Editing Robin (character) (section)

===Jason Todd===
{{main|Jason Todd}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2012}}

[[File:Robin's (Jason Todd) death.jpg|thumb|upright|Cover art of ''Batman'' #428 (December 1988) from the storyline ''[[Batman: A Death in the Family|A Death in the Family]]'', art by Mike Mignola]]
DC was initially hesitant to turn Grayson into [[Nightwing]] and to replace him with a new Robin.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=writer |first=Joshua Lapin-Bertone Contributing |date=2023-01-09 |title=Looking back at Jason Todd’s forgotten, red-headed beginnings with his creator Gerry Conway |url=https://www.thepopverse.com/jason-todd-robin-red-hood-gerry-conway-batman |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Popverse |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=John |date=2020-07-02 |title=Batman: Jason Todd Was A Total Copy of Dick Grayson |url=https://screenrant.com/batman-robin-jason-todd-copy-dick-grayson/ |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=[[Screen Rant]] |language=en}}</ref> To minimize the change, they made the new Robin, Jason Todd, who first appeared in ''Batman'' #357 (1983), similar to a young Grayson. Like Dick Grayson, Jason Todd was the son of circus acrobats murdered by a criminal (this time the Batman adversary [[Killer Croc]]), and then adopted by Bruce Wayne.<ref name=":1" /> In this incarnation, he was originally red-haired and unfailingly cheerful, and wore his circus costume to fight crime until Dick Grayson presented him with a Robin suit of his own. At that point, he dyed his hair black.<ref name=":0" />

After the miniseries ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', much of the [[DC Universe|DC Comics continuity]] was redone. Dick Grayson's origin, years with Batman, and growth into Nightwing remained mostly unchanged; but Todd's character was completely revised. He was now a black-haired street orphan who first encountered Batman when he attempted to steal tires from the [[Batmobile]]. Batman saw to it that he was placed in a school for troubled youths. Weeks later, after Dick Grayson became Nightwing and Todd proved his crime-fighting worth by helping Batman catch a gang of robbers, Batman offered Todd the position as Robin.

Believing that readers never truly bonded with Todd, DC Comics made the controversial decision in 1988 to poll readers using a [[1-900]] number as to whether or not Todd should be killed. The event received more attention in the mainstream media than any other comic book event before it. Readers voted "yes" by a small margin (5,343 to 5,271) and Todd was subsequently murdered by the [[Joker (character)|Joker]] in the storyline, ''[[Batman: A Death in the Family|A Death in the Family]]'', in which the psychopath beat the youngster severely with a crowbar, and left him to die in a warehouse rigged with a bomb.

Jason Todd later returned as the new [[Red Hood]] (the original alias of the Joker) when he was brought back to life due to reality being altered.<ref>{{Cite web |last=RADFORD |first=BILL |date=2010-07-05 |title=Red Hood storyline revisited with animated feature |url=https://gazette.com/news/red-hood-storyline-revisited-with-animated-feature/article_9724af54-657f-5f7c-8331-0faa6be1aaec.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Colorado Springs Gazette |language=en}}</ref> After the continuity changes following [[the New 52]] DC Comics relaunch, Jason becomes a leader of the Outlaws, a superhero team that includes [[Starfire (Teen Titans)|Starfire]] and [[Roy Harper (character)|Arsenal]] who had spent years with Grayson in the Titans.