When you ask DC fans who the worst Robin is, there’s not really a universal answer but there is one character whose name comes up more often than others: Jason Todd. Created as a successor to Dick Grayson’s Boy Wonder, Jason was originally given a similar tragic backstory, leading him to be adopted by Bruce Wayne and eventually suit up as the second Robin. But, unlike Dick, Jason was a bit more aggressive, a bit more reckless, and his trajectory led to the character being killed off after a notorious fan vote would forever leave a mark on Batman comics.
Videos by ComicBook.com
This season marks more than four decades since Jason Todd’s story began — his first appearance was in Batman #357 cover dated March 1983 but with an actual publication date of November 1982 and he first put on the costume in Batman #366 that came out in December 1983 — but even with 42 years since he first became one of the Boy Wonders and even with all the opportunities there have been for the character, DC still doesn’t quite seem to know what to do with one of its most complex and interesting figures.
Jason Todd Didn’t Get Off To The Best Start
To be fair, Jason Todd never really had the best start. The character debuted in 1982, before Crisis on Infinite Earths and had a very different origin story than the one he would get just a few years later in the post-Crisis Batman #408. Jason only had a few years with his original, very similar to Dick Grayson origin before it was changed to turn him into a juvenile delinquent who first encountered Batman when he was stealing the tires off of the Batmobile. I contend that it is this change in his origin that sort of set Jason up for failure. In Jason’s pre-Crisis origin, the character, while to an extent a Dick Grayson clone, was a bit more enthusiastic and eager. The post-Crisis version starts having issues almost immediately.
In this first appearance, he’s not treated well at the school for boys where Batman takes him instead of the police after Jason steals his tires. Subsequent issues see Jason become Robin, get his first costume, and also find out that his father was a criminal murdered by Two Face in rapid succession. Obviously, that’s a lot for a kid to handle and he acts out and it’s not necessarily met in the best way by Batman. Jason’s behavior escalates and by the time we get to Batman #424 about a year after his post-Crisis origin we get the controversial moment where Jason let someone fall to their death (or killed them outright — choose your own adventure here). Next thing you know, it’s time to do something about this problematic Robin and the fans decide with “A Death in the Family”. Jason is killed.
When you look at the trajectory of his post-Crisis origin, Jason never really stood a chance. In retrospect, it feels like no one really knew quite what to do with this challenging new Robin who definitely wasn’t Dick Grayso. Generally, giving Jason that distinction was a positive change from the pre-Crisis version as having some differences in characters in Batman’s world certainly makes sense and would offer some good storytelling opportunities. It’s just that they didn’t really capitalize on those opportunities and got rid of Jason before ever really giving the character a chance to grow.
The Various Restarts Haven’t Gone Well Either
That’s something that hasn’t really changed with Jason, giving Jason something of a restart in DC. The character was eventually brought back as Red Hood, but how he’s portrayed seems to constantly be changing. The character is frequently all over the spectrum, both in terms of his morality and in terms of his relationship with Batman. Sometimes, he’s a hero. Sometimes, he’s a villain. Sometimes he’s more the antihero. Various stories have him doing things his own way, clashing with Batman but other stories and creative teams have Bruce and Jason mending their mutual hurt and trauma over his death and becoming more of a father-son again. Then, just as we finally start to see things level out for Bruce and Jason, the very next story has them at odds once again as if no healing work between them had been done.
On top of that, DC seems to keep wanting to use tormenting Jason for shock value as a gimmick. Take the recent Hush 2. That story revealed at the end of Batman #160 that Jason is dying yet again, this time with his brain deteriorating to the point that the only thing that can save him is the world’s greatest surgeon — Hush. As of the time of this article’s writing, the Hush 2 storyline hasn’t concluded so Jason’s fate hasn’t fully been revealed, but it sounds like DC might once again be tinkering with the idea of using him to bring some pain to Batman which, once again, wastes the character’s potential. Even if you move out of continuity, if you will, and into alternate timelines to see what’s going on with Jason, DC K.O. Knightfight doesn’t have a great plan for Jason as well. that miniseries takes Batman into a future where Red Hood becomes Batman, but he’s doing it all alone, patrolling an empty Gotham in total isolation: a fate honestly worse than death.
DC Needs to Pick a Path for Jason Outside of Batman’s Shadow — and Stick To It
At this point, it feels pretty clear that the best thing that can be done for Jason Todd is get him clear of Batman and possibly even the entire Bat Family. While much of Jason Todd’s history has been a mess, there is one “era” if you will that was pretty solid: Red Hood and the Outlaws, specifically the second volume from the DC Rebirth initiative.
It’s this particular era for Jason that might be his most fleshed out and best. He’s allowed to explore the complex relationship he has with Batman and the rest of the Bat Family but also allows him to become something very much of his own creation. This is a Jason that is no longer simply a part of Batman’s story or defined by the tragedies that has befallen him, but as his own person. It’s this sort of growth for Jason Hood that DC would do best to pursue and finally do right by the most maligned Robin in Batman’s history.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Disney+ -
Image courtesy of HBO -
Image Courtesy of Hakusensha
