In the autumn of 1988, readers of DC Comics had to make a decision. It was to be a decision which fundamentally changed the world of the Dark Knight permanently. After the departure of Dick Grayson’s original Robin in the early-1980s to form the New Teen Titans, it was time for Batman to enlist a new sidekick. In 1983 came Jason Todd. Think of Dick Grayson’s circus origin and you’ve got the backstory of Jason Todd. There was very little difference at first – it appeared that Jason Todd was almost a clone of the original Robin. But then – thanks to Crisis shaking up the scene – writer Max Allan Collins and editor Dennis O’Neil unleashed a much-desired reboot for the new Boy Wonder. Gone was the unoriginal origin; Jason was now an orphaned street-kid with a bad attitude. Those issues from Batman 408-425 by Collins – and then Jim Starlin – are among some of my favourite Batman tales of all time. We witness the troubles Batman encounters while training Jason, and over time the boy’s hard-headed arrogance grows ever stronger. He was simply too reckless to be a good Robin. But ‘reckless’ wasn’t the most dominant adjective to leave the lips of Batman readers. The verdict of the audience was ‘unpopular’ – many readers just didn’t like Jason Todd. It was a sentiment that Jim Starlin agreed with full-heartedly. And that was why DC readers had to make a decision in the final months of 1988. Dennis O’Neil was to transfer colossal power to the fans – their answer to the question would be respected, delivered, warts and all. The question? Should Jason Todd be killed?
On 15th September 1988, DC opened the phone lines. Fans were to phone-in and cast their votes to decide whether Jason Todd could enjoy a future or suffer a death. And boy was it close. After 35 hours the phone-lines closed. 5,271 fans called in to wish Jason Todd continued life. But those against Jason – 5,343 to be exact – won their victory. It came down to just 72 votes – closer even than the US presidential election of 2000. And like that bitter contest, it had its alleged contentions. According to some, anti-Jason fans were using automatic dialling machines to boost their malicious tally. Whether its impact swung the vote is impossible to calculate, but it was a decision which split everyone. Fans of all ages expressed their views emotionally over the phone, with some grandmothers apparently reacting to the final verdict with great sadness, fearing the reaction of their grandchildren. It dramatically split the editorial and creative team of the Batman titles. Dennis O’Neil was against Jason’s death; Starlin was all for it. Frank Miller believed the whole event disgraceful and thought the whole idea of killing Robin ugly and deformed. It’s far too easy to laugh at Miller’s irony and how, in his own overly grim Dark Knight Returns, a dead Robin is hinted to more than once. Nevertheless, what I’ve said here is a small slice of a larger story. Joe Gruenwald, writer and editor, penned a long oral history of this saga for Comics Beat several years ago which reveals some wonderfully juicy details that make for stunning reading.
Every reader of comic books knows what followed. A Death in the Family – published in Batman 426-429 in the final months of 1988 and early months of 1989 – painted such a picture. Jason Todd, after exploring the misty details of his past, heads on a quest for his mother which takes him to Lebanon. It’s here where the Joker, with his long wide smile and rusty crowbar, aided by a warehouse full of explosives, kills off Jason Todd. It was the first comic book I’d ever read, and one that no doubt entrenched a love of Batman, the Joker, Robin, and Jim Aparo’s art that was to last a lifetime. A Death in the Family – despite a few flaws and issues I may have with it – rightly stands as an essential Batman tale and is a great starting point for new readers looking to delve into the Dark Knight’s past. But think – were it not for 72 people, Robin may have survived. What if it went the other way?
I’m not usually one for contemporary comics, but when I noticed DC were publishing an alternative version of A Death in the Family, I was overjoyed with excitement. It wasn’t just because of my obsessive adoration of ‘what if’ stories, but because DC were republishing and refining a version of Batman 428 – the fateful issue – but with the alternative scenes that readers would have read back in 1989 had the phone-ins won the day. Titled Batman: Robin Lives, it hit the comic book shelves in February 2024 – 35 years on from Jason’s death. At the time, DC produced two versions of Batman 428 – one with Robin’s death and one with Jason’s survival. This means that this 2024 version is not by modern contemporary artists, but by Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, and Mike DeCarlo – the original creators from 1989. So, with much promise and excitement, what does this alternative reality look like?
Before diving into Robin Lives, it may be worth re-reading Batman 426-427. These first two parts of A Death in the Family helpfully set the scene and their contents are not at all altered by this alternate reality. That means that Jason is still severely beaten and left – with his mother – to die in the exploding warehouse. So, Batman arrives at the wreckage of the destroyed warehouse and searches for his missing ward. Although the first eight or so pages remain the same as the original version, Starlin’s writing - reflecting on Jason’s story, his quest, and Batman’s failings throughout to protect Jason – hits powerfully. But when Batman locates Jason’s bloody body, Jason is more than a scrap of remains. He’s alive. Words cannot translate the jubilation and energy of this reveal:
With Jason still alive, but badly hurt, Batman takes Robin quickly to a hospital. From there, the rest of the story remains nearly the same as the original 1989 edition. But there is one difference with page sixteen. Batman remains determined to go after the Joker in both versions; in the original he tells Alfred that the era of sidekicks is over – he alone must face the Joker. That premise remains the same, but now Bruce speaks his mind to Dick Grayson in Jason’s hospital room, where the injured Robin is in a coma. Whether writers would have released Jason from the coma is never hinted at here or anywhere else, but for all the trouble of writing a version whereby Robin lives, I expect he would have awoken eventually. But even with Robin’s survival, Batman now wants to work on his own. The rest of Robin Lives is exactly the same as the original Batman 428 – and we can expect that A Death in the Family’s final issue wouldn’t have been much different.
Although deep in a coma, Robin survives A Death in the Family. Even with this huge change, is this 2024 version of Batman 428 any different from the 1989 original? A cynic would argue – perhaps with some justification – that there is no difference. Most of the dialogue remains the same and any changes there are unremarkable. While it may be hard to disagree or dispel these judgements completely, it’s impossible to dislike or feel any animus towards Robin Lives. It’s a brilliantly novel addition to A Death in the Family and any Batman fan would be intrigued (and that’s putting it mildly) to see what the story would have been like if Robin had lived. Sure, there are really only two new scenes here – and the most memorable of the two had been published in a Batman annual two decades ago for Judd Winick’s Under the Hood tale, but does that really matter? It must be remembered that in 1989 they were expecting to publish just one version of this story – why needlessly create more work for the creative team when they didn’t expect to publish the alternative version of the tale? Why create too many unique scenes to one scenario when you couldn’t be certain voters would choose it.
Although Robin Lives is a simple snapshot of what might have been, it also provides food for thought for what might have followed. Robin may have lived, but would the future of Batman really have been that different? The following few years of the Dark Knight’s adventures are fairly lonely – the tales written by Marv Wolfman, Peter Milligan, and Alan Grant feature a grimmer and lonesome Batman. Even when Tim Drake joins in the early-1990s, it takes Batman time to really believe that a new Robin is necessary. Speaking for myself, I believe that Jason would have retired as Robin and begrudgingly left Batman, disliking enforced retirement and Bruce’s fundamental rule that ‘thou shalt not kill.’ He would have vanished, perhaps becoming enraged at the arrival of Tim Drake. It could have been this or the relentless actions of the Joker – crippling Barbara Gordon or killing Sarah Essen – that would have led to Jason Todd becoming the Red Hood – the gun-wielding vigilante on a ruthless mission. Perhaps the path for Jason Todd was always going to lead him to the Red Hood, or maybe there would have been another pathway for him. Nevertheless, Jason’s return as the Red Hood during the 2000s is a greatest sign that I think DC rather regretted killing off the character back in 1989. Sure, his comeback was incredible and surprising, but after the introduction that Max Allan Collins and Jim Starlin gave to the new Jason Todd from 1987-1989, it seemed that Jason Todd was destined to become a darkened vigilante rather than a dead one.
Overall, Robin Lives is a great little gem less so due to its content, but simply the novelty of such an idea. It’s a fantastic snapshot into an alternative universe that came close to reality. It’s fantastic to revisit – even if its brief – the world of Jim Starlin’s snappy but hard-hitting dialogue and captions. It’s aided masterfully by Jim Aparo’s art. His scene revealing that Robin is alive may not enjoy the same drama or impact of the dialogue-less moment when it’s made clear in 1989 that Robin was no longer alive – how could it – but there is still a sense of dynamism and energy in the storytelling. Mike DeCarlo’s smooth inks add to Aparo’s stunning pencils. But Robin Lives also shines for another reason – it is presented like a comic book from the past. Sure, the paper may be glossier than the cheap material of the 1980s and the days of dot-screen colouring has long gone, but with the inclusion of advertisements from the last years of the eighties, the republication of the original letters page, and a style of colouring which has been smoothed faithfully to refine (not update or add to) the original artwork similar with every collected edition DC publishes now, it does feel like the reader is holding a bizarre forgotten slice of history. That’s why it has more impact than perhaps an Elseworlds would.
VERDICT
Overall, Robin Lives is a wonderful addition to Batman history. While it may contain very little new content, it’s great to peek inside the portal of alternate realities and witness what could have happened. Some readers may see it as a quick and easy cash-in for DC – nothing brand new was produced for it and no doubt it sold tremendously well. However, it’s only one issue and it’s such a novel item; it makes for a neat little addition to A Death in the Family. Could DC produce more of these in the future? Possibly, but perhaps too many would eliminate the excitement and effortless innovation of such a story like Robin Lives…
Next Week: Starman: Day and Night (Starman (vol 2) 27-29, Annual 1, Showcase 96’ 4-5). Written by James Robinson with art by Steve Yeowell, Wade Von Grawbadger, Craig Hamilton, Ray Synder, Tony Harris, Bret Blevins, J.H. Williams III, Mick Gray, and Matthew Smith.
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