Disclaimer: This article contains content that may not be suitable for younger students. It may also have spoilers!
Batman and Robin are one of the most iconic superhero duos of all time. However, most people don’t realize that there have been several different characters who become Robin overtime. The five most memorable/ popular include; Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne. These characters often outgrow their title of Robin and change to a different superhero title; Grayson becomes Nightwing, Todd becomes Red Hood, Drake becomes Red Robin, Brown becomes Spoiler, and Wayne is still the current Robin. Many fans however were shocked when DC first switched Grayson out of the title of Robin and replaced the kind joyful circus boy with a kid who met Batman by stealing the tires off the Batmobile. This child’s name was Jason Todd, and he became the second Robin. During this time Todd was either presented as a copy of Grayson or as a rebellious kid with no regards to his former title holder. The rest of this series of articles will have many spoilers for stories including the character Jason Todd.
Batman: A Death in the Family was released in 1988. This will be a summary and explanation of this story. It begins with the young Jason Todd, becoming annoyed with Bruce Wayne, his now adoptive father, for being strict and keeping from being Robin. Bruce Wayne, or more commonly known as Batman, decided Todd had become too violent and determined he was unfit of being Robin. Wayne tells Todd, “You’re hurting kid. You’ve got a lot of anger and pain inside of you. It’s going to take time for you to get rid of it.” He then goes on to try to help Todd, by asking him to open up; however, he just brushes his adopted father away and leaves to go on a walk to blow off steam. He ends up walking for over three hours and subconsciously makes his way back to his former home, Crime Alley. This alley holds a lot of sentimental value to both Todd and Wayne; this is where Todd first met Batman and where Wayne lost his parents as a small child. One of his old neighbors calls out to him as he walks, saying she has an old box of his and it has important documents that she thought he would need later in life so she held onto them until he came back to Crime Alley. He returns home, The Wayne Manor, and looks through multiple old photos of his parent’s and the documents in this box, when to his surprise he notices that his mother’s name is scratched out on his birth certificate. Taking a closer look the print of his Mother’s name starts with an ‘S’ however his mother’s name was Catherine, or so he thought. This leads him down a rabbit hole searching for the truth of who his real mother is and what happened to her. He finds three women whose names start with an ‘S’ in his father’s address book and tracks each of them down. They all end up residing in the middle east near Israel. So Todd, who was supposedly only around 15 at the time, booked a flight with Wayne’s money all by himself to Israel.
Connecting to this subplot, Batman has been in search of the Joker who has once again broken out of Arkham. To evade the authorities Joker has moved his manufacturing facilities of nuclear weapons to the middle east, to seek cover and expedite his plans by becoming an influential figure on the other side of the world. Before Wayne even knew his adopted son had run away to the middle east he, as Batman, went as well. Of course their interests cross and they run into each other in Israel. Todd then has to explain to Wayne what he is doing there and explains about the search for his mother. They find the first and second people on the list, both are not his mother and end with a fight of sorts. They then go in search and find the last one, Sheila Haywood, and she ends up being Todd’s real mother. However when they get there they find out the joker is trying to use her for his schemes of becoming an Israeli politician! Wayne pleads with his adopted son to “just for once, please listen to me Jason! Don’t tangle with the Joker alone! Wait for me to get back, please!” Of course the young man doesn’t listen. He has been raised to be a hero and now his mother is in danger? It’s obvious that he’ll want to leap after her in hopes of saving her. So he does.
{Stay tuned for Part 2}
Image courtesy of Holly Garrett ’25.
