that the return of Todd "doesn't change anything at all" because of wanting to remember Jason as he was when they first met and in guilt over how violent he has become. Just like readers, Tim had grown up as a fan of Batman and Robin. [48], In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. It was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Jim Aparo, with cover art by Mike Mignola.Serialized in Batman #426-429 from August to November 1988, "A Death in the Family" is considered one of the most important Batman stories for featuring the death of his sidekick Robin at the hands of . While initially utilizing guns as his weapon of choice in his career as aresurrected crime-fighter, Red Hood has now switched to electrified crowbars. Maybe hed have tried to get Dick Grayson to return, only to don the Robin costume himself to save his mentors lives. You can find her on Twitter at @JulesChinGreene for DC Comics news and reporting, and is reachable at Jules.G@screenrant.com, Red Hood Confirms Fans Misunderstand His Death, Tim Drake is Batman's Strongest Robin for the Scariest Reason, defined byvictimhoodin some Joker-related stories, Jason Todd's stubborn and rebellious nature, Red Hood the transformational arc he has always deserved, Red Hood Admits The Real Reason He Traded Guns For A Crowbar. By saying that he died like "a hero," Jason makes it clear that the Bat-Family can no longer use the brutal manner of his death as a way to denigrate his use of crowbars as a weapon. The character debuted in Batman #357 (March 1983) and made his first full appearance in Detective Comics #525 (April 1983), but it wasn't until later that year that he would appear in costume as Robin in Batman #366 (December 1983) when he showed up towards the end of the story to help Batman fight the Joker. Harley Quinn stopped him before he could kill Jason and called Batman for help, but by the time they arrived at the hideout where Jason had been held, the Joker had already left with him. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. His initial goal was to convince Dick Grayson to go back to being Robin, not to take the role himself. You managed to find a way to win. Heres the complete page that panel was from, the unused page 10 of Batman #428. The description given was that it came from Beirut, Lebanon and was a former possession of the Joker. 1.) ", Marv Wolfman(w), Dan Jurgens(a). Housed in DC Comics archive in Burbank, California, are four of those unfinished pages, which I was lucky enough to view on a visit in the summer of 2019. After the group is sent back to Earth, Todd leaves the group and returns to his crime-fighting ways. Despite the violence of the beating, Jason spares Joker, intending to use him later against Batman. However, Robin senses something is wrong and hides in the Batmobile's trunk as Batman heads to the junkyard. 2023 GAMESPOT, A FANDOM COMPANY. He was introduced in 1983, originally with a largely identical backstory to the original Robin, Dick Grayson. He later sent all the footage of himself torturing and eventually shooting Jason to Batman to torment him. Austin's goal is to provide ScreenRant with detailed articles that showcase his research into obscure corners of the comics universe. Batman enters the car and is at Jason's mercy, detonator in hand. Bruce eventually managed to track him down before his arrest and requested the GCPD appoint Jason as his guard to allow them to talk (though the issue ends before it's shown what they discuss.). Jason's true motives are shown in the third part as he kidnaps Mia Dearden to dissolve her partnership with Green Arrow, feeling that they are kindred spirits, cast down by society and at odds with their mentors. When Jason is the victim yet again of the Joker's personal war with Batman, the batfamily begins to tear apart at the seams. [38] Following his escape, Todd continues on the mend and is summoned by Tim Drake to come to the Batcave, where Batman has left a last will statement for him. However, Batman has not been supportive of Jason's role on the team, which is understandable given his close proximity to some of the biggest names in Bruce's rogues gallery. When Tim Drake confronted him, a crowbar came into the mix. In issue #14, Jason dons the Red Robin suitdescribed by Earth-51's Batman as something he was going to give Todd's counterpart when he was olderand goes into battle alongside Earth-51 Batman. Batman at first tries to help him by enrolling him in Ma Gunn's boarding school, trying to give him a home. A lot of adventures occurred post-Crisis which fit with the circus acrobat era and in some cases ran simultaneously in Detective as the street kid origin was being laid out in Batman. But what sequence of events led to the killing of a boy wonder? Batman was unable to find Jason and eventually assumed he had been killed. The answer is a mix of new technology and tradition. Following the events of Death of the Family, Bruce and Alfred care for a sick Jason in the Manor, culminating in a warm embrace between Jason and his father figure as he regains consciousness, suggesting that their animosity might finally be put to rest. Despite their now-antagonistic relationship, Batman desperately wants to help Todd and intends to atone for his failures. "I heard it was one guy, who programmed his computer to dial the thumbs down number every ninety seconds for eight hours, who made the difference", O'Neil said in a Newsarama interview conducted alongside writer Judd Winick during the "Under The Hood" arc. DC Comics still has the pages of the book in which he didnt. "Infinite Crisis", Rucka, Greg (w), Eaglesham, Dale (p), Kryssing, Ray (i), Comicraft (let), Mike Carlin (ed). [65], Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which was published before "A Death in the Family", references Jason Todd. His favorite movie is Back to the Future and he enjoys creating/hosting trivia nights with his friends. [63] In addition to his prior skills (such as being a skilled gynmast and skilled detective), Jason is also considered an expert marksman with various firearms. Jason escalates things further by poisoning the cafeteria, killing 82 and sickening 100 more inmates. It is later revealed in Battle for the Cowl that Bruce Wayne's last words to Jason were of regret at how he had overlooked the young man's deep emotional problems. However, there are several stories where Jason Todd misremembers the details of his own murder. ", The details of Jason's death are revealed in the comic book one-shot Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade, by the first series' author Frank Miller with Brian Azzarello, and art by John Romita, Jr. Romita reveals that the Joker, like in the "A Death in the Family" story arc, plays an important role in Jason Todd's demise in Miller's Dark Knight Universe. In this version, we're going to make the scene longer. After she initiated a takeover of Kord Industries for him, Talia gifts Jason the flame dagger (a replica of the one Ra's al Ghul often carried) and the red motorcycle-helmet based hood which become his signature weapon and mask.[1][30]. When the Morticoccus virus is released from Karate Kid's body, he is forcibly brought back to the group by Kyle, much to his dismay. After a storyline in Nightwing as part of the One Year Later event where Todd took the mantle of Nightwing for himself, the character reappeared in his Red Hood persona as one of the focal characters of DC's year-long weekly Countdown series starting in May 2007. In the film's prologue, Jason - as Robin - meets his demise at the hands of the Joker. Later, when S.H.I.E.L.D. Dressed in a version of a Batman costume, Todd is also living/operating out of an abandoned Gotham subway system. Austin Mace is a freelance writer for the Screen Rant Comics team focused primarily on pre-Crisis DC Comics issues. Meanwhile, Batman discovered that a cash-poor Joker was recouping his funds in an alarming way: by selling a nuclear warhead to Lebanese terrorists. His tenure as the second Robin was short-lived because he was captured by the Joker, who wanted to break his will and make him turn on Batman. The last decade has been a renaissance for Jason Todd, the second character to fill the role of Robin, the world's most famous superhero sidekick. Thanks to @domcianciolo and @kittelsen! O'Neil said, "The logical candidate was Jason because we had reason to believe that he wasn't that popular anyway. The character was completely revamped. agent's death, causing him to be dismissed from S.H.I.E.L.D. As Jason attempted to reveal Batman's identity, the Joker shot him, seemingly killing him. As Batman's second Robin, Jason was killed by the Joker during the events of the 1988 Batman: A Death in the Family storyline from Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, and Mike DeCarlo. 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