Product Description

A controversial Batman tale culminating in tragedy - the death of Jason Todd, alias Robin.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54336 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Customer Reviews

A turning point in the Batman mythos
This collection incorporates one of the most shocking and revolutionary events in comics history - the choice by the readers to kill off one of the most well-known characters in the DC world.
The storyline takes you along the second Robin's (Jason Todd) quest to find his real mother after Batman grounds him for being too reckless. His quest inevitably crosses the path of Batman's search for the Joker, who has managed to get his hands on a nuclear weapon, and the two aid each other in their tasks... with disasterous results for the young Jason, and a damaging impact on the Batman and his beliefs.
This is a fine addition to a Batman fan's collection, featuring Superman in a supporting role - being devil's advocate to the Government and providing Batman a source to pour out his grief - and setting the tone for the darker style of Batman comics during the 90s.

A Turning Point which continues to have repercussions.
Jason Todd (the second Robin, after Dick Grayson) was never popular. In this collected edition he finally meets his death at the hands of the Joker. Readers were given the choice at the end of Issue 3 to vote on whether a badly beaten Jason Todd lived or died. I'm sure you can guess which way the vote went.
I didn't read much Batman when Jason Todd was alive but this tale is certainly a good read and will pretty much tell you everything you need to know about him. Anyone with an interest in the Batman Mythos should read this book as it is an important part of Batman's history. If anyone has read the recent 'Hush' storyline then you will see that Batman is still feeling the death of one of his partners now.
A further recommendation for anyone interested in other Morbid Batman stories is Alan Moore's 'The Killing Joke'.

key turning point
Dick Grayson was the original Robin, a sidekick to Batman with a cheerful costume and lots of witty banter to keep the Dark Knight from being overwhelmed by his depressing life. Grayson left for leadership of the Titans, and was replaced by Jason Todd. The writers originally intended for Jason to be fairly similar to Grayson, a basic character clone. But he started turning different by accident of the writing style, and readers started writing in, saying they hated him. SO the publishers gave readers a choice to write in- choose if Robin dies or not after an encounter with the Joker. And the readers phoned in and chose...
The shock value is a little diminished after 15 years but it's still an engrossing story of Jason's search for his real mother that ends rather badly. It is spoilt by ridiculous caricatures of Middle east people, with Iran choosing the Joker as its UN ambassador going a tad too far beyond reality, even for a comic book that was quite silly. The death of Jason resonates for a long time in the comics, with Batman being very cautious to ever risk anyone else's life in his war on crime.