The Jason Todd described in Stracyznski’s series bible sounds like a bridge between the Pre and Post-Crisis versions. He would not be a brutal punk Batman needed to rein in, but rather a spark of light in the Dark Knight’s life:
Advertisement
“Don Quixote needed his Sancho Panza. Sherlock Holmes needed his Dr. Watson. And the Batman needs a Robin. In the absence of a Robin, tends toward a grim, relentless sort of attitude. Robin is needed to lighten his load, make him smile, remind him that there is light amid the darkness.”
The series’ pilot would tell the origin of the new Robin. This Jason meets Batman while steeling the Batmobile’s tires, but his late parents were circus performers (to explain his acrobatic skills). In the cartoon, the tire-stealing would show Jason’s fearlessness but not his bad side.
The regular supporting cast is there — Commissioner Jim Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale — and also original character Frederica Miles, Gordon’s right-hand woman. The bible says that Nightwing might show up once or twice a season, too, and Jason would look at him like a little brother trying to live up to the older one. Not to mention Miss Chandra, a robotic nanny for Jason gifted by Superman. (This is the one part of the pitch that gives me pause.)
Advertisement
Suggested villains include the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Cat-Man, the Ventriloquist, and Two-Face. (Here’s a big difference with “Batman: The Animated Series” — that show introduced Harvey Dent first, building up to his tragic fall. JMS, though, wrote that Two-Face’s origin should not be depicted in detail.)
Bruce and Jason’s father-son relationship and crime-fighting partnership was meant to be the heart of “Batman and the New Robin.” “Batman: The Animated Series” took after the ’70s Batman comics and used Robin much more sparingly. Dick Grayson was away at college, and so only some episodes had the full Dynamic Duo. That, like those comics, allowed more storytelling flexibility. It’s also another reason that “Batman: The Animated Series” felt a lot more mature than past Batman cartoons; there were no children among the main cast.
“Batman: The Animated Series” was followed by “The New Batman Adventures,” which jumped ahead two years to introduce Nightwing and the second Robin. Not Jason Todd, but Tim Drake, who in the contemporary comics was the third and current Robin. In 1997, Jason was still the “dead Robin.” For all the ways the “Batman” team pushed against content guidelines, even they couldn’t adapt “A Death in the Family.” So, they decided the show should mirror the current “Batman” comics with a Robin named Tim Drake (albeit with some of Jason’s qualities, too).
Advertisement
But Jason did eventually return from the dead via the 2005 storyline “Batman: Under The Hood” (by Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke). That comic got adapted in 2010 as an animated film titled “Batman: Under The Red Hood,” which finally brought Jason Todd into animation. After years of getting the short stick, from his murder to his cartoon never getting off the ground, Jason Todd’s reputation was finally boosted by starring in one of the best animated “Batman” films.
