 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (October 2023) |
| Jason Todd | |
|---|---|
.png) Jason Todd as Red Hood in Red Hood: Outlaw #47 (August 2020). Art by Paolo Pantalena, Arif Prianto, and Troy Peteri. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Jason Todd: Batman #357 (March 1983) As Robin: Batman #366 (December 1983) As Red Hood: Batman #635 (February 2005) As Wingman: Batman Incorporated (vol. 2) #1 (July 2012) As Arkham Knight: Batman: Arkham Knight (June 25, 2015) |
| Created by | Gerry Conway (writer) Don Newton (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Jason Peter Todd[1] |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | |
| Partnerships | |
| Notable aliases | Robin Red Hood Red Robin Batman Wingman Arkham Knight |
| Abilities |
|
Jason Peter Todd is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in Batman #357 in March 1983,[3] he was created to succeed Dick Grayson as Robin, Batman's partner and sidekick. He initially shared a similar origin to Grayson, being the son of circus acrobats who are killed by criminals in Gotham (Dick's were killed by a local mob boss who sabotaged their trapeze while Jason's parents were killed by Killer Croc) and adopted by Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego, as his son and protege. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths event and the rebooting of DC's main comics universe, Jason's origin was changed to being a pre-teen street urchin and petty thief who Bruce adopted and mentored after finding the boy attempting to steal the tires off of the Batmobile. This origin has since become the standard for subsequent iterations of the character.
Following Max Allan Collins's revamping of Todd's origin story in Batman #408–411, the character was written by Jim Starlin, who had him become increasingly aggressive and reckless. This led DC Comics to conduct a telephone poll concerning the 1988 storyline "A Death in the Family" to determine whether the character should die at the Joker's hands. The poll ended with a narrow majority of votes in favor of killing Todd, resulting in his death. Subsequent stories dealt with Batman's guilt over failing to save him. The character was resurrected in the 2005 "Under the Hood" story arc, which saw him becoming a murderous villain known as the Red Hood. In the current New 52/DC Rebirth continuity, Todd is a more nuanced antihero who maintains a tense, albeit partially mended relationship with Batman and has been accepted as a full member of the Batman family.
Todd has made several appearances as Robin and Red Hood in other forms of media outside of comics, including television series, films, and video games. The 2015 game Batman: Arkham Knight in particular reimagined Todd resurfacing with a new villain identity, the Arkham Knight, after being trapped in Arkham Asylum for years and tortured by The Joker who conditioned him to despise and turn on his former mentor before assuming the Red Hood identity near the end of the game.
- ^ Batman Annual #25 (March 2006)
- ^ Batman and Robin #3–6
- ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, eds. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
Jason Todd first appeared in a circus scene in the pages of Batman #357, written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Don Newton.