The Clipped Wing

In the world of Comic Books, Death is often left irrelevant by what is considered popular and what is considered profitable. If a character is going to be killed off, odds are they will somehow return from the dead if they have enough of a fan following. Today we'll be looking at the opposite scenario. This is Jason Todd, the second Robin.

In 1983, Batman stumbled upon a homeless teenager attempting to steal the wheels off the Batmobile. This teenager was Jason Todd, a streetwise punk who's anger outweighed any child Batman had ever met. It was during this time that the former Robin-Dick Grayson-had dropped the sidekick role and became Nightwing. Believing he could help Jason control his rage, Batman adopted Jason and made him the second Robin. However, Jason was a delinquent through and through, committing obscene acts of violence and selfishness. Needless to say, the heroes of the DC universe weren't the only ones disgusted by Jason Todd as the readers had felt the same. In 1988, writers offered readers a once in a life time choice, the fate of Jason Todd. In his most infamous story, Jason had purposely killed a criminal which prompted Batman to take the Robin mantle away from Jason and kick him out of Wayne Manor, however Jason's adventures as Robin didn't end there. Jason discovered his mother was still alive and using Batman's resources he went out to find her, only for the search to be a ploy made by The Joker. This was the pivotal moment for readers, after Jason was tortured and beaten by The Joker, he was left in a building set to explode. On the back of this issue there were two 1-900 phone numbers. One number would vote for Jason to survive and the other would vote for Jason's death. By next issue it was unanimous, Jason died in the Joker's explosion and Batman had carried his body out from the wreckage. The following years would reference Jason's death, not only for Batman, but for the Batman Family and the superhero community as a whole. Batman would cite Jason Todd as his greatest failure. In 2003, Jason Todd would return from the dead as The Red Hood and drive the Batman Family into a new mess of problems.

The character of Robin is very important to me as a comic book fan and while he isn't my favorite Robin, Jason Todd's history makes him a fascinating character to me. Although readers didn't like him during his introduction, I think the appeal of the character should be that he isn't worthy of the Robin mantle, that a kid like him shouldn't aspire for anything if the world's given up on him. I believe Jason Todd was a character ahead of his time, nowadays readers would benefit from a punk teenager who smokes and swears because these days teenagers are more susceptible to that lifestyle. To see a teenager with no future being mentored by Batman could give readers with similar lives someone to relate to and aspire to be. Ultimately the character wasn't used for that purpose and instead became a scar on Batman's fractured psyche. Luckily in his resurrection and after his crimes of revenge, Jason Todd is now on the road to redemption. Thanks for reading.