Today we are here to talk about one of the most stylised miniatures we have made so far – The Joker 10th Anniversary Edition.
As you know, Batman Miniature Game is 10 years old, and to celebrate it, here at Knight Models we have recreated one of the most iconic moments of the Joker story featuring Jason Todd.
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
Jason Todd is Batman’s second Robin and was killed by the Joker. This story took place between 1988 and 1989, fortnightly, between issue numbers 426 and 429 of Batman, and gave readers the unusual opportunity to influence the story by means of telephone votes.
Then, the four issues were published in a compilation volume with the name “Batman: A Death in the Family”.
The story centers on Jason Todd when The Boy Wonder discovered a dark family secret. His mother is not actually his biological mother. So, he sneaks out of Wayne Manor to look for his birth mother.
Meanwhile the Joker has once again escaped from Arkham Asylum. Batman follows him to the Middle East where he meets Robin, who is following the clues he has obtained about his mother.
Once there, Jason meets his mother and they share a tender moment. Unfortunately though for him, she is being influenced by the Joker, and so she gives him her own son.
Seeing that he has Robin in his power, Joker brutally hits the Boy Wonder with a crowbar, and ties him and his mother to a bomb. Meanwhile, Batman thinks something is wrong and looks for Robin, but when he finds him he realizes that he is too late to save them. At this moment Batman begins to feel guilty for having named him Robin too quickly and decides to continue his fight alone.
“A Death in the Family” has always been one of the greatest tragedies in comics.
There is no moment as dark as when Joker brutally kills Jason Todd.
Of all the horrible things the Joker has done to his victims, the brutal murder of Jason Todd will remain one of his greatest moments of cruelty. Hitting young Robin with a crowbar and letting him die in an explosion is remembered as the act that permanently transformed the Joker into one of the greatest monsters in the DC Universe. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, one of the last words Jason said to Joker as a plea made his harrowing death even worse.
The story is notable not only because the Joker savagely beats up Robin, but because by this time, DC has left the young man’s fate in the hands of the audience via a telephone vote. With only a slim margin to “Yes” (5,343 votes against 5,271), voters opted to let Jason Todd die and the event would cast a dark shadow over the entire Batman family for years to come.
UNDER THE HOOD
When there was no longer any hope for him, Jason Todd revives and becomes the Red Hood. With this new alias he seeks revenge on the Joker at all costs. Once he finds him he ties him to a chair and points a gun at him, but, even being threatened with a gun, the Joker taunts Red Hood, revealing that, in his last moments, the young hero begged for his life saying “I’ll be your Robin.”
With his usual personality, the Joker revels in the painful torture and death of Todd until the moment when Red Hood can’t take it anymore and shoots him dead.
Jason Todd’s death has long been seen as an act that helped usher in the beginning of the “Dark Ages” of comics. The Boy Wonder’s brutal torture and death had a profound effect on the Batman story. Bruce went to a dark place, always regarding Jason’s murder as his greatest failure and for years refusing to allow another Robin to take his place.
The “A Death in the Family” arc took a huge step forward for comics in general, proving that even beloved heroes can’t always avoid the worst endings.
Jason Todd’s death was neither the first nor the last time that DC comics would touch on the subject of Robin’s death, although it was the first time that he would truly die. The image of Batman carrying Robin’s corpse, or the simple mention of Robin’s death, had been used in previous issues, the most famous story being that of “Robin Dies at Dawn” (Batman #156) from 1963.
CURIOSITIES
Because the vote was so tight, DC created an alternate, uncolored version of Batman #428 in case readers voted to keep Jason alive. This variant became very famous, especially for the cover of Batman holding Jason and saying “He’s alive! Thank God!” A new variant of this was used for the story “Red Hood: Return of Jason Todd”.
Obviously, thanks to the tragic history and subsequent revenge of Jason Todd, the cruelty of the Joker was strengthened and to this day, along with other titles such as “The Killing Joke”, the Joker’s crazed rage is known as one of the most iconic facets of the character.
That’s all, Bat fans! Remember that the Joker 10th anniversary is now available on our website. Besides we will reveal more teasers about the new releases that we have available.
