One bit of distance I think that Babs and Jim will always have is that Jim is kind of incapable of truly moving on past Barbara's injury the same way that she is, and the way he talks about it does mean that she's always put in the position where she has to comfort him about it.
Like this is straight up stated in suicide squad 1987 (link). In Batman 451 (link) he's pressuring her to get more tests, she says shes' not dead he says but it's not the same, and he's dumping his worries of killing the joker on her. In Detective Comics Annual #5 when he calls Babs on the anniversary of her getting shot, he intends to check up on her but the narrative is still framed so that she's in the position to comfort him, and in Birds of Prey #89, he's telling Babs it's his fault she's in "that chair" and she is again forced to comfort him.
Was this probably an intentional character flaw by the writers? No (except for probably in Suicide Squad). But it still is a character flaw he demonstrates and something that I think would always affect their relationship. Babs can't really ever process around her dad b/c she always has to make sure that he's OK about her pain first.
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Cassandra Cain and Jason Todd parallels - "I'm ready"
I tried not to compare Jason and Cassandra paths, I really did. But they are my favourites out of all Bat-related characters and Batman talks to her about Jason, a little, and
and she goes to find her mother, to ask if she's her mother, to know, to see for herself, she needs it,
and ends up. dying. I. I can't.
He gets..
She gets...
He's forced to remember
She won't do anything but remember
(which is... not a good example, but can you blame me? Her whole Batgirl run is full of memories she keeps bringing up. She's consumed by her past, but.. she's, at the same time, so much more than this past.)
There is no end, there is no beginning. What do they see, looking in the mirror?
They die as heroes.
(she won)
(he lost)
...and it's their mothers who set deadly traps for them. Their mothers are the reason they die.
then..
Someone tells them they are alive, somehow, again.
And it's a mistake - to let them live.
Their mothers are dead.
Everything has changed.
Something in their very souls twists.
They are different, now, too.
Batgirl (2000) #65-73, Batman (1940) #427-428, Batman (1940) Annual #25, Red Hood: Lost Days #1-6.
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The Original Introduction of Jason Todd as Robin
Not a lot of people are probably all that familiar beyond a passing note that Jason Todd existed Before Crisis on Infinite Earth. He did not first come onto the scene with a tire iron to Batman's gut.
But instead in 1983 with Batman #357
(Detective Comics #525)
The Todd family was a trapeze act that named themselves after the Grayson family in Haly's Circus after John and Mary fell to their death and Dick Grayson was taken in by Bruce Wayne. I'm sure that was rather a shock for Dick.
(Detective Comics #525)
Robin then asks Jason's parents for help capturing Killer Croc and promises they won't regret it
(Detective Comics #526)
Anyways Killer Croc feeds Jason's parents to crocodiles
(Batman #359)
Okay to be fair to Dick he thought asking civilians to investigate Killer Croc was a really bad idea but Bruce flipped the fuck out on him and they went through with it
(Detective #526)
Meanwhile, Jason while being given refuge at the Wayne Manor while his parents get munched on snoops around and figures out Bruce Wayne is Batman. Also adorable is Bruce kept a chest filled with the costumes Dick had grown out of over the years
(Detective Comics #526)
So Jason goes out on an adventure to find his parents and finds Batman wrestling Killer Croc. Also Joker is here.
(Detective Comic #526)
Jason learns from Batgirl who is also here that Killer Croc killed his parents. And freaks the fuck out. Dick comforts Jason and Babs goes to rescue Talia and Catwoman. Because they were also here the whole time but in an unimportant to Jason capacity
(Detective Comic #526)
18 year old Dick Grayson then turns to Bruce and insists he wants to adopt Jason Todd. Bruce pats his son on the shoulder thinking what I can only imagine is some form of 'nice try college drop out I'll handle it myself'
(Detective Comics #526)
And Despite his adoption suggestion, Dick seems pretty pleased that Jason will be taken under Bruce's wing instead
-
And I just want to add the trapeze kid repeat doesn't actually feel as forced as some people make it out to be. Naturally, Haly's Circus would move to replace their most famous act with the same thing. A family of trapeze artists. (Scratch that I thought it was still Haly's Circus because Dick knew the clown in this circus from his circus but it's a different circus. I digress though) Jason's parents died in a different way that is actually unique to the Batman mythos. Jason's orphanage was explicitly the fault of Dick and Bruce though they don't really tap into that as much as they should. If this had stayed canon I Know that would have been a massive talking point. Dick considered taking on the responsibility but let Bruce step in without a fuss like I know this could have been so good.
[Next Up: Earth One Jason Becoming Robin]
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huh??
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Dick mourning Bruce's death, even after all the time he'd spent trying to prepare himself for what he believed to be not just a possibility but an eventuality, that he would lose Bruce long before he could become an old man, and it still utterly guts him, he just wasn't prepared. He's still destroyed by it, and through all of what's to come, the battle for the cowl, everything with Damian, everything with the Justice League, everything with Bruce's legacy, underneath all of that, there's still a young man who is devastated by this loss.
It doesn't matter how much he picks himself up to be the leader for the rest of the family, it doesn't matter how capable he is, Dick Grayson still was reeling from Bruce's death through all of that. He too wasn't ready to lose Bruce.
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Batman (1940) #441
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A 1988 house-ad for Batman (1940) #426-427, advertising ‘Death in the Family’. Art by Jim Aparo.
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It's a date 💕
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Look at Jason being a polite little dude calling Dick Mr Nightwing and Bruce being an emo bish
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Batman (1940) #368
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i think that when bruce yells at damian for letting himself get kidnapped by saturn cult to save the civilians damian should be like "OMG dick was totally okay with me being bait-to-be-kidnapped to find the bad guy earlier you should really chill out father" and bruce is like "Excuse me dick was WHAT"
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from batman (1940) #0 and batman (2016) #108
I know artists love to just slap a mustache and sunglasses on bruce (a man who canonicaly trained to become a master in the art of disguise) bc it makes him look like his father and it's silly and funny every time...
but redhead Matches Malone....
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Jason Todd as Robin ... the first time
[I previously addressed how before the original Crisis Jason Todd was introduced to the world.] The world being Earth One and this Jason Todd is much different to the Jason of New Earth who smacked Batman with a tire iron. He has red hair
But this is the tale of how Jason was awarded the title of Robin the first time around.
It begins with Dick Grayson. Wally West has just quit the Titans because he's losing his powers. And Dick has an announcement of his own.
(New Teen Titans vol 1 #39)
Dick has been Robin since he was 8 years old but he can't be Batman's kid partner forever. "Costume, you and I have gone through a Lot together. Sure hope your new wearer doesn't abuse you as much as I did." He already has a successor picked out of course
But Bruce is maybe not so on board not at first.
(Batman #363)
Jason is rather peeved he isn't allowed to do anything in this new place he's been put and reminds Alfred he can just go back to the circus
(Batman #363)
Still Jason sneaks out to assist Bruce with his Batmaning which is Not appreciated. Bruce realizing that maybe the orphan he took in at eight shouldn't have been fighting crime and trying to stop his new child actually makes So So much more sense than fired an adult Dick Grayson to protect him and then hired a twelve year old to replace him
(Batman #363)
Anyways Jason is pissed and makes a break for it back to the circus. "... Not every conversation with a clown in funny." hilarious narration and excellent unintentional foreshadowing
(Detective Comics #530)
Bruce realizes Jason ran away and is like 'Let's go get him back before the police realize we are almost kind of holding a child hostage. And by we I mean you Alfred okay bye.'
(Detective Comics #531)
Then after a fight that was with some lions and other evil villains this circus has a rough time. Bruce agrees Jason can have a chance at being his partner.
(Batman #366)
Jason is bored waiting around for Batman partner training and goes and fucks around in Dick's room.
(Batman #366)
What he found was evidently one of Dick's costumes and hair dye? So to note Jason dyed his own hair black just to prove himself nobody made him.
(Batman #366)
Anyways SUPER important because I'm so Mad they changed this and the fandom gets in a tizzy about it to this day. But Bruce was pissed Jason dressed up as Robin. "But at the very first opportunity, you will remove that costume. You had no right to wear it in the first place. Becoming my new parter is one thing...stealing someone else's very identity is another-- and one I won't allow." Bruce was incredibly protective of Dick's claim to Robin.
(Batman #367)
Just want to say Jason's first suggestion of an alternative sidekick name was "Ishmael"
(Batman #368)
Jason is listing out other names he could be called and Bruce doesn't like any of them.
(Batman #368)
But here comes Dick Grayson and he comes bearing gifts.
(Batman #368)
He has a suit and a name for Jason Todd to use happy to give permission while also pleased with Bruce's protectiveness.
(Batman #368)
Like this meant a whole lot to Bruce and Dick as well as Jason. Dick was nearly crying from Bruce's sincerity and gratefulness.
(Batman #368)
And now it's time for Dick Grayson to take his leave.
"So long, Robin. Be great."
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SELINA KYLE/CATWOMAN & BRUCE WAYNE/BATMAN in BATMAN (1940) #318
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