#batman 1940

[halftonevoid]

you and me both, mr. funk

[remcadll]

Post-crisis Jaybin era Batman on a generational bullshit run

[fancyfade]

I will confess, while I don't ever want Robin to be retconned out or like. treated like the role doesn't exist, I think that responses to 'i prefer batman stories without robin' as "omg you must really like the 1 year of stories in the 1930s" are kind of stupid.

like. i'm sorry but unless you've only done a dick grayson reading list as your exposure to batman comics there are tons of batman comics without robin, and it's OK for people to prefer these. legends of the dark knight, a lot of stories in the 70s and 80s when Dick was in college. lots of these stories are good even!

[supmaww]

style study that I got carried away on. baby jason! yay!

based on this panel after batman confronted jason for stealing his tires in Batman (1940) #408

[shyjusticewarrior]

Bruce and Dick having the same reaction to Jason taking the batmobiles' wheels

[littlebabytimmybird]

y'know, I've been reading Tim's training arc (with Bruce and Alfred, before he's officially Robin) and one thing I'm noticing is how gentle Bruce is with him. he's even encouraging and modeling healthier habits that he (Bruce) doesn't usually engage in himself. i know he gets rougher with him later but frankly this is really proving the point that "Batman needs a Robin" really means Batman needs someone to care for.

[saedyne]

Batman (1940) #456

aww look, it's baby's first hallucincouragement!!

[bloodandpulse]

Jason Todd Timeline, Part 1: ROBIN

Post-Crisis, Jason's rebooted origin to his death

Disclaimer: I have not read all of Jason's Robin tenure! If there is any information from 1987-1988 that I missed, I would love to hear it! This part of the timeline is meant as more of a prequel for the Red Hood part, which I got maybe carried away with.

Jason's mom dies in February - Batman (1940) #409: Bruce learns from the records of a clinic of some kind that Catherine Todd died of an overdose "last February". Bruce suggests in the previous panel that she may have died within the past six months.

context for later - Dick moves on from Robin around May/June - Batman (1940) #408: the narration states a number of weeks pass between Dick leaving and the later events of this issue.

Jason is caught stealing the Batmobile's tires on June 26 - Batman (1940) #408: the narration states Batman is in Crime Alley for the anniversary of his parents death, which has been generally established as June 26. This also aligns with the six month span Bruce suggests in #409 (it's unclear to me where he got this number from but he's Batman and I'm trusting him with this).

bonus - Batman (1940) #409: Bruce originally sends Jason to Ma Gunn's School for Boys after reclaiming his tires. Jason stays for about 24 hours before running away. I'm not going to summarize the whole issue here, but I think it's worth noting that Bruce did try a more typical approach before taking Jason in himself.

Jason becomes Robin around late December - Batman (1940) #410: the narration states Bruce has been training Jason for six months since taking him in. This is also the issue where Jason finds out Two-Face is believed to have killed his dad (but I won't clutter this post with my thoughts about Willis Todd).

Jason was 12 when he died - walk with me. Batman (1940) Annual #12: this issue takes place during Jason's 7th grade year. I'm choosing to believe that Jason did not repeat his 5th grade year, and his birthday is in August, so he would have been 12 years old here. This issue was published a year after #410 (note: publishing dates are different than the dates on covers, yes, it's confusing) and another four IRL months pass between Annual #12 and #426 when A Death in the Family begins. Although comic time never lines up with IRL time, it can help narrow it down. Given only four IRL months, I think it's reasonable to assume that Jason is still in 7th grade and 12 years old when ADitF takes place.

The popular belief that Jason was 15 at his death is from The Batman Files, published in 2011. I like to prioritize information given during or close to the original continuity (especially in this case, because DC really likes to age Jason up in order to make his murder and subsequent murdering less tragic). Ultimately, I was converted by this post arguing a younger death date. arcade-confetti makes many of the same points I'm making here much more concisely.

Jason was Robin for a year and a half - keep walking with me, friends. Batman (1940) #436: after Jason's death and funeral, when Dick gets back to the Manor from his space adventures with the Titans, he mentions that it's been two years since he left. As I mentioned earlier, he left in May/June immediately before Jason met Bruce. This means Jason had been living at the Manor for about two years and, allotting for his six months of training, was Robin for a year and a half of that time. Assuming he's 12 after those two years, he would have been 10 when he met Bruce. Also, Batman (1940) #410: the narration states Jason is a fifth-grade dropout. He would have been 10 in 5th grade, having dropped out to care for Catherine before she died, and the subsequent lack of care/food/shelter making it difficult to return.

Jason dies on April 27 - Batman (1940) Annual #25: this was published directly after Under the Red Hood in 2006. Again, I prefer to follow the information given closest to original continuity, but given that it's such a widely accepted date with nothing from ADitF contradicting it, I'll include it here.

A simplified timeline:

February, age 10 - Catherine dies of an overdose

June 26, age 10 - Jason meets Batman

June 27, age 10 - Bruce takes Jason in

August 16 - Jason's 11th birthday

Training for six months

late December, age 11 - Jason becomes Robin

Robin for year and a half

April 27, age 12 - Jason is murdered

I would have included panels but the next part is super super long already. Click here for the post covering Jason's revival and early stories as Red Hood!