Notice! Spoilers for From the DC Vault: Death in the Family – Robin Lives! #4!The Bat Family’s interpersonal relationships have always been complicated, but perhaps the most complicated of all are Red Hood and Nightwing. These characters have a long history together, both as brothers and enemies, and that was never clearer than when DC decided to revisit the idea of ​​Red Hood becoming Nightwing’s personal character. Clown.
Jason Todd’s heartbreaking fate in the alternate timeline is revealed in From the DC Vault: Death in the Family – Robin Lives!which ends with issue #4 by JM DeMatteis, Rick Leonardi, Rico Renzi, and Taylor Esposito. After Jason Todd manages to kill the Joker, it looks like life will finally change for the members of the Bat-Family. Jason receives the therapy, love, compassion, and support he needs to move forward. But not everything is as it seems, even after Jason gets the love he deserves.
Bruce ends up abandoning his role as Batman, promising to help Gotham as Bruce Wayne. But that doesn’t mean Batman is leaving Gotham City. Instead of Bruce retiring from Batman, Nightwing ends up taking on the mantle. At first, it seems like a pretty easy change, especially with the Joker dead. Unfortunately, Jason Todd ends up becoming the second Jokerand it’s not the first time DC has tried such a change.
Red Hood transforms into the Joker – and it’s not the first time
Panels Batman and Robin #6 by Grant Morrison, Philip Tan, Jonathan Glapion, Pete Pantazis and Pat Brosseau
While Jason is on good terms with the Bat-Family in the current DC timeline, that wasn’t always the case. When Jason first appeared as Red Hood, he was the antagonist of the story and firmly an antiherobut as time went on in the pre-Flashpoint years, he simply became more and more villainous, culminating in Jason becoming a full-fledged Bat-Family villain. Every now and then he would appear and cause chaos in Gotham City, but something interesting happened. As Bruce Wayne had left Gotham by this time, the Batman that Jason fought most often was not Bruce, but his brother Dick Grayson.
Many stories would struggle to specifically frame Red Hood as Nightwing’s Joker.
Red Hood and Nightwing fought a lot, starting in Battle for the Hood by Tony S. Daniel, as well as appearing sporadically in Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin. Many stories in this post-Infinite Crisis era went out of their way to specifically frame Red Hood as Nightwing’s Joker, which became most evident when Dick reached out to Jason, genuinely trying to save him, and Jason responded with a Joker-like monologue. by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland The killing jokewhere Batman offered the Joker the same kind of redemption.
The controversial Three wildcards The story also suggests that Jason Todd will become the Joker
Dashboard Three wildcards by Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson and Rob Leigh
Another example of DC suggesting that Jason could become the Joker was during Three wildcards by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok. This story reveals that there is more than one Joker, and they have their eye on turning Jason into the bedroom. Ultimately, they decide that Jason wouldn’t make a good Joker, but the fact that they considered this is just another example of the many times that DC considered this twisted fate for the former Boy Wonder.
Despite all these examples of Jason being turned into the Joker, none of them painted him as particularly dangerous. In Three jokers, he was rejected by the other Jokers. In Batman and RobinRed Hood’s journey and ideals only parallel the Joker’s; he never became him, but played a similar role as archenemy as opposed to Dick Grayson’s Batman. In From the DC Vault: Death in the Family – Robin Lives!however, the darker, more dangerous version of Jason Todd emerges at the end of the story as the real Joker to Dick’s Batman.
The Joker always had a secret identity, but it never mattered. Who the Joker once was wouldn’t change anything, and he never stops being the Joker. This identityless status quo is not the case with Jason’s version of the Joker. Jason knows who Batman and the Bat-Family are. He knows that Dick Grayson is currently Batman, but no one in the Bat-Family knows that Jason has become the Joker. Even more complicated is the fact that Jason is one of the head doctors at Arkham Asylumgiving him a perfect place to manipulate Batman’s other villains and a true secret identity.
Red Hood becoming the Joker is the worst possible scenario for his character
Jason Todd will never escape tragedy
The extent of the damage and chaos Jason causes is unfortunately left to the imagination of readers, as the series ends shortly after the revelation that Jason has assumed the identity of the Joker. Since Jason knows who the Bat-Family is, and they have no idea he is the Joker, he can do a significant amount of damage in a short amount of time. All readers get a voiceover stating that the Bat-Family hoped that Jason would make a difference and save lives and that he would use his abilities for good, but the final words of the story admit that those hopes were wrong.
When and how did Jason Todd first return to Gotham and Batman’s lives as Red Hood? Find out the answer in one of the best Batman stories of all time, Batman: Under the Red Hood by Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke, available now both digitally and in collected editions from DC Comics.
It seems that no matter what universe Jason Todd is in, he will never be able to escape the Joker, and it seems that he is destined to become Nightwing’s arch-rival. More than once, Jason became an analogue of the Joker or simply became the Joker, and he’s almost always positioned against Dick Grayson, whether as Nightwing or Batman. It’s a tragic fate, one that Jason can never seem to escape, no matter how things go for him. Even in a story where it seems like he got everything he needed after Joker Death in the family attack, he still ended up being a villain.
Nightwing and Red Hood have always had a complicated relationship
From brothers to enemies and back again
It’s a shame that Jason Todd never finds a happy ending, especially since he deserves one. After his death at the hands of the Joker, Jason’s character was almost entirely defined by his hatred and fear of the clown. Jason ends up falling victim to him, turning into him, or his stories revolve around revenge against him. The Joker was the worst thing to ever happen to Jason, as DC now treats it like it’s the only thing that ever happened to him, resulting in Jason being more alone than ever, as he can never truly get closer to his family.
The reason Jason Todd became a villain and took on a Joker role to oppose Dick Grayson’s Batman was because he didn’t have the compassion and support he needed after the trauma he went through. But now, readers know that even if Jason received that love and compassion, even if he wasn’t killed by the Joker, it doesn’t really matter. No matter what happens, at some point, Nightwing will always have to face Red Hood like a distorted version of your own Clown.
From the DC Vault: Death in the Family – Robin Lives! #4 is now available from DC Comics!