25 most shocking, brutal, and memorable comic book death scenes

14. Joker Kills Jason Todd

Comic book: Batman: Death in the Family

Jason Todd remains the most despised Robin of all time. It was so bad that DC Comics put his fate to a vote. People voted for him to not survive his encounter with the Joker. Killing a Robin is one thing. Leaving his fate in the hands of readers was unprecedented and one of the first times a character’s fate was left in the hands of the consumer.

The vote leads to Joker going above and beyond to torment Batman. Joker has Jason’s mother betray him, mercilessly beats him with a crowbar, then blows up the warehouse where Jason and his mother were in. As fans have seen, Jason Todd came back. However, he was never the same.

In Batman: Three Jokers, the Clown Prince of Crime points out that Jason’s death had a lasting effect on Jason. He adopted Joker’s old name (Red Hood) and used a crowbar as his signature weapon. Joker points this out and more. He says that Jason isn’t Batman’s Robin, he’s his. This shows that it wasn’t just the death or the optics of the pummeling that made this important.

Joker changed Jason’s forever. In fact, without his death, Red Hood wouldn’t have become a recognizable character. His return in Batman: Under the Red Hood comic book made him one of Batman’s antagonists. Later, in Red Hood and the Outlaws, the character was reinvented. Jason became an antihero instead of constantly taking on the Bat-family. The latter has turned him into a pop culture star among DC Comics fans.

So, thank you, Joker?