Check out the resurrection of Jason Todd! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iLSbaLCe1rKpeas.html

"Go to a building, sit, and hold a crowbar". Lol cold-blooded!!

I'm glad you discussed his original origin, which is largely forgotten. However, you left out a key reason why fans hated Jason and he died. Jim Starlin was writing Batman at the time snd hated the idea of Robin. So, he wrote him as an annoying little punk and was also mean to Dick. Jim wanted to kill him off, and Denny suggested the vote instead. Fans wanted him dead in large part because the writer did and that made them hate him too.

I still believe this was one, if not the darkest things to ever happen in comics, like sure now we have plenty of messed up Batman stuff but for the most part we are desensitized to it, it’s actually kind of expected at this point. But Robin dying, after that the concept of Batman lost part of its innocence and I would argue never got it back. If it wasn’t for that moment Batman would probably be a completely different character. And to think all that happened because of a proto internet troll with a hate boner for a fictional child

Another topic that kept showing up on those older comics and even after Jason came back to life, was how Jason was blamed for his own death, treated as a failure and regarded as a cautionary tale for Tim and even Damian.

Robins would be mistreated like crazy after this. They even went as far as killing-ish Tim Drake. Ugh and not only killing-ish Stephanie they did the same to Dick...now Ric....I can't.

Denny O'Neal once recalled after Death In The Family was published, he went into a deli. The guy behind the counter noticed his Batman pin and asked about it. O'Neal replied that he was an editor at DC, working on Batman, and the guy shouted "Hey! This is the guy that killed Robin!"

A Death In The Family storyline that resulted in Jason's death also attracted mainstream media at the time. I think Entertainment Tonight did a bit of coverage on it at the time. I did call in to vote for Jason to live, and was disappointed that it wasn't meant to be. I'll admit I wasn't following Batman that much during that time as I had to be judicious on what titles I bought due to a limited budget and as a result, I wasn't aware of the negative audience feelings for Jason at the time

But it gave us both the Red Hood, and this Frank Miller joke! “Oh Commissioner, this is going to be a tough job. It could cost me six, seven Robins.”

Lol Batman is the one who was being an asshole, but someone else(Jason) is having to answer for it so Bruce can keep his ridiculously overblown pristine reputation-I’d say I’m shocked but ...🙄 Poor Jason

Greatest victim of Jason Todd's retcon was Killer Croc. He never regained his former gravitas after they wiped his murder of Jason Todd's parents from continuity. He went from being one of Batman's deadliest and most ruthless villains to a step-up from comedy relief.

His story was always interesting and I can at least appreciate/respect what came out of it. And his Robin run is fun to read. I actually got a copy of Death in the Family the other day at Barnes and Noble (I was not about to pass it up with it being the only copy on the shelf). If it’s any consolation, Dick later did approve of Jason as Robin in Batman 416 (White, Gold and Truth). He even gave Jason his Robin suit and phone number if he needed someone to talk to, where Bruce might not (with Batman watching in the Shadows smiling).

I saw in some documentary a long time ago (very specific, I know) that part of the backlash against Robin's death was that it attracted the attention of people who didn't read comics and didn't know about Jason Todd, so they assumed Dick Grayson had been killed off. Ergo, outrage.

There's just something really perverse about letting "fans" dictate the fate of a character (who was a child) instead of doing diligence as an author to craft a story that serves the character.

I imagine that many people find Jason arrogant and disobedient and at various times he is just like that, but he has his reasons that are even very sad, and make him a very complex character and different from other Robins. You can see in the comic "Three Jokers" where Barbara Gordon tells Jason that she would like to be there to help him when he needed it and that she and the entire batfamily care about him. In this scene, Jason says that no one has ever said that to him. This scene is very important for the knowledge of the character because you can see that everything Jason does as Red Hood is because he thinks Batman doesn't really like him and doesn't care about him, which is a lie, but if he stops to think about it, Bruce has never been good at showing feelings and has even told Jason that "he doesn't have to put up with his rebellion because he's not your father." I think Bruce should try to talk to Jason, apologize sincerely, explain himself properly, like Barbara did and maybe Jason would understand him. Of course Bruce has tried to talk about this with Jason, but I feel he doesn't really try and doesn't really try to understand Jason. his dialogues trying to help Red Hood are like: -Jason, I can help you -I don't need help -ok (Batman leaves without insisting as if it doesn't matter)

I'm not sure there was anything in this video that I haven't heard before due to my reading comics since my late teens and being really old. One aspect that sometimes gets overlooked about the death stunt is that it was pretty much only readers in north America who could take part, and I wonder how big a section of the readership as a whole that was. Reading American comics was hard work here in Scotland back then as there were very few shops where you could reliably buy them. As in 1 or 2 in the whole country. If you didn't live in Edinburgh or Glasgow you were left with whatever issues trickled through to local newsagents which was incredibly frustrating! Another problem of being really old is that sometimes when you type a long comment you forget what point you were building to by the time you get to it... Anyway, this may not have been news to me but it was presented in the engaging tone I've come to expect from Sasha. And the biting wit. It's the wit really that keeps me coming back. Keep up the good work lassie!

Not sure I should have laughed so hard at the go sit and wait with a crow bar line, but I did. lol. More Jason please.

The part that got me was his mother selling him him out. As I remember, she turns away and lights a cigarette. Damn, that’s cold. And guess what the “ T “ in my name stands for. I always liked Jason for that reason alone.

Ugh. That "go to a building and sit and hold a crowbar" was sick. You've definitely got an antihero vibe sometimes. Here for it.

The video was amazing as always! I would love more vids about Jason Todd or just the "batfam"' in general. I've seen so many fanarts with all of the Robins and barbara and etc that I think it would be cool to have maybe like a timeline vid with short introductions about how each of them joins Batman or maybe a video series with dedicated episodes on all of them like this one! Also you look stunning and I love your outfit!

I was around for this era of Jason Todd. I personally didn’t call-in to vote because I thought the whole idea was stupid. I wasn’t surprised by the outcome. I wasn’t surprised by the backlash either.

I know of people that don't like how convoluted his resurrection is, but I just love it, to me it's perfect. Also, yes, more Jason, all the time. Not kidding, I love seeing stuff about him. Him and Stephanie are probably my favorite bat - kids, with Raven being my favorite DC character. All in all, I look forward for what you will do next. P.S. I yet again have issues with the latest issue of DCEASED, there is just no pleasing me, or so it would seem. Love ya, take care.

I've never heard the story of a guy rigging his computer to call and vote. If he did vote a thousand times, that's an expensive phone bill considering it was a 1-900 number.

I'm sadly old enough to have read "Death in the Family" when it came out. I actually really enjoyed that they killed Jason, but not glad they got rid of him, if that makes sense. I love characters that are troubled. But then I loved Dr. Pulaski instead of Dr. Crusher in The Next Generation because she wasn't always sunshine and rainbows and caused actually some kind of conflict.

Probably watched like a dozen videos about Jasons death by now, and still can't wrap my head around it. Comics were so much different ...

Sasha? Damn, looking fierce! Great video like always

I love Jason Todd! I'm not a huge DC fan in general, but the Batfam has a special place in my heart. Dick and Jason are my favotlrites out of the robins, I love the contrast between them, and their contrast with Bruce. Also JayDick or Nightwing/Red Hood is one of my fave DC pairings lol. I think Jason's character is very compelling, the black sheep of the Batfam, so much like Bruce that they can't get along, all the potential angst and hurt/comfort.

Funny how Frank Miller killed Jason first in Dark Knight Returns that was the reason why Batman retired... But in Miller defense he didn't show how it happened.

When I got into collecting, Todd was mentioned as a tragic, cautionary tale. I didn't have a lot of investment when he was resurrected (in a really dumb way), but becoming what you may call an anti-villain made sense. It made him an interested adversary against Batman and his allies. Then the New52 kind of tried making him "snarky Punisher" or something, and it's baffled me ever since how he has a fanbase. Maybe if I'd seen Batman actually care about one of his wards turning their back on his teachings and killing his foes, but it never seemed bother him, from what I read. Perhaps there were explanations in Red Hood in the Outlaws, but what I saw of the first issue was enough to turn me away from the title--and anything with Lobdell's name on it.

I recall seeing a documentary on TV once which gave another perspective on why there was backlash against the killing of Jason Todd. That perspective being that a lot of it came from people who were at best, casuals who weren't aware of the whole "Dick Grayson retired and now Jason Todd wears the suit" thing, or basically only knew Batman from the 1966 series... so they basically thought that it was *Dick Grayson* who got killed. And it was this set of crossed wires and misinformation that led to at least SOME of the backlash. The same documentary had a part where two comic writers told this story of going to a bar, and when asked, admitted they wrote for Batman comics, and then had the barman call out "Hey! These are the guys that killed Robin!" (It led to embarrassment, not a brawl).

What’s funny is they basically made all the same mistakes again with Damian Wayne. Except the permanently dying part… well that definitely wouldn’t be a mistake for Damian but still.

That auto dialing rabid super fan must have been a young Dan Didio

Overall, I’m kind of glad it happened because it gave us “Batman: under the red hood.” I love that movie. And it also contributed red hood to the 3 jokers story.

I came across this way later than you recorded it. I have a different perspective on that time than you do. A lot of people I knew (ahem, myself included) didn't care about Jason at all, but we voted to kill him just to see if DC would actually do it. It's not a pleasant admittance, but that's why the crowd from my comic store back then did it. Then years later, I used to use some essays from "The Many Lives of Batman," and O'Neil had a passage in there where he claimed he never expected the vote to go against Jason, and he claimed that the vote was really close.

Great video Sasha. I appreciated the refresher and the pre-crisis info that I wasn't really familiar with. It's a coincidence that I watched this and your video about Witchblade being your intro to comics on the same day. While not my first comic, "A Death In The Family" was my first trade paperback or graphic novel. It felt like such a big deal to me. I had seen the ads in the back of comics from the time, but didn't really know what all the fuss was about until I asked the guy behind the counter. I was very emotionally involved in that story and kind of confused. I happened to have had the issues where Jason Todd steals Batman's tires and gets sent to Ma Gunn's school for boys. I had no idea that he was going to become the new Robin. When he did, his hothead bad boy attitude (depending on who wrote him) was really different for me. I of course was too young to want a good guy to die (or anyone really), and didn't think that he really would, even though it was there on the cover and in the name. I read that collection cover to cover more than one time. It was so realistic to me back then. There was courtroom drama, family drama, Batman fighting terrorists, Superman showed up, Lady Shiva, The Joker was dealing with Ayatollah Khomeini, who I remembered seeing on the news and was very afraid of. One of the more enlightening aspects was the backmatter collected that had the ad with the phone number explaining the real world situation and showing the alternate ending. As much as I wanted that ending to be true, to be canon, something about the ending we got... seeing Batman grieve, and knowing that Alfred had to dispose of the bodies, seemed to be a better more realistic story to me. It felt mature, not to mention a little scary. I'll never forget The Joker and that crowbar. It was disturbing, but also introduced me to a type of storytelling and emotional impact that I hadn't found in any other form. Wow, this comment ended up being way longer than I expected. I'm gonna bail out now. :)

Will you please cover "The Darkness" or "Shadow Man" comics?

I was one of the haters. I called in for his death. Probably spurred on by the open question whether Jason had actually murdered a guy in the comics immediately preceding Death In The Family. Starlin really leaned in to making him a problem, and a future villain in the making. By the way, I'm enjoying the hell out of your channel.

I'm a little sad they didn't stick with ginger Jason dying his hair for continuity... And I can somehow understand why fans were siding with Dick ^^' (even if they were too harsh on Jason)

Seems like DC set up Jason to fail more than anything. The actual stuff they did with retcon Jason to alter his origin & character was great. A fresh character who was anything but a Dick clone and with a new dynamic with Bruce to explore. But having Dick be disrespected and then replaced rather than just let him approve of Jason like before basically gave fans fuel to take their anger on the new guy.

Jason Todd. Bucky. Uncle Ben. Gwen Stacy. In my mind, they are the four that should never ever EVER have come back from the dead. Now a days, technically, we pretty much have three of the four in the land of the living, making the deaths less of an impact.

Yes, please I wanna hear more about Jason.

I wasn't reading comics when the death of Jason happened (I was, as it were, both to old and not yet old enough to read comics). I can believe that people found it very gruesome however. I recall a comic when I was about 10 in the mid-70s where Dick was beaten nearly to death in a back alley; it was at that point the most shocking thing I had ever read. Blood and the ability of the human body to withstand punishment have certainly increased over the decades since the "bronze age" began, but back then, it was horrifyingly brutal. Maybe do a video on the escalation of physical trauma in comics?

One of the things you have to remember about the backlash.... I was a teen then and remember it well.... is that it was still a time when people had no idea there WAS more than one Robin. There was only one to them. It made headline news... I remember seeing it on network nightly news... and people were imagining, like, Burt Ward getting beaten to death by the Joker. It was shocking, and it was still a time when comics were seen as exclusively for children. A lot of people still pictured Batman and Robin as these wholesome, kinda campy All American™ characters to entertain young children. Superheroes were for the wee ones... something you were expected to outgrow by the time you hit your teen years. I was reading them as a teen and I got the side-eye from adults and peers alike. This was before Tim Burton, and a "Dark Batman" seemed like an oxymoron. So to the person who wasn't reading comics but grew up with the characters... the majority of the public.... it all seemed really, really perverse. People were *OPINIONATED*. It really did cause a shockwave through the cultural landscape... I remember it well.

Every time I hear Dennis O'Neil instead of Denny it makes me crack up... every time..

I liked his resurrection, but felt turning him into a hero/anti-hero depending on if he was hanging with Bruce that week to be confusing.

Excellent video full of history and facts which I enjoy a lot. Thanks for a great video

The first part of his many origins I did not know about. Another good one. More on Jason please.

I lived through that time and bought some of the Batman issues and the reason that I remember Jason not being popular was that he was an ass. He wouldn't listen to Batman. He did what he wanted. And he made things happen that put heat or Batman in jeopardy. Anyway that's what I remember. and I think fans at that point were interested in a sidekick that was happy to be with Batman that was interested in being with Batman and that listened to Batman.

The end of the 2nd Robin was a good thing because...... 1. Batman got back to being a darker more driven Batman. 2. Tim Drake became a great Robin that fans didn't hate as much or at all with a great new look. 3. Jason becoming Red hood was a win win for fans and the character. I was alive and voted for this... I didn't hate Jason but he was never going to replace the large shadow the first Robin cast so all in all it was a good thing because change is good and Jason became loved as Red hood instead of hated and unwanted as Robin..

I was reading comics back then including Batman and Detective. I liked Jason v1 somewhat though him having a very similar origin was a bit off-putting. However, his relationship with Dick Grayson made it work for me. That won me over. It was a" little brother looks up to big brother thing with the big brother supporting his little brother and not wanting to disappoint his little brother" relationship that I liked. I hated street kid Jason v2. I voted to kill him. Don't forget you had to pay for the phone call. The price doesn't look all that big nowadays but it was more than the cost of a comic book at that time. Had second thoughts and called to save him about a half hour later. Had third thoughts an hour or so later and voted to kill him again. And was quite happy with the results until they brought him back to life. The whole big brother-little brother relationship of Dick and Jason v1 was great, especially with Dick advising Jason on how to handle Bruce/Batman and why B/B thinks and acts like he does. And that is another topic for another day. Family relationships. Most heroes are only children. Why? Don't know. Hal Jordan has a couple of brothers, one of who's wife thinks he is Green Lantern because she never sees the two of them together. Aquaman and Thor have evil brothers. Starfire has an evil sister. So why are there not more heroes who have siblings? And why when they do are most of them evil?

Good coverage of the event. However, I have a hard time believing one person redialed for 8 hours on the phone poll. I remember this storyline when it was happening and it wasn't a free call. I guess it could have happened that way but they would really have had to have extra cash and extreme hatred for Jason Todd. Personally, I never believed they would kill the character. Man , was I wrong!

I may be biased considering I have Jay in his Red Hood incarnation tattooed on my thigh....but yes please all the Jason videos.

I remember all this story. The voting was a big surprize. Thanks for the work you do to make this happen...Yes, I am a very happy reader

I'm not sure if you mentioned the one aspect of criticism of the death of Robin at the time: in the general public there was absolutely no knowledge of Jason Todd - the general impression was that DC Comics killed the character most people were most familiar with from the Batman TV Series. When DC Editorial tried to explain that they didn't kill the "real" Robin it was viewed as a cop out and hugely cynical.

I would love to hear more about Jason. This was fascinating.

The vote was probably not a good idea, but the post-Crisis origin of Jason was careless at the very least. It made no effort whatsoever to be either convincing or respectful towards Nightwing. Not having a clear origin for the character at all would have worked far better.

Batman laughs: EVERBODY RUN!

I've always thought Jason Todd had Doug Ramsey Syndrome. He's a character EVERYONE hated while he was around, but once he was dead, everyone started to realize how cool they secretly were.

Just recently found your channel😀 Dig your work and analysis, in short, I like your style. It's a shame you couldn't find your glasses for this video yet explains why I cannot see you properly.... 😨 Yeah, I went there with that joke 😏😒😩😆

Rumor I heard at the time was O'Neil had his staff calling the death number due to a personal distaste for the character, and he never even wrote the survival story.

im sasha and i cant find my glasses ......... yes

If there is a followup of Jason's multiple origins, I hope that you will address how the DC Animated version of Tim borrows so much from post-crisis Jason. But I shall see as I continue to dig through your back catalogue of videos.

I think the Jason Todd story is one that got better over time. People hated it at first, but now... I don't think they'd have it any other way. He is, by far a more dynamic character now then he was back then. I will say that the story of his death would have had more impact and been more meaningful if it wasn't couched in that silly voting promotion. Like, if you just picked up the latest issue (then) of Batman and by the end of it Robin was killed, no lead in, no vote... just !BAM! surprise city... it would have floored everybody!

A lot of the folks in the thumbs down crowd (I was one although I couldn't vote: back then phone companies allowed parents to block 900 calls [read the fine print on the advert, each time you Dailey was 50 cents]) didn't want Jason dead as much as gone. If there was a third option 'Jason lives but walks away from his role as Robin', that may have been the winner. But many of us saw the bye-bye result as the only way to get rid of a character that we felt was dragging Batman down.

I’m currently reading the Death in the Family run, trying to get a handle of the big events

Death in the family was one of my Faves stories growing Up! I remember us trying to call for him to live only to find out he dies🥺 (FUNFACT- Calls/Call-ins was only for U.S./State Only!) Outside of Country were SOL! 🤦🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️lol Still a Great Read Tho’! Can you Do a ‘Under The Red Hood’ main story arc & Tie-ins segment? Just curious Keep Up amazing content 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽👌🏽

Nice how you matched your lips with your outfit.

I'm pretty curious about your opinion on fan-comics/Indie comics! I've seen a surge of them on social media and I wonder if they could become as mainstream as any other Marvel/DC product.

If they ever revisit the Merged Earth of the original DC Multiverse, I hope they don't mistakenly have Todd acting at all like the later reboots of him. And maybe even have him go back to being a redhead while out of costume. But I'd be too worried about modern, grimmer portrayals of, well, everything, warping the heroes I grew up with into being pretty much just one more varient. Earth-Two's Superman and Earth-Prime Superboy sure seemed to skirt that. And Batman in the Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths was more just a modern Batman.

At the time of Jason Todd's original appearance there was a plan to kill Batman and have Dick Grayson become Batman. Nightwing was just supposed to be a temporary identity. I have heard this was dropped because it leaked. Also Twoface was to be Batman's killer. Also at this time Superman was to die and be replaced by Lex Luthor, his killer. This story was that the world needed Superman and that is why Lex took over. Also stopped because of leak.

It's so ironic the Frank "loves torturing Dick in every way possible" Miller thought Jason's death was too much.

Love the non-glasses look... Ok, back to basics

I like the original Jason Todd costume.

I like that Sasha says she can't find her glasses and gradually goes out of focus in the video

A death in the family was one of my favourite comics ever as a kid and my only interaction with Jason Todd up until Injustice (I didn't know he was revived before, that was a shock). I don't know where to begin reading the new Batman comics, but I would love a recommendation for someone who's way out of touch with recent runs.

Interesting I remember reading wiki articles about this years ago I like want to be into this it's fun

so batman kidnappped a young child, started calling him by his older son's childhood nickname, dressed him like his older son, and made him dye his hair to look more like his older son, you know what maybe fredric wetham had a point

5:28 Impressed by his WHAT

omg Nightwings Elvis outfit!!

As an old-time fan, I remember that Jason was actually very popular until he was replaced post-Crisis by an edgier version. It was DC's biggest mistake in the retooling of Batman mythos. Fans didnt want a jerkwad as Robin.

I am Subscribing!

i wish we would get more explorations on what Jason would have been had he not died. Especially with Helena Bertinelli. Would she have been younger around Jason's age...would they have met...would they have had a prior relationship. (i ship these two together) Its funny DKreturns (1986)literally predicted Jason's death.

New Teen Titans Issue # 1 Best Line *"Goldie here makes Loni Anderson look like Olive Oyle." -Gar Logan The Beast Boy (Formerly of The Doom Patrol)* . Yes Kiddos Starfire's Skin Is Gold Not Orange.

When the call-in poll happened, Penn and Teller expressed mock jealousy over how easy it was to get rid of one's partner.

I think an important thing people forget as far as why Jason was hated is just a simple thing: social and political climate. Jason was a criminal and he had no patience for those who used or hurt the little man. Not only was the entire discussion around redemption of criminals much different at the time, but he was also impulsive and harsh in a way real life kids can be but comic kids rarely were. There was little sympathy for his anger, as well, because in an environment when the type of crime wasn't all that distinguished he was just a criminal who hated other criminals, and not a kid boosting tires to survive who hated abusers and pimps. It made him seem like a hypocrite.

I remember this getting real tv news time, but the reporters didn't really do enough research and gave the idea that this was Dick being killed not another charcter. They also did a lot of connecting with the Adam West and Burt Ward TV show, I think they even interviewed Ward to get his reaction to them "killing his character"-don't quote me this could be only in my head. This being said, some of the most vocal backlash came from people who didn't read comics and who did not have fanboy reasons for attacking the death.

This channel has two awesome hosts. (If you don’t know what that is in reference to you need help). Love when you say you have receipts. Awesome catch phrase.

Personally, I prefer the post crisis origin. It really sets him apart

Jason was perceived by many as just a punk. Not Robin worthy even though we knew things had changed because of Crisis. I can't remember but did the Teen Titans retcon Robin because Grayson became Nightwing in 1984? "Call in" lines were a popular thing going on and I remember some people who did vote to kill off Jason (none had a computer but did have crow bars.). When Jason was being killed off our local tv station was showing "new episodes" of Dr. Who and they just killed off a very unpopular companion at the same time. The shock of Jason's death was at a time where DC had whacked a few favorites like Barry Allen and Supergirl. But no outrage when Alfred died in the 60's(the comic was unpopular at that time.). Plus Batman was supposed to be "darker" due to the popularity of the Frank Miller Dark Knight comic so how he died didn't shock me. And Jason's resurrection was met with an eye roll.

Fan's Hated him as Robin But Fans Loved Him as Red Hood

Notice the the "Kill Jason" number ends with 666!

I asked my dad if I could call and vote, but since it cost a little bit, he wouldnt let me. Also, he thought it was morbid.

You know a lot, Sasha. I'm curious did fans ever get to vote on anything again?

Without glasses Sasha Wood... 🤔 😳 S. W. SUPERWOMAN

if there was a way to do it without the "botting" i would be fine with it... lets face it characters and comics depend on the readers... but without that security, it was a bad idea. IMHO

The Arkem night video game were you find out Jason is the main villian is freaking amazing. the guilt the drama the freaking fan service.

The way I remember it as a kid... Comics were getting grittier with the Punisher, Judge Dredd and Frank Miller's Daredevil. The cartoony Robin wasn't grit enough and provoked homophobia. That's why my friends and I voted to kill him off. We were post-punk ansty boys who thought metal and darkness was cool. The lonewolf solo Batman was awesome... and Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns proved us right! Even though there was the girl Robin... but whatever... we were still right, man 🤘

The killing of Robin was the worst thing DC ever did. Then the Death of Superman is next.

I could have voted, but I was too lazy.

Jason Todd was the Robin of the 80’s. My mentor who was in middle school during the late 80’s said he remembered making the call to kill Jason cuz he hated Robin in general he didn’t care if it was Dick or Jason lol.