Jason Todd

DC was initially hesitant to turn Dick Grayson, the original Robin, into Nightwing and to replace him with a new Robin. To minimize the change, they made the new Robin, Jason Todd, who first appeared in Batman #357 (1983), almost indistinguishable from a young Grayson. Jason Todd was also the son of circus acrobats killed by a criminal (this time the Batman adversary Killer Croc), adopted by Bruce Wayne. In this incarnation, he was red-haired and unfailingly cheerful, and wore his circus costume to fight crime until Dick Grayson presented him with a Robin suit of his own. At that point, he dyed his hair black.

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After the mini-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, much of DC Comics continuity was rebooted. Dick Grayson's origin, years with Batman and growth into Nightwing remained essentially unchanged, but Todd's character was completely revised. He was now a black-haired street orphan who first encountered Batman when he attempted to steal tires from the Batmobile. Batman saw that he was placed in a school for troubled youths.

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Weeks later, after Dick Grayson became Nightwing and Todd proved his crimefighting worth by helping Batman catch a gang of thieves, Batman offered Todd the position as Robin.

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Unlike Grayson, the post-Crisis Todd never blossomed under Batman's tutelage. He was impulsive, reckless, hard-headed, and full of rage. This would sometimes provide him with great strength and courage, but would more often lead him to take unfounded chances and risks. One story implied that Todd actually murdered a criminal.

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Readers never truly bonded with Todd and, in 1988, DC made the controversial decision to poll readers using a 1-900 number as to whether or not Todd should be killed. The event received more attention in the mainstream media than any other comic book event before it. Some outside the comic book community thought that DC was considering killing the original Robin. Readers voted "yes" by a small margin (5,343 to 5,271) and Todd was subsequently murdered by The Joker (See also: ).

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Jason Todd's death still haunts the Batman, who keeps his costume under glass in the Batcave as a reminder of his greatest failures: he did not save the boy from the Joker (due in part to Todd not following Batman's advice beforehand) nor properly prepare him for his role as Robin.

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Todd's corpse, buried at a secret location, was recently stolen by The Riddler in an effort to trick Batman into thinking Todd had been resurrected and was behind recent misfortunes. While this proved untrue, Todd's body remained missing. (See also: ). A short time later Jason Todd was brought back to life, going under the alias of the Red Hood and causing trouble for both Batman and Black Mask. Batman is still trying to find out how Todd was resurrected, but has been unsuccessful so far.

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Robin: The given name Robin was originally a diminutive of Robert, derived from Rob and the diminutive Old French suffix -in. It is nowadays used as an independent name. The alternative spellings of Robyn or Robbin are sometimes used. In England it is generally regarded as a male name, although it is som...

1983: 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar....

Killer Croc: Killer Croc, or Waylon Jones, is a fictional character in DC comics. He is a criminal and nemesis of Batman. He has a medical condition that is causing him to grow progressively more like a crocodile, hence his name. In the comics, his intelligence level has been portrayed differently, varying from ...

Jason Todd related Images and Photos (experimental)

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