Robin & Batman: Jason Todd

Batman: Miniseries

by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen (Illustrator)

Comics superstars Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen reunite to tell the all-new story of a different Dynamic Duo, with a very different dynamic!

Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s acclaimed, fan-favorite comics collaborations include the Eisner Award-winning Image Comics sci-fi series Descender, and their take on the most famous partnership in superhero comics, Robin & Batman.

While Robin & Batman told the tale of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, for their follow-up, Lemire and Nguyen examine a very different sidekick: Jason Todd, a rash, impulsive, reckless kid with a troubled past.

Batman was certain he could mold Jason into Gotham’s next crime-fighter as the second Robin. But can the Dark Knight save Jason Todd from the darkness within himself? And when a mysterious new villain named Wraith sets his sights on Jason, Batman finds himself doubtful that even he has what it takes to train the anger and torment out of his new young ward.

This collection includes Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #1-3, Lemire and Nguyen’s full story.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Batman, Comic Book, Superheroes, Ebooks

144 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2025

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Robin & Batman: Jason Todd is enjoyable, but not nearly as good as Grayson's story.

Still, I liked a lot of what Jeff Lemire did with Jason Todd. Jason is a very different person than Dick Grayson, and so his anger is excellent here, but even more so, his need to be better. It's a driving factor for him, maybe more than any other Robin outside of Damian, so it was nice to see it reflected. This is, of course, an interpretation of the character, and some fans will hate it, but I quite enjoyed it.

The villain here is decent, basically a dark reflection, the "kill" version, of Batman. This gives Jason significant food for thought regarding his own methods. The villain, though, isn't the best or most interesting in the end.

Overall, there were some great Bruce and Jason moments I really enjoyed. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

[Tom Zilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good, I think a lot of Jason Todd fans are reviewing it harshly because they just don’t like Lenmire’s darker take on the character even if it makes Todd more human and tragic.
I kinda wish Lemire could’ve used the actual Punisher in this instead of a stand in character but that’s ok.

[cocacolashirt]

trying to be chill reading dc comics but can't help noticing how classism bleeds through the cracks of every jason todd comic ever….. hated the characterisation of jason, alfred and even bruce in this what was going on….. ugh.. art is so beautiful tho….

[Nimish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think a lot of people are reading this book from the wrong angle. I interpreted this more so as a deeper analysis of Jason's fear and trauma. It's a good insight into why he would go down the route of a villain but also his strength to keep pushing forward even though it seems like everyone has already given up on him i.e. Alfred + Dick. Kids become what you make of them and in this case he didn't receive the support he should have from the start and now they were left playing catch up.

I also think this was fascinating to read because you could compare his reactions to Damian in "Batman vs. Robin". It's the same set up with a villain wanting to mentor them to make Gotham "better" by killing. Although they have different motivations for why they might potentially side with a villain at their core they're still traumatised Kids.

The panel with the Joker watching Jason leave Arkham was downright diabolical though 😭

[diya · Rating 2 out of 5]

read individually

i had high hopes for this because i have such a soft spot for v1 (it was my first comic), and i went into it knowing the characterization of jason was a little... questionable. but even so it really took me out, i wish someone understood jason it makes me so sad.

aside from that (which really lingered throughout all issues), i liked issue 2 the best, something about issue 3, in terms of pacing, felt off.

i feel so sad giving the companion of robin & batman two stars :((( i didn't hate all of it!

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

As expected from Lemire, we get large panels filled with character-focused narrative where the emotions, beautifully captured by artist Dustin Nguyen and his always-pleasant-to-look-at watercolour style, take center place in telling the story. In this case, the focus is in the boiling rage within Jason Todd, the latest Robin in Batman's life. It's a very short story, with very little dialogue, that really captures the difficulties in communication between these two characters as Batman tries to adapt to Robin, knowing full well that he is neither him or his previous Robin (Dick Grayson). It would've been nice to get a bit more of the Wraith, but, for what this was, it was solid.

[Eli Seibert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, just too short for anything to really marinate. Also very similar in plot to the “Batman vs Robin” animated movie. But it actually does a good job showing how similar Jason and Bruce are, and how their costumes personas were crafted in an effort to stop anything from ever hurting them again.

[Vane ;) · Rating 2 out of 5]

“—I saw the signal.
—I was calling you home.”

Esta historia te restriega mil veces en la cara el trágico destino de Jason.

[Yara The Destructor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artstyle is very unusual and at times a bit unpolished but since this is not an action based story it was a solid choice and works well.
I don't like the characterization of Jason and Alfred.
The story focuses on Jasons anger and desire to hurt and implies that there has always been something innate wrong with him (which is effectively the reason he is destined to become Red Hood). I'm choosing to interpret this as a case of unreliable narration on Jasons part and him being failed by all three (five) adult figures in his life.
I still wish they would've included more of Jasons original character.

+1 ⭐️ for Discowing

[Asal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be.

Alfred’s reaction to Jason was weird at first, but then again, sometimes I do like a good Alfred bashing. I liked how Bruce actually was very insistent on helping Jason, even when he had his small moment of doubt he knew it was wrong. Like he loves his boy so much.

It’s also so weird for me to see Jason and Dick as brothers in recent comics since I was an enjoyer of DC’s early 2000s-2010s comics, and it was a very different dynamic then compared to how it is now.

Jason’s characterization wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be since I was going off by what other people have said. I still don’t like how violent he was since that was a thing Starlin brought in during his run all those years ago, I mourn the Jason before that man got his grubby hands on him. When the Cuckoo was killed it felt so similar to when Felipe Garzonas fell from the balcony, specifically the moment Bruce became angry at Jason. So what I’m saying is, it makes sense that this is how writers write Robin!Jason as much as I dislike it, but I also don’t think it’s insanely out of character in this story. Lemire explores such a defining moment of Jason’s childhood trauma that I feel a lot of writers lump in with his overall trauma. Like this child watched his mother die, and his father having no choice but to turn to a life of crime that inevitably got him killed. Jason is different than Dick and Bruce, he grew up in poverty and that can make someone angry at the world. If writers focused more on the class issues being one of the sources for his anger I’d be more welcoming of the angry Robin trope given to him.

I think I criticize more how the people around Jason treated him more than his actual characterization. Alfred especially, like I genuinely don’t feel like he would say that Bruce should think of other options for Jason, as if that man didn’t raise a furry crime fighter himself. Alfred is not, and should not be portrayed as perfect, I actually hate that type of characterization for him, but I also don’t think he is that ignorant when thinking of a traumatized child. Also with how Dick has been in canon, with his constant fights with Bruce, I hate how he was held on a different and higher standard than Jason as if he wasn’t a trouble maker himself.

Anyways the line Jason says “I’m not going to be Robin forever. I’m not going to be a little kid forever,” did break me a little. There’s something so tragic about a boy destined to die.

[sophiajamon · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5/5) "you're not my brother nightwing." if i was nightwing id drive home and sob for like twelve hours straight

[Jan Geerling · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Robin years of Jason Todd deserve more stories. I’d love to see more.

[Zach Rubbico · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art and water color alone ranks this super high for me. I've never been the biggest Jason Todd fan, but the idea of him being scared of his own potential and not just the rash angry Robin was an interesting look.

there are so many depictions of him flying off the handle and being angry at how things are done, but meeting Wraith, which we as the reader recognize how Jason will be in the future, and foiling with him was cool.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Lemire a lot but I’m not really sure what the point of this is, other than to see Nguyen on Batman and Robin again.
If it was published at the time that Jason was Robin and in continuity it would have been good. But it’s not.
It fleshes Jason Todd’s childhood out a little but other than that, although it’s not a badly written book, i found it hard to get invested.

[Gabi · Rating 2 out of 5]

jaybin i would never treat you like this 😕
loved the watercolours hated the characterisations

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

What was this even🤣 none of these characters would ever act like that

[Jules · Rating 1 out of 5]

okropne. nie wierze, ze ten sliczny artstyle marnuje sie na tak paskudny writing. paskudny!!!!

cala narracja od poczatku przedstawia jasona w zlym swietle - tak, jakby nie bylo dla niego nadziei, jakby jego los byl przesądzony od poczatku. ah yes. we love the "inherently evil" jason in this house.

batman, czlowiek ktory widzi nadzieje dla mrocznego, kryminalnego miasta gotham, nie widzi nadziei dla jasona todda - de facto, dziecka. mlodego chlopca. ciekawe! dlaczego gotham pelne zloczyncow posiada wiecej optymizmu bruce'a niz jego syn? alfred, ktory zawsze jest glosem rozsądku i mediatorem miedzy brucem a dzieciaczkami ocieka niechęcia i klasizmem wobec jasona todda. co sie zadzialo w tym komiksie? dlaczego wszyscy - postacie, DOROSLE OSOBY ktore powinny dawac przyklad, writerzy i ich matki, i moze ich cale family line, nienawidza jasona todda????? dlaczego nastoletni chlopiec z dysfunkcyjnego srodowiska jest demonizowany i drzemie w nim nieopisane zlo? w czym zawinil i dlaczego jest skreslany przez niezalezne od niego czynniki?

teraz moj ulubiony cytat. "dick had parents--good parents. he knew what that was like. so did i. we both had that before we became this. jason never did. i thought maybe we could become that for him. he's just--broken." CO TO ZNACZY??? jesli nie masz porzadnych rodzicow i nie wywodzisz sie z dobrego srodowiska to jestes przesądzonym przypadkiem? nie mozesz byc superbohaterem? spisany na straty? czy batman nie ma w swojej liscie zadan pomocy takim osobom? AAAA, jason to nastoletni chlopiec, po prostu mu POMOZ. znasz terapeutow i psychologow, masz znajomosci, o co ci chodzi--co jest tu ze wszystkimi nie tak, dlaczego jason jest tak bardzo niezaopiekowany i osamotniony. wtf.

my poor jason, everyone always fails him. 🙂💔

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed Nguyen’s watercolor art on this one, but it felt a bit unfinished to me at times due to all the white space he left in.

Not a big fan of Jason Todd/Redhood normally but I felt like this book offers a better telling of his back story than most other versions I’ve read. Lemire certainly does a better job of making him sympathetic. If this Jason Todd was in the original comic I doubt readers would have felt compelled to vote to kill him off lol

The villain in this one resembled a downgraded version of Mask of the Phantasm. The “Anti-Batman” character has been done many times before and I think it works better purely as a Batman antagonist and not as a potential inspiration for Jason Todd’s future vigilantism as Redhood.

[urbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

i completely understand the internal turmoil of the iteration and the struggle of one to move past his past. However I feel like the comic ended right where it began. I do understand that the end was merely the beginning and start of a new chapter but, there wasn't any development from the beginning til the end like i said, it ended right where it began. But I could be wrong, i don't know. kind of confused about how I feel about this one. while that being said, I don't hate it, there are certainly parts i like and appreciate.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first Robin & Batman, but I think that's more to do with me disagreeing with Lemire's idea that Jason might actually be too broken to 'fix'. I did enjoy the comparisons with Nightwing, and how different Jason is from both Dick and Bruce, but I don't think this said as much about Jason as it wanted to in just three issues, compared to how much ground we seemed to cover in the first book.

The artwork's still phenomenal though - Dustin Nguyen does so much with so little.

[Lore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A looming remind that Jason Todd is doomed by the very same narrative he haunts.

Jason is best character in this comic by far. His trauma and defensive mechanisms are shown in ways that are heart wrenching. This poor boy has been hurt and scared for his entire life and clings desperately to Robin as safety away from that. But we all know how his story ends. He was dealt horrible hands the day he was born, and this comic does a wonderful job at explaining how it wasn’t his fault but a byproduct of failures around him. However, I do wish they gave him one more layer. One that made him feel like a kid. If they had included how he loves Jane Austin or enjoys school it would have just been a bit more effective at showing us that he isn’t some punk kid.

The foreshadowing elements were well done without overly stuffing the comic.

But Alfred my goat…what did they do to you. This is a completely different character than the bad ahh butler who called Bruce a bastard in volume one 💔💔💔

Could have been better, but I’m thankful for what we got

[Jess Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

“i’ve always known its only a matter of time for me”.

jason todd is the perfect example of a self fulfilling prophecy, and it haunts me. if you tell someone that they will only ever amount to one thing, how are they supposed to know they can be more?

the subtle hints to red hood in the art were amazing!

and can we please stop acting like alfred is a natural saint? i loved this characterisation of him, so much more realistic. he is allowed to grow as a character and learn from his mistakes too.

[kopano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sings a familiar tune. It’s what we’ve come to expect from basically every Jason story. That’s frustrating, but like I said, is to be expected, and so I’m not going to beat a dead horse and act like I didn’t read and finish it regardless. The art is stellar, and the story has its moments, but I don’t think this is a must-read for anybody except, I assume, Jason fans. Ones that aren’t bored of this song.

[Leo Kirchner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin and Batman: Dick Grayson is my favorite comic of all time. This is a really good book but doesn't live up to its older brother just like Jason Todd. It's a great Jason Robin story which are very few and far between and I apricate that. It's really does a good job of showing the difference between Dick and Jason and how Jason genuinely has stuff he needs to work through. I really do like this book but the villain is very forgettable. 4/5 Stars.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is it so difficult for the universe to write a decent book about Jason Todd? Young Jason was cocky, confident, admittedly broken (like they ALL are) but generally fearless. He didn't look like Damian Wayne, teeny tiny and wearing a actual pants (!). He was Robin and being Robin gave him magic.

The parts with Dick were good, but I couldn't see past Alfred's characterization. Alfred loves all his damn kids - did Jeff not bother to read any of Under the Red Hood?

[Franny]

Tell me you think poor people with PTSD are evil without telling me you think poor people with PTSD are evil: the comic
Can there ever be a nuanced characterization of Jason Todd as Robin after Under the Red Hood?
This comic sure makes it seem like the answer is no. I don't need every take on Robin Jason to be the "Robin makes me magic" version of him from his debut......but there has to be a middle ground somewhere between that and how current DC portrays him.

[Justin Biondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I liked the first one a little bit better but this one was so good too. I’m a sucker for Jason as Robin stories since they’re hard to come by and I love that we got a new one by Jeff Lemire of all people. I wish it was a bit more laser focused but this was still really good. Can’t wait for more of these Robin and Batman stories. I’m hoping for Tim and Steph soon enough

[Ben Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think this was considerably stronger than the Dick Grayson volume. The art had a lot of space to really breathe and the brokenness of Jason Todd really fitted with Lemires character writing style. I do think this builds really well on the previous volume.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 3.5.

This was interesting. A different look at Jason Todd as a youngster for me. Seeing the thoughts Bruce and Alfred had were unexpected. Pretty good character study. I was a little put off by the artwork, but that's just me. I wouldn't consider it a reason to not read this.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story that really delves into Jason’s past and how that makes him different from the other Robins. His early life experience will make him darker and angrier. I appreciate how that part of Jason wasn’t sugar coated.