Warning: contains spoilers for Robins #2!
Of the former Robins, Jason Todd, now the Red Hood, is perhaps the most controversial. Edgier and more street-wise than his predecessor, Todd struggled to temper his darker impulses. In Robins #2, on sale now at digital outlets, readers learn that during the Red Hood’s time as Robin, Batman suspected him of murder. The Dark Knight was unable to prove it, but it cast a shadow over his and Red Hood’s relationship.
In the early 1980s, Dick Grayson stepped down from being Robin, a role he had occupied since he was a child. Around the same time, readers were introduced to Jason Todd, who would become the second Robin. Unlike Dick Grayson, Jason Todd was harder-edged. A street kid, Batman caught Todd trying to rip tires off the Batmobile. Impressed by Todd’s cunning and sheer gall, Batman took him under his wing, training him as both a fighter and a detective. Todd would prove difficult for Batman to handle, as he had trouble checking his anger and rage, which led to friction between the two. Jason Todd’s time as Robin came to an end at the Joker’s hands, and it would be 15 years before he returned. In the years since, Todd’s tense relationship with Batman has cooled, and Todd has now joined other former Robins to track down a mysterious woman claiming she was the first Robin. Robins #2 is written by Tim Seeley with art by Baldemar Rivas.
In the issue, Red Hood is recounting a case from early in his tenure as Robin. A young woman was being horribly abused by Felipe Garzonas, the son of a prominent diplomat. Batman and Robin were unable to bring Felipe to justice due to his diplomatic immunity. He continued to abuse the woman until she committed suicide. Enraged, Red Hood confronted Felipe. Batman, afraid of what Jason might do, travels to the diplomat’s son’s penthouse apartment—just in time to see Felipe plummet to his death. When Batman questions Jason later, Todd tells him Felipe jumped to his death, but Batman strongly suspects he pushed him. Batman is never able to find any evidence that Todd killed Felipe, and the ambiguity ultimately impacts Batman’s perception of his new Robin.
The incident recounted here is a condensed retelling of “The Diplomat’s Son” from 1988’s Batman #424. The story, which originally occurred late in Jason Todd’s run as Robin, ended on the same ambiguous note. It was a shocking ending, and the story is still remembered by fans to this day. Not only did “The Diplomat’s Son” perfectly capture who Jason Todd was at the time—a street kid struggling, but failing, to check his dark impulses, it also foreshadowed the type of vigilante he would be when he returned years later as Red Hood.
The decision to move the incident earlier in Todd’s tenure reframes the original story. Batman was never able to implicate Red Hood in Felipe’s death in either version, but Jason Todd would be seemingly killed off within six months of the “The Diplomat’s Son’s” original publication, and the insinuations never had the chance to be fully explored. But regardless of when the incident happened in DC canon, Batman suspected Red Hood had the capacity to kill, even when he was Robin—a suspicion that proved correct when he returned to life years later.