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One of the most tragic parts of Batman‘s history was when Jason Todd’s Robin was murdered by Joker… closely followed by the day when Todd returned from the grave as the murderous villain Red Hood. Part of the reason Jason was filled with such intense hatred for Batman was the belief that the Dark Knight had betrayed him by allowing Joker to get away with his murder. I’ve realized that this simply isn’t true.
I absolutely love the character of Jason Todd. I have read almost every single appearance he has had in comics, from the time he was Robin, all the way up to his current adventures as the Red Hood. A core part of the character’s history is his death, which took place in Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo’s Batman #428. This was the tragic issue that finally saw the Joker get a major win over Batman and kill Robin, and this moment changed the relationship between Batman and his Robins forever.
After Jason Todd returned from the dead, he blamed Batman for not killing the Joker, and this led to their first major conflict in the Under the Hood storyline by Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke, which began in Batman #634. In that story, Batman is shocked to learn that the resurrected Red Hood’s hatred for him isn’t because he couldn’t save Jason Todd, but because he ‘allowed’ his murderer to live. The thing is, he absolutely didn’t!
The first chance Batman got to murder the Joker, he tried to take it…
After 36 Years, DC Squeezes the Last Drop of Trauma from Jason Todd’s Iconic Death
Red Hood fans, grab a box of tissues and prepare to sob uncontrollably. DC has just made Jason’s iconic death a million more times heartbreaking.
Joker’s Murder of Robin Is One of DC’s Most Brutal Moments
Death in the Family by Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, Mike DeCarlo, John Costanza, and Adrienne Roy
I think it’s very easy to understand where Jason is coming from with his point of view. After Jason Todd died, he was gone for several years. When he “woke up,” one of the first things he saw was a news report about Batman and the new Robin having apprehended the Joker. It’s easy to see why Jason would assume that Batman simply let the Joker escape and found himself a new Robin. This was the start of Jason’s rage, and it’s the reason he went after both the Joker and Batman, wanting to punish both of them for what happened to him. It’s a tragic set of circumstances, but Jason couldn’t have been more wrong.
What Jason doesn’t know is that after the Joker killed him, Batman did try to murder the Joker. Batman did everything he could to kill Joker, but the Clown Prince of Crime was ready for his rage. Joker managed to get himself appointed as the Iranian ambassador to the UN, meaning he had diplomatic immunity. Due to the strained relations between America and Iran at the time of writing, the US was unwilling to risk an international incident, and even ordered Superman to guard Joker against Batman. Because of this, Batman had to keep his revenge on the back burner, but the first chance he got to kill the Joker, he immediately took it.
Superman Personally Stopped Batman From Going After Joker
Joker Had Diplomatic Immunity Thanks to His Scheming
With Superman standing in between Batman and the Joker, getting revenge would not exactly have been easy. Especially when Batman was utterly unprepared to take Superman on. It should be completely understandable that Batman couldn’t have killed Joker in revenge right then, and if he had given up entirely, I don’t think I could blame him. Killing the Joker would already be a major line-crossing for Batman, but having to go through his best friend to break his biggest rule? That’s a huge ask, even after the Joker killed Jason.
Batman would later get into a huge argument with Superman over his refusal to allow Joker’s death, as Superman had previously killed three Kryptonians in
Superman #22
by John Byrne, colorist Petra Scotese, and letterer John Costanza!
Soon after, Joker arranges a gas attack on a UN meeting, hoping to kill everyone. Thanks to the timely arrival of Superman, this plan is thwarted. With his diplomatic immunity removed, as he just tried to murder everyone, the Joker is quickly chased down by Batman. Joker tries to escape on a helicopter, and this is where the biggest misunderstanding in Batman lore happens. Everyone remembers the death of Jason, but I’ve rarely seen anyone mention this next part.
As Joker and Batman battle on the helicopter, a gunman manages to shoot them both and causes the helicopter to begin to crash. It’s here that Batman makes the choice to simply leave the Joker to die. There’s no reason Batman couldn’t grab the Joker and jump out of the plane with him, but he made the conscious choice to leave the Joker to his death.
The helicopter then explodes in the distance, and Joker’s body isn’t found. That’s what truly happened between Batman and the Joker after the death of Jason. It’s not that Batman just let the Joker escape and moved on, he truly tried to kill the Clown Prince of Crime, he went through Superman and risked starting a world war just to avenge Jason. There really isn’t much more that could be asked of him.
The Joker Seemingly Dies In a Fiery Helicopter Crash
Batman Had Every Reason to Believe the Joker Was Dead
After the crash, Batman immediately demands that Superman find the Joker’s body, but even with Superman’s speed and super-senses, the Joker goes missing. Considering the magnitude of the explosion, it’s possible the Joker was blown to bits, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable for Batman to have assumed the Joker was dead. The Joker also didn’t appear for quite a while in comics after that point. Batman did everything he could be reasonably expected to do to kill the Joker, and even had reason to believe he’d succeeded.
When Jason Todd returned from the dead, years had passed for Batman. He was able to work through his anger, and now that he wasn’t in the emotional turmoil of the trauma of Jason Todd’s death, it’s understandable why he let go of the idea of lethal revenge. This is only made more complicated by Jason coming back to life. Batman wanted to murder Joker for killing Jason, and he tried, but with Jason alive again, how could the Dark Knight justify taking lethal revenge?
Batman Finally Admits the Real Reason He Can’t Kill Joker
Fans have long speculated why Batman doesn’t kill Joker and end his reign of terror – now, the Dark Knight gives his honest answer.
Retcons Haven’t Helped Fans Remember What Really Happened
While it makes no sense for Jason to be so angry at Batman over Joker’s survival, it makes even less sense that fans have largely accepted this narrative. Part of this is due to retcons – shortly after Red Hood’s return, DC rebooted its reality with the New 52 relaunch. DC made changes to Jason’s return, adjusting the timeline of his resurrection and also limiting his original body count as Red Hood (which was already unforgivably large, including poisoning 82 prisoners in an attack on Blackgate prison.)
Stories relating back to Jason’s death have also been confusing – the iconic image of Jason being beaten with a crowbar led many fans (and some writers) to misremember that Joker beat Jason to death, when actually he was killed by a bomb. This misconception is so common, DC actually wrote it into canon, with Jason having to remind the Bat-Family he wasn’t killed by a crowbar.
While Jason’s anger at Batman over Joker carried over into subsequent continuity, it’s easy to see how – with a reboot so close to the character’s return – the official canon got jumbled for fans. However, re-reading the original issues, it’s undeniable that Batman did exactly what Jason Todd says he wanted – he did his best to ride the world of the Joker and, despite being opposed by Superman himself, he came as close as anyone ever has.
Red Hood and Batman’s Complicated Relationship Is Based On a Misunderstanding
They Could Solve Everything If They Just Talked
Batman writers of the time deserve credit for Batman’s reaction to Jason’s death, even though some aspects of the story are very much of their time. Batman is shaken to his core by the murder of Robin, and his pursuit of Joker walks a careful line where the Dark Knight is more vengeful than ever but still doesn’t quite break his moral code by opting for outright murder (he simply refuses to save someone, which was still a major deviation from his usual rules.)
Batman didn’t carry on as normal, sticking to his rules no matter what, but nor did he abandon everything that defines him as a hero for revenge. Since Red Hood returned, ‘Death in the Family’ hasn’t gotten the credit it deserves for the complexity of Batman’s reaction, even though Jason’s rage did give him a compelling reason to re-enter DC canon as a Gotham villain. Ultimately, the misunderstanding between Bruce and Jason can be seen as adding to the tragedy of Jason’s death and resurrection, since Batman was exactly as torn up about his death as he wanted.
When Jason was revived, Batman was far more concerned with the how and why, especially when it was revealed that the Red Hood was killing people. On the other hand, Jason was blinded by his rage and hatred at his misunderstanding of the situation between Batman and the Joker. If the two characters had simply managed to sit down and talk, it’s likely their relationship would be extremely different today. Unfortunately, Batman isn’t the kind to talk about his feelings, especially when it comes to trauma, and Red Hood was in no place to listen either.
Batman
One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
Red Hood
Jason Todd is a complex figure known for his tumultuous journey as Batman’s second Robin. Initially impulsive and rebellious, he’s resurrected after a tragic death, becoming the vigilante Red Hood. Armed with intense combat skills and a moral ambiguity, he challenges Batman’s methods, navigating a path between heroism and anti-heroism in Gotham’s unforgiving streets.
“}]] Batman really did try to kill Joker. Read More