Did the death and resurrection of Jason Todd effect the continuity of the Batman Universe? Before I explain my thoughts on the matter, let me give you a brief character history of Jason Todd. As many of you should know, Jason Todd became Robin after Dick Grayson hung up the Robin costume and became Nightwing. Batman took Jason under his wing, after finding him taking the wheels off the Batmobile, with hopes that he could turn him into a good person and a hero.
What many of the newer comic books fans don’t know is the fans disliked Jason Todd, due to his past and felt he was not a good fit for Robin, unlike Dick Grayson. DC heard the fans and decided to hold a telephone poll to determine whether or not the character would die at the hands of the Joker. He was killed off after the votes came in. 5,343 in favor of his death and 5,271 against the death of Jason Todd. He was killed in the iconic story arc that was released in 1988, “A Death in the Family,” after being beaten to death by the Joker with a crowbar.
Jason Todd would not reappear until 2005 in the story arc Under the Red Hood, after being resurrected by Ra’s Al Ghul. But he did not come back as Robin, he came back as a villan named Red Hood.
So, you might be asking yourself where is the continuity issue? The continuity issues are in the 17 years of Batman comics that were released between Jason’s death and resurrection. As many Batman fans know, after the death of Jason Todd, Batman would look upon the Robin suit and say the words, “Never again.” This means that he would never put another child’s life in danger because of his crusade, but only 15 issues later in 1989, Tim Drake dawns the Robin costume.
Tim Drake was not the only flaw. There were many “one-shot” stories released that took place in the future, such as The Dark Knight Returns, that had instances where Batman would look upon Jason Todd’s costume and say the phrase, “Never again.” In these stories there was never a reference, or even an indication, that Jason Todd was resurrected and came back as Red Hood. I don’t think Batman would disregard the fact Jason Todd was brought back from the dead. Some people believe that Batman does not reference his resurrection because he comes back different than before. He comes back as a villain, so people think Batman no longer thinks of him as Robin or Jason Todd.
I have come to the conclusion that Jason Todd’s death and resurrection only leads to continuity issues if you allow it to. You will always be able to find evidence to support why or why not Jason Todd can lead to continuity issues. I would like to know what you think. Leave a comment explaining your perspective.
I am sorry to announce that this is my final blog post. I have enjoyed my time researching and reflecting on the many aspects of Batman. I hope my blogs have been an enjoyable read for long-term Batman fans and newer fans alike. If the end of my blog posts will leave you without the Batman fix you desire, visit your local comic book store every Wednesday for the newest Batman comics. If you want to read Batman graphic novels rather than comics, I will leave links below to some of the Batman graphic novels that I most highly recommend reading. If you have not read any of the graphic novels below, you must do yourself a favor and read them!
- The Dark Knight Returns– https://tinyurl.com/mnctbo6
-Movie- https://tinyurl.com/n2ll3vq
- Batman: Year One– https://tinyurl.com/kjqsus8
-Movie- https://tinyurl.com/mwfosbr
- Batman: The Killing Joke– https://tinyurl.com/kke7y2v
-Movie- https://tinyurl.com/kvb6lhl
- Batman: Under the Red Hood– https://tinyurl.com/k2km4ha
-Movie- https://tinyurl.com/mlv8rku
- Batman: Hush– https://tinyurl.com/mm98oes
- Batman: A Death in the Family– https://tinyurl.com/k8grxrt
- JLA: Tower of Babel– https://tinyurl.com/m7nyh5k
- Batman: The Long Halloween– https://tinyurl.com/mhpyugg
Creative Writing Batman Blog 
13.75/15
One big spelling issue in the title (“affect” is the verb, while “effect” is the noun), and a few more grammatical issues here and there. Otherwise, a thorough and outstanding analytical post with some fantastic send-off resources. Outstanding job with this blog, good sir!
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