DC - Jason Todd #2
FEB 20th 2024 | time for Jason Todd, I love this man so much Jason deserves the world + mainly about his time as Robin not so much Red Hood.
If I get any information wrong please tell me about it, I’m just going off what I’ve read and been told, thanks.
Reading Order
I don’t have full reading orders for all the Robins but I do for Jason, this order was made by a Jason fan on TikTok, sadly I’ve forgotten their username but if I find it I’ll update this.
The complete reading order is:
Batman: Second Chances (this is the introduction to Jason Todd. Not necessarily to the story but still a fun read)
Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Red Hood - The Lost Days (technically this is chronologically before Under the red hood but it's best read after)
Red Hood and the Outlaw - new 52
Red Hood/Arsenal
Red Hood and the Outlaws rebirth
Red hood Outlaw
Technically, he also appears in Batman Hush, which takes place before under the red hood, but I feel like Hush ruins the "surprise” under the red hood.
Jason’s Backstory and how he became Robin
Jason Todd is a fictional character from DC Comics. He is known as the second Robin, after Dick Grayson, and later becomes the Red Hood. He was created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton and first appeared in Batman #357 in March 1983.
Jason Todd was introduced as an orphan living on the street of crime alley, Jason was attempting to steal the tires of the Batmobile but was caught in the act (I believe he had stolen 3 of the tires and was coming back for the fourth before being caught.)
At first, Bruce Wayne helps to send Jason to a school for troubled youths, but soon after it is revealed the owner of the school was running a training ground for youthful criminals (the students at the school) and Jason was removed by Bruce, Batman instead decides that perhaps the boy's anger could be channelled against criminals as Robin and this is how Jason Todd became the second Robin. He was not the acrobat Dick Grayson was, but he was a strong kid with skills from life on Gotham's streets.
In the famous storyline "A Death in the Family," Jason Todd was killed off by the Joker. Readers were given the opportunity to vote on whether or not he should die, and the majority chose to kill him off because they thought that Jason was too much of a copy of Dick the Robin before him. This was a controversial decision at the time, but it paved the way for Jason Todd's eventual return as the Red Hood.
As the Red Hood, Jason Todd became an anti-hero who was not afraid to use lethal force to achieve his goals. He often clashed with Batman and the other members of the Bat-family, but he also had a complicated relationship with them.
despite how aggressive Jason Todd is when he’s Red Hood he is actually one of the sweets and full-of-life Robins.
Fun Facts
(these facts are from the same tt user so I believe they are right (they got these facts from the comics they’ve read) but I haven’t seen all these in the comics I’ve read so feel free to comment if anything is incorrect (I haven’t finished reading all the Jason Todd comics))
Jason likes to read the books he has quoted the most etc in the comics are
Moby dick
Sherlock homes
Hamlet
Pride and prejudice
Shakespeare
Richard the III
The three musketeers
The man in the iron mask
when he was Robin, he and Alfred had a book club together where they would mostly talk about Shakespeare because Jason really likes Shakespeare and plays with very dramatic old writing.
Jason and Roy have a vigilante hotline that is (555)RED-ARSE for Red Hood and Arsenal because they thought it would be funny and silly.
His favourite foods are chilli dogs and Neapolitan ice cream.
He is a hopeless romantic, he was head over heels in love with his first girlfriend Rena so much so that the first time they held hands he literally jumped for joy and was like oh my god this is the best day of my life.
He loves dogs and used to have a pet dog named Sparky, he also loves children, he’s very protective over children and lets them play with his Red Hood mask so that they aren’t afraid of him.
He used to goad Bruce into giving him piggyback rides all the time, as much as possible when he was Robin.
He always made sure he finished his homework before going on a patrol (when he was Robin) and it was something he brings up a lot saying stuff like ‘Oh but I have homework’ and he is academic, he really really liked school.
from other people’s perspective, he’s described as very compassionate and tender-hearted once you get to know him.
He’s a bit of a natural-born caretaker and he mother hens people he cares about in that backhanded sarcastic sort of way.
He likes to knit.
He also loved baseball, he and Bruce used to go to baseball games together
He considered joining the school play but didn’t because he didn’t have enough time not out of any disinterest
If you like Jason Todd I REALLY recommend watching ‘Batman: under the Red Hood’ I will write a full review on this movie (and the comic) later since it’s one of my favourites but I think that it’s just such a good movie and every Jason fan showed watch and read it.