In 1988 DC did something pretty radical. During the course of the “A Death in the Family” storyline it published two phone numbers that you could call that would determine the fate of the second Robin, Jason Todd. By a margin of 72 votes – 5,343 for the Joker to kill him, 5,271 against his death – the second Robin met his untimely end.
His death became a significant moment in the history of Batman. Despite his reintroduction into the comics world, it is still something that seems to haunt Batman, but fans still debate if it was the right move for the characters.
DC Universe is now giving you a second chance at this. Posted on Nov. 16, the site is now taking the poll again. While it does post the phone numbers again, that is just for fun and all you have to do is click a button to cast your vote.
At the time of writing this post, the votes are very much in favor of Robin living. 17,397 for him surviving the showdown with Joker and just 7,892 against.
To be clear, this poll is for fun. It coincided with Jason Todd’s introduction on Titans, but it doesn’t mean that he will meet an untimely end on the show.
It’s interesting to see how things have changed. In the original poll in 1988 there was only a 48 hour window to vote. At the time I owned a comic book store and our shipment of Batman #427 arrived a week late due to a mistake at our distributor. (I placed more than a few screaming calls to my account rep) As the only comic store in my town, and the issues hitting the newstands weeks later, no one who shopped in my store got to vote. I don’t think we would have swayed the vote to him living, but you never know.
If you have a moment, run by and cast your vote for the fun of it. Knowing what you know now about the impact of this event on Batman, which way would you lean with your vote?
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