What Happened To Everyone Who Became Robin?

4. Jason Todd

Jason Todd Robin Red Hood
DC Comics

Taking over from Dick Grayson was never going to be an easy job, but it was a job that ended in a bloody tragedy for poor Jason Todd.

After Dick decided to become Nightwing and focus on the Teen Titans and the criminal activity in Blüdhaven, DC Comics decided that they needed to introduce a new Robin to work alongside Batman, Enter, Jason Todd – originally an annoyingly-chipper red-headed teenager.

Once Crisis on Infinite Earths had come to a close, however, Jason was reimagined as a temperamental and troubled youngster with dark hair. To emphasise the attitude of this new take on Todd, his pre-Robin introduction saw him trying to steal the Batmobile’s tires.

Famously, it would all end in a shocking way for Jason. With the response to this new Robin not coming close to hitting the fandom of Dick Grayson, DC made the bold move in 1988 of running a poll to see whether readers wanted Jason to be killed off. Being the bloodthirsty sorts, fans voted to kill Jason - albeit not by a huge margin – and thus we were given the A Death in the Family story that ended with Jason being brutally beaten to death by the Joker.

Jason Todd’s death was one of the few comic-book deaths to remain a permanent arrangement… until the world was shocked by Jason’s resurrection in 2005’s Under the Hood tale. A murderous anti-hero, Jason became the vengeance-seeking Red Hood, before beginning an uneasy working relationship with the Bat-family.

Senior Writer
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