Robin & Batman: Jason Todd (Robin & Batman: Jason Todd

Batman: Miniseries

by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen (Artist)

Batman has a new Robin. Jason Todd is a rash, impulsive, and reckless kid with a troubled past who the Dark Knight was certain he could mold into Gotham’s next protector. But can he save Jason from the darkness within himself? When a strange new villain, shrouded in white cloth and mystery, sets his sights on Robin, Batman realizes that even he may not have what it takes to train the anger and torment out of his new young ward. The Eisner-winning team of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen (Descender) delved into the history of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in 2022. Now, they’ve reunited to tell the story of Batman’s most tortured and complex Robin. Collects Robin & Jason Todd #1-3.

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

Kindle Edition

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

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars

[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.

[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 😭

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

[Eva B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Propaganda I'm not falling for: Jason Todd being the "angry Robin".

Look, I'll be the first to admit that I am a Red Hood hater. I think he's squandered potential in a cool costume with a pretty face that gets most of his fans to ignore the fact that he's having the same "but I wanna kill bad people!" argument with Bruce that Cassandra Cain, Jean-Paul Valley, and Helena Bertinelli all had better (mainly because they had reasons beyond "because I wanna/because I'm so sad and traumatized"). But man do I love Jason as Robin. He was so cute and silly and precious and I can't believe the vote came out the way it did...who could hate the kid who goes "I'm Robin, and being Robin gives me magic!" enough to kill him? Not only was this book completely out of character with the other portrayals of Jaybin, I struggle to see who would like this? The tragedy of Red Hood is that it's a corruption of Jason, but in this, Jason is already basically Red Hood Jr. so that tragedy is gone. And Bruce, Alfred, and even Dick and Babs all seem to barely tolerate him and even admit he might be so broken that he can't be saved? No. Absolutely abysmal characterization.

The art is very good, I'll give it that, but the comic? Hard pass. Read some classic Jaybin instead.

[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….

[Yara The Destructor · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5/5⭐️

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

[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.

[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!

[Ewan Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways, this book is far better than its predecessor.

It ditches the angsty nihilistic take on Batman, and flips those themes on its head. Batman is now hopeful and caring (fitted in his superior Blue and Grey suit), while Robin is now the nihilistic and angry one consumed by the mission.

This book follows the modern interpretation of Jason Todd as the violent Robin who's always on the edge. And, although I'm not completely against this modern take, I do fear it doesn't fix the problem it tries to. This take on Jason is a desperate attempt to differentiate him from Dick, which is fine; however, it kind of makes him too similar to Damian. This is especially prevalent in this specific story. All his talk about the war on crime, being a weapon, focusing on Bruce's crusade... It makes it feel like it's a book about Damian as opposed to Jason.

The book also spends too much time foreshadowing Jason's future as Red Hood. I get it. Jason Todd's death and eventual resurrection as Red Hood is basically the only thing the character has going for him. I do not envy the creative team on trying to make a Robin book about the least interesting or unique Robin. But this could've been an opportunity to differentiate Jason and make him more than the man he eventually becomes... But that isn't what happens here.

That said, the book is great. Personally, I prefer the relationship between a hopeful Batman and an angsty Robin over an abusive Batman and timid Robin. It just makes for a more interesting dynamic and read. There's a reason Dick and Damian are so goddamn iconic!

The art is once again gorgeous. I honestly think it's somehow better this time around!

Honestly, the main takeaway I've gotten from this book is I want to see this team tell their versions of all the Robins. Like, I'd love these guys to do a book about Stephanie's short stint in the mantle!

[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.

[Gabi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be a good run of Jason Todd’s Robin but I felt like Jason was mischaracterized to be the angry and edgy Robin instead. I could understand the opinion of Jason being violent because he witnessed such tragedy growing up but it just wasn’t what I was expecting. But the art was good, I loved the watercolor look! The plot felt rushed but the Wraith was a cool character. When Jason followed the address Wraith gave him, I was lowkey surprised. It just seemed kinda random especially when they teamed up. I thought that was kinda crazy. Anyways, Nightwing’s appearance was cool even though it was brief. It was funny seeing him in his silly Discowing Suit. Also the part where Batman actually thought Jason killed a man was good reference to Felipe Garzonas and the whole tension that rises after.

[Bryan Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike their previous mini-series, this one fell a bit flat for me. Aside from Alfred and sometimes Bruce being unfairly harsh on Jason, the writing was decent. There were a few emotional beats that worked well and saw into the psyche of Jason. The story felt a bit repetitive despite only being 3 issues long. .
The art was, once again, very well done. But there wasn’t a ton of variety in the locations and characters, so I don’t think Nguyen’s art was able to shine as much as it could’ve.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really like the art, which is reminiscent of water colors. I like reading Jason as Robin and seeing Dick interact with him and Alfred and Bruce discuss him. The story itself is pretty short and not too memorable. It definitely plants the seeds in Jason's personality for what he will become.

[Makayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous artwork. I need more comics done in water colour!

[sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

i love this illustration style and I like the writing — this just isnt jason. i will never ever ever ever fall for the jason is the angry robin propaganda. but i liked Bruce in this

[Emily Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough for what it was. Gorgeous art. Alfred’s characterization disappointed me, but it was also an interesting perspective to see him not playing the “perfect” parent.

[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

[keara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering Jason Todd is one of my favorite DC characters, I sort of don't know how to feel about this. To say I didn't enjoy it would be an outright lie, because it was a beautiful art style and I liked the story fine. I think my issues lie mostly with how short it all was. I'm not saying that short stories can't be good ones; I just think that Jason's story benefits from time. I did quite enjoy what it tried to do, but I think it would have been that much more engaging if it allowed itself more room to breathe.

For one, I really enjoyed those moments where Jason got stuck in the moment, looking back at the past and how he'd gotten here. Those moments where he could only feel his cracks and only see the darkness, those were my favorites. I think they fully understood Jason's character, and one of my favorite aspects of his early character. While I'm a big believer that Jason Todd was NOT the "angry robin." I think having those moments where anger and despair peeked through really emphasized an understanding of his character. It makes sense that he would have moments where he got deeply emotional; his anger is not his only trait, but it sets him apart from all the other Robins and Bruce himself. He is the only other Robin who has that extra connection to the city of Gotham and the people who are hurt by the rogues. He feels a warranted frustration at how Batman decides to manage the crime, because he knows that some of these methods are not quick to work.

However, I think that this aspect of Jason's character can only be well done if it is not rushed. This felt rushed to me. It made him seem unreasonable and annoying at times, which was not helped by Alfred suggesting we send him back out into the streets because he wasn't a Dick Grayson carbon copy. I can see that they attempted to show both sides of the story. Jason's side, where he feels alone and broken, and like the work he's doing with Batman isn't helping at all. And the other side, where he has a support system that doesn't quite know how to help him, but they are trying, and they care. But you can't just fully and effectively convey that with just one meeting with Dick and one Babs cameo. And, I understand that this is just a long-winded way of saying that I wish it had a bit more time to show more of how Jason's internally feeling, and how the people in his life are navigating understanding a kid that is so foreign to them, but like I think those extra pages and moments would have made the difference for me.

In the end, I've definitely encountered worse takes on Jason's time as Robin and his relationship with the Batfam. This was far from the worst. I don't know that I would read it again, but I might go back and look at all the pretty art.

XO, Keara

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Jeff Lemire hit this right out of the park. The artwork by Dustin Nguyen gives the book this sorrowful and yesteryear quality. This was a great character study of Jason Todd. Jason Todd aka The Red Hood has always been an interesting member of the ever so large Bat-Family. To me he is basically the Frank Castle of the DC universe. Lemire does a great job of getting under the mask of who Jason tragically will become. Every conversation and character moments work to pull us into the brokenness of Batman's second Robin. My favorite moment was when Lemire & crew bring in Nightwing. Dick Grayson and Jason Todd are so different. Nightwing has a lighthearted optimism that Jason can never have. Bruce was able to help Grayson to reach his potential because he came from a background where his family lived to bring joy to people where as Jason is a kid from the street.It was great getting a deep dive into one of the Bat Family's most intriguing members. I know as fans e can feel the Bat Family is too large. But Lemire showcases ho there is so much for a good storyteller to chew on when it comes to the Bat Family . This was a great read and a definite 5 star book. Here are few other Bat Family books I'd reccommend: Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen, Batman and Robin by Peter Tomasi & Patrick Gleason Omnibus, Robin War, Grayson, Volume 1: Agents of Spyral, & Super Sons, Vol. 1: When I Grow Up....

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5🌟
I have many opinions on this, especially considering Jason is my favourite Robin.. I’ll start with the obvious being that this is one of the common portrayals of Jason being the ‘angry Robin’ when Damian and Dick Grayson exist however, I get that the latter is DC’s ‘golden boy’ so, I digress. Jason in this from my perspective isn’t even really as violent as some reviews make him seem like, he’s troubled, which is one of the main issues brought up within the book itself, that he’s too “broken”. In the earlier half of this collection where were introduced to the primary antagonist, we follow Jason as Robin given the opportunity to chase down the enemy while he’s intoxicated, when he approaches Cuckoo he’s in the process of shooting up (which strand later becomes important), witnessing this gave Jason a flashback to which he froze and is forced to fight against the intoxicated villain, Batman later stumbles across the aftermath and yelling at Jason for what he believes he did, only for Jason to sadly point up at the sniper who becomes the new villain; this storyline reminded me a lot of Talon and Damian from Batman vs Robin, the story of Jason and Wraith follows a very similar dynamic nearly toward the very end. Anyway, the ending was somewhat satisfying, I loved the Arkham bit with Jason checking in with Kevin Gilroy (Wraith[a character who only appears in these issues!!]) and then being watched by Joker on the way out—diabolical form of alternate foreshadowing. Additionally, I also loved Dicks portrayal in this, being shown as Discowing and trying to bond with Jason as brothers which ultimately doesn’t work out but I do believe that the debrief between Bruce and Dick was positive, resulting in the Batsignal being lit and more so the belief that Jason could be “saved”. I do hate the doomed implications in the writing though, from what I’ve read of old Jason Todd.. he was a pretty happy Robin.

[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. 🙂💔

[Nerdmaling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det är lite intressant att ta sig an den här typen av serier utifrån skillnaden mellan karaktärsdriven och handlingsdriven berättelse. Många serier i det här formatet är tydligt karaktärsdrivna; man omtolkar historien beroende på hur man för tillfället väljer att se på figuren – vilket också är anledningen till att fans ibland slår bakut.

Det här är en tydligt karaktärsdriven berättelse där det är Jason Todds (fd Robin) inre röst som driver handlingen. Samtidigt fördjupas samtliga inblandade karaktärer. Det förutsätter nästan att man vet vem Jason Todd är, hur hans relation till Batman ser ut och – eventuellt – hur det slutar.

Jason Todd framställs här som ett mycket trasigt och aggressivt barn, inte helt olik Dick i Frank Millers All Star Batman and Robin. Gotham är mörkt; droganvändning och missbruk är framträdande teman. Handlingen kretsar kring de moraliska ställningstaganden som följer med att vara en del av läderlappsfamiljen. Det kanske låter lite förminskande när man sammanfattar det så här i en Goodreads-recension, men faktum är att det fungerar väldigt bra. Serien lyckas till och med vara gripande.

Teckningsstilen är makalös – en blandning av realism och karikatyr. Det är en svår balansgång, eftersom världen inte kan bli alltför realistisk; läsaren får inte börja mäta Batman med verklighetens måttstock. I vissa rutor hade skurkarna nästan kunnat kliva rakt in i 91:an Karlsson, för att i nästa bild sömlöst övergå i något betydligt mer realistiskt. Allt är dessutom lagt under ett filter som ger intryck av att vara målat. Det är en av de snyggaste serier jag har läst på länge.

Det här är en fullträff – en riktigt bra serie som jag varmt rekommenderar till den som redan är investerad i Batman.