Jason Peter Todd first appeared in Batman #357 (1983). He was originally introduced as a near identical copy of Dick Grayson in personality and origin - later rebooted to portray an orphan who Bruce takes in when he first encounters a young Jason trying to steal the tires off the Batmobile. Soon adopting the Robin Mantle in the wake of Dick becoming Nightwing. This was up until 1988, where Jason was beaten by the Joker, and the writers allowed fans to vote via a 1-900 number and decide Jason’s fate within 36 hours. This was because the writers felt at a loss with his character and that the fans didn’t enjoy the new Robin. The vote ended with 5,343 votes for Jason’s death and 5,271 for Jason to live. This poll alone has led to a lot of controversy in the fandom to this day. Not only was there a lot of negative feedback during the time due to killing off a child in such a gruesome way – there are also multiple accounts of someone that rigged the poll. Multiple people, including people who worked on the comic, stated a rumor that someone programmed a computer to dial the line for Jason’s death that could have accounted for hundreds of the votes. There are also accounts of numerous people who called the line for Jason’s death, not fully expecting that DC would follow through with killing him. It wasn’t until nearly two decades later that Jason would come back. Rather being resurrected when Superboy Prime punches the universe or by the Lazarus pit. Upon coming back, Jason reclaims the Red Hood name, previously the Joker’s, and becomes the antithesis to Batman. He overall believes he’s the hero Gotham deserves and is doing right by the city – since Bruce’s tactics are clearly not working. Jason has adopted many names over the years including Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, Batman, Wingman, Arkham Knight, Peacekeeper Red, and potentially Red X.

In contrast to Dick as Robin, Jason was much more reckless and aggressive when handling criminals. I think this is heavily influenced because of where he lived on the streets for such a long time and seeing no real change in Gotham. He feels like there needs to be punishment for the criminals’ horrible crimes, which actually leads to the death of a criminal they faced. For example, this can be seen when dealing with Felipe Garzonas, an assaulter and drug dealer, during his time as Robin in Batman #424. Upon finding out that Felipe wasn’t going to be arrested for his crimes, Jason is very emotional during this issue. He is shown to be pacing angrily while waiting during a stake out for a reason to charge Felipe. When they finally have the chance to arrest him, Jason pleads for him to resist for a reason to hurt him. When he is not taken into custody and Felipe arrives home, this leads to the mystery of where Felipe is seen falling to his death after Robin shows up to his apartment. When asked if Felipe fell or was pushed, Jason answers “I guess I spooked him. He slipped.”. It is heavily implied that Jason pushed him seeing he didn’t receive a fair punishment for the hurt he caused a woman in this issue. I think this scene is very important to understanding that Jason is not unjustified in his anger towards Gotham, even prior to his death and was something important to his character. Jason is often misunderstood by fans, described as the angry Robin and that he never wanted to or was meant to carry the mantle. The fact of the matter is that he really enjoyed being Robin and fighting alongside Bruce. Bruce also for a very long time viewed Jason as his best work and he has since been seen as the “favorite” of the Robins. This is because of Jason’s smarts and ruthlessness when Bruce approved of it. Jason’s anger and frustration with how criminals were dealt with is not unjustified in my opinion, considering as he had the power to help people but knew that Batman’s ideals actively prevented that. Jason’s run as Robin was very short lived compared to his siblings, but I feel like he was a very important character next to Batman. He challenged a lot of Bruce’s views and was actively a contrast of values when handling criminals.

This comes up again when Jason is revived. When he finds out Bruce didn’t take more action against the Joker after his death, this leads to more anger- this time targeted towards Bruce. Over the years of storylines with Jason, there are many versions of their relationship and how this is handled once Jason is resurrected. I personally feel as though this is never handled correctly within DC’s writing in its current state. Bruce, as it stands now, refuses to fully take fault for Jason’s death and attempts to nearly forget about it in many canons as he is not able to confront it. DC also refuses to allow Jason to fully blame Bruce for what happened, often projecting his anger on others, for example – Tim, or himself. This leads to Jason isolating himself from the family, often finding family and friends within other characters such as Artemis, Bizarro, Roy Harper, or Kori. There is a lot to say about his relationship with the other members of the family such as Dick Grayson or Tim Drake. Dick was one of the people closest to Jason in my opinion. This is especially seen when we see Dick grieving and even blaming himself for Jason’s death due to leaving behind the Robin mantle. However, Jason still has mixed emotions regarding Dick as he had to live up to the standards set by him as the first Robin. Tim becomes Robin after Jason’s death, which leads to many emotions on Jason’s end. Jason will often harbor resentment towards Tim upon coming back- viewing him as the person who replaced him and someone Bruce views as “better” than him. However, an interesting aspect of their relationship is even early on Jason holds a lot of respect for Tim – feeling like he is a good fit for the Robin mantle and perhaps a better Robin then he could’ve ever been. Overall, while Jason has mixed emotions about both of them- I feel like it's undeniable he still cares about them. In my opinion, Dick and Tim are just as important to Jason’s character as Bruce is – but many people assume Jason feels only resentment towards them. In reality, he holds a lot of respect for both of his siblings and cares about them a great deal despite their fights.

I was introduced to Jason via my friend Crow. Truthfully, I've always really disliked DC comics- growing up with Marvel, DC was so harsh and cruel in comparison. I felt like I never understood how a lot of the heros opperated. I didn't understand how these villains like the Joker could run around for as long as they have. I also always felt like there was a weird divison between the heroes. I think I was drawn to Jason because he doesn't have any of the qualities a "typical" DC character has. Jason is such a wonderful character who I think challenges the typical DC idea of what a "good guy" is despite he is often portrayed as an anti hero. He deals with a lot of complex themes for his universe that don't come up often and has very difficult emotions regarding his relationship with Bruce, what it means to be a hero, and even with the idea of his own life after being brought back. He has a lot of depth to him and he means so much to me already. This is a shrine dedicated to him and my adventures in reading and collecting! I'm actively collecting merch, comics and self ship art of him! Please enjoy my shrine to my beloved Jason! ❤︎