Near Mint Memories: A Death In Our Family

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Due to unforeseen circumstances, the feature we intended to run this week on DC’s World’s Finest heroes – Superman and Batman – will appear in a future column.

However, in keeping with the Dark Knight, this week Chris Delloiacono will share his Near Mint Memories on the legacy of Jason Todd – Batman’s second Robin. This boy wonder’s infamous death dramatically impacted the industry of the day and continues to inspire today’s Bat-writers.


The “D” Word

There have only been a few major comic book characters whose deaths have endured – Barry Allen (the Silver Age Flash), Bucky (erstwhile Captain America sidekick), and Jason Todd (the second Robin) – the character much of this piece will center on. Now, the wise guy out there will mention someone like Deadman, Spectre, or even Hal Jordan (the Silver Age Green Lantern). These characters of course don’t count, as their “undead” forms continue to adventure. Bucky, Barry, and Jason have only been seen in flashback, time travel scenarios, or with impostors portraying them since they bought the farm.

The comic industry as a whole didn’t really start offing their bread and butter type characters until the 80’s. The Crisis On Infinite Earths (the subject of a future column) was the springboard event that saw many characters die. Most were just alternate world versions of heroes; largely continuity was lost. Two very popular characters did perish during that series – Kara Zor-El, better known as Supergirl, and, the already mentioned, Barry Allen died in issues 7 and 8 respectively of the Crisis. While each of these characters was a well-known comic character, I think it’s fair to say neither was an icon.


Icons

It’s very tough to bandy the word icon about with regards to comic book characters.

Harper Collins Dictionary 2001 defines an icon as:

Icon (noun) – a person regarded as a sex symbol or as a symbol of a belief or cultural movement.

Comic books can be considered a cultural movement in my opinion, so in many ways I think this is a very fair definition. If this is the case then only those characters that transcend all others, the ones everyone knows, and I do mean everyone, can be called icons. If you have to think about whether a character is an icon, then they are not. As an example, Babe Ruth is an icon, he is bigger than the game he played. To continue the baseball reference, Derek Jeter, while a very good player today, is not an icon. It goes far beyond being a household name; it’s a name that transcends all others.

When Robin died – whether it was Jason Todd who had held the mantle for five years or Dick Grayson who was Robin in the heart of most for fifty years – who was behind the mask was really a moot point. ROBIN WAS DEAD. This was a monumental story at the time. Not only among the comic press though, the mainstream press picked up on this story as well. This death and the mass attention it brought DC was in actuality the event that led to, at least indirectly, Superman’s (and many other characters) demise in the years that followed. This was the watershed that led to the drastic changes the comic industry saw in the early 1990’s.


Jason Todd

Jason Todd first appeared in Batman # 357 (pre-Crisis) and became Robin following events all too similar to those of Dick Grayson’s origin. His parents were circus acrobats who gave their lives while aiding Batman in the capture of Killer Croc. He was taken in as Bruce Wayne’s new ward, and eventually assumed the role of Robin.

The “Crisis” (notice how we mention this book a lot) led to a great many changes, both big and small, in the DC Universe. While in the grand scheme of things, the differences in Jason’s origin were fairly minor. However, in the end they had grand repercussions. Instead of the mirror image origin of Dick Grayson, the “reboot” of much of the DCU (post-Crisis) afforded the chance to give Jason his own unique origin. Writer Max Allan Collins made Jason a street hood that recently lost both parents. While trying to steal tires from the Batmobile, he’s caught by the Dark Knight, taken in and eventually given the mantle of Robin.

You want to see angst ridden teens? Then look no further than Bruce’s newest ward. Jason became increasingly erratic, especially upon learning that his father had worked for Two-Face and met his end due to the Bat-villain. This led to some great stories, and really set Jason apart from his predecessor. Yet it just didn’t work.


A Death in the Family: The Event

Basically this four-issue “event”, which took place in Batman 426, 427, 428, and 429, happened because DC wanted to try out new telephone technology that would allow them to tabulate votes prior to going to press. Not wanting to invest the time and money into a small event, DC decided to give fans the chance to decide Jason’s fate. Not the best reason in the world to wipe out one of your icons.

Jim Starlin was the man with the writing assignment for this pivotal event, joined by the art team of Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo.

The story began with the increasingly erratic Jason being grounded temporarily by Batman following a close call. This led to Jason reflecting on his fate, and during that time ending up close to his old apartment.

As can only be found in the comics of yesteryear, through a series of coincidences and chance meetings, Jason learns that the woman he believed to be his mother was not. After some sleuthing, he’s able to narrow down the list of his potential mothers to three possibilities and he’s off to find them. Of course the coincidences continue, and Batman eventually joins up with his ward while tracking… the Joker.

I mean no disrespect to the story; this is one of the last big stories from a dying style of storytelling. This is when comics were still largely written for a younger age group. However, in many ways this is also when comics grew up. The innocence was indeed gone!

Without going into every sordid detail, by the conclusion of issue 427, Jason Todd was placed in a position to defy Batman’s orders for potentially the last time. Caught in an explosion with his recently found mother, Jason’s fate was left to the readers to decide.


Yes, you did it!

DC set up two different 900 numbers for the event; these were advertised in issue 427. Technology has advanced a great deal since, but back then DC could only allow a 36-hour window for voting. Each call would cost fifty cents, and on this the fate of a character would be decided.

Amazingly for all the supposed hatred bandied about for Jason the results were very close. Editor Denny O’Neil had two versions of the book ready for publication, just needing to know the verdict. 10,614 votes were cast, and in the end by the slim margin of 73 votes, Jason was to die.

While it may not have been you yourself that was responsible, fans just like you can take some of the blame for Jason’s death. Really though, the blame falls to DC and their editorial team. “YES, YOU DID IT!” refers not to you the fan though, but to DC for this gimmick. While there is no direct correlation, this is quite possibly the gimmick that started the spiral that comics have never rebounded from. The big business era was just around the corner, but sadly so were the dark times.


Repercussions

How about the death of the industry as we know it? Oh Marvel did far more to throw this industry in the toilet bowl then anyone else could ever be blamed for. Yet DC ushered in the age of destroying their characters. The media attention that DC received because of this event was monumental. Denny O’Neil was inundated with interview requests. The media didn’t tell this story as the “new” Robin was dead; this was simply the-Death-of-Robin.

While the media attention “a Death in the Family” received was big, it would pale in comparison to the zoo DC’s later “Death of Superman” received. Not long after, both DC and Marvel took turns wiping out their biggest moneymakers, and replacing them with hip newer incarnations. Couple this with the speculation craze of the early 90’s, short lived publishers, and variant covers and you had a near death experience for the comic industry.


Today

Jason Todd is still an important figure in the world of Batman today. In a touching memorial, his costume remains on display in the Batcave. Bruce/Batman has never gotten over his biggest perceived failure since assuming the mantle of “the bat”. Jason’s legacy continues to permeate today’s storylines as well. The results of “a Death in the Family” are having a great impact on not just one, but two titles as I write this.

The current storyline in Batman: Gotham Knights concerns the investigation of Bruce Wayne about the circumstances surrounding Jason’s death. Writer Scott Beatty’s time on the title has seen a great deal of exploration into the world of Batman as well as his alter ego Bruce Wayne. I would highly recommend checking out Gotham Knights. The storyline began this past month in issue 43, and certainly bears watching.

Since I always try to keep spoilers out of my work, I’ll be very careful not to give anything away about the other recent Jason Todd bit. Let’s just say he figures into the epic run by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee currently taking place on the Batman title. The recent issue, # 617, has a shock ending which in all likelihood is a red herring, but a very interesting development nonetheless.

Jason Todd in death has become a tremendous symbol for Batman, thus giving the writers some wonderful character building opportunities. These recent stories are by no means the only ones that have dealt with the ramifications of Jason’s death. Who’s to say what’s going to happen in the future, but even though it was really nothing more than a stunt, some fine writers have taken the opportunity to build a better Batman from the situation.


Final Thoughts

An industry that once saw it’s best selling titles move upwards of 1,000,000 units a month; now boasts a top selling book that sells 150,000 copies. Today the top seller would be hovering around the cancellation threshold once held by Marvel and DC. Most every other title produced by the big houses would have been canceled long ago with their current sales totals.

Yet, out of the bleak period that much of the 90’s were for the comic industry, a lot of good did come. Out of the ashes the industry has risen, presenting some of the finest material that has ever been published. A collection of the most talented writers in the world now works in the comic industry. Per capita I’d say that DC and Marvel are turning out the finest product ever seen. Image who was born in the boom has survived the lean times, and is still solvent, and publishing some good material. An even greater story is the rise of CrossGen who have built a company that stands above all of the gimmicks and “evil” of the 90’s.

The industry learned a vital lesson from the miscues of the 90’s. While variant covers have seen a bit of a comeback in recent months, hopefully they will not become as prevalent as before. DC’s “a Death in the Family” is the watershed event that brought us to comics darkest hours, yet in the end it also brought us to one of the finest hours as well – today.

If for some reason you’re reading this column and not reading comics (I have no idea why), go to your local bookstore or comic shop and pick something up for the heck of it. You might be surprised, just how good the books are! If you are reading comics, then pick up something new, you too may be surprised.


The Reading Rack

To see how Jason was killed off, or some other characters, check these out. If your local comic retailer doesn’t have it, and can’t order it, try checking online at Amazon.com.

Batman: a Death in the Family

The Death of Superman – The most widely publicized comic story ever.

Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight – Hal Jordan has never come back to the status quo after this story.

The Crisis on Infinite Earths – The granddaddy of them all!

Batman: Knightfall – Batman didn’t die, but he lost his mantle for a while.

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying – See the current Robin’s birth (Tim Drake).