I made this post over on the 'Favorite Dynamic Duo' thread and was wondering what Jason fans would make of it.
And my other favorite Dynamic Duo is......
2. Batman & Jason Todd
When I think of memorable Robin moments and memorable Batman and Robin moments, the common denominator is almost always Jason Todd. I am not talking about Jim Starlin's Robin, I am talking about how other writers such as Mike W Barr and Marv Wolfman were characterizing him in Detective Comics and New Teen Titans respectively.
Even before becoming the resident bad boy of the Bat Family, Jason was known for venturing into places where no other Robin has gone before.
One of the funniest Batman moments involves him:
He was adorable in his own way:
Then there was his New Teen Titans appearances:
http://i62.tinypic.com/25psl5x.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/2gwb9xy.jpg
What strike me about this period was how much Jason came across as the everyman among the Robins. He had no prior skill set like Dick, Tim and Damian did. He was new to the whole business and he wasn't always sure of what to do. However, he was a good person deep down and he tried to do his best no matter what. While I like Jason's role representing as Bruce's greatest failure and the dangers of being a superhero, the dead Robin trope has become too diluted because Damian was killed off as well which ruins any kind of impact either his or Jason's death had in the first place.
I think returning Jason to the everyman status could be beneficial to the character. His whole reason for being the violent angry anti-hero of the Bat Family is a house built on quicksand because the reason why the Joker is still alive is not something that can be solved on that side of the 4th wall but this one. Leave the anti hero bs to Azrael and Huntress.
But for now here is an ominous foreshadowing from way before DC tried to kill off Jason Todd:
http://i57.tinypic.com/2vt848z.jpg
(the link is from the story that inspired an episode of TNBA)