I was alive at the time and I was reading Batman as well.
I didn’t vote because I felt at the time that the entire stunt was in poor taste and I still do.
Had I voted it would have been for Jason to live because I like him.
It was exactly this fiasco that led me to drop my pull at the shop I frequented and to stop reading American comics for a little over a decade.
10 years before my time, I just read Death of the Family though. It really is messed up what happened to him. No wonder he went crazy.
I voted to whack the little bastard, and I would cast another thumb’s down if the subject was Damien.
If they made one of these for Damian, I would organize an entire PR campaign to rally kill-votes.
I was around & I think I was one of the few who voted for him to live. The vote did not go my way but things turned out ok for him anyway.
In fairness, I realize now that I should’ve added that I DID VOTE. And I VOTED To KILL Jason.
Back then I was of the strong opinion that Batman should be a lone-wolf who rules the night (so to speak). My new wife (at that time) was quite disappointed in me.
BUT now all these years later, after raising my own child… I see it differently. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damien, Barbara Gordon, even Cassandra Cain and others (along with Alfred and even Catwoman) are what makes the character (Batman) whole. The family dynamic always makes us whole and complete–the fictional (and non-fictional)… even if its dysfunctional, non-traditional, traditional or even odd.
It has literally made the Batman stories better whether Jason Todd is Robin or Red Hood (even if he is an ass at times. Writers should always remember that Red Hood may be the ‘Anti-Hero’ or even just stepping over the line to being the ‘bad-guy’… but I truly believe that he would still feel a loyalty (no matter how conflicted at times) to Batman and his ‘brothers’ and even ‘sisters’… and especially to Alfred. It irks the heck out of me when writers veer from this) Just my opinion!
My dad made the call, but it was our vote. We voted for death.
I say. Bring Jason Todd in the third act
Villains
The Penguin
Killer Croc
Rupert Thorne
I was around, but I didn’t vote, probably would have voted dead just to see how they brought Jason back.
I voted as a teenager for him to die. I didn’t like him but as time goes by I think it’s because he wasn’t Dick and i didn’t like change.
I’m not sure how I’d vote today. On one hand I’ve softened with age and probably wouldn’t want the character killed off. On the other hand we’ve gotten 30 years of amazing stories that started with his death.
I was around and subscribed to Batman comics back then. I didn’t vote because I was too cheap to pay the charge and thought it was in poor taste and still do since the only reason DC did it was to bring the main continuity in line with The Dark Knight Returns. I would have voted for Jason to live because a Robin who gave Batman some grief was fun reading that was needed to show that the Bat could not just chessboard people all over the place to fit his inscrutable plans.
I love Tim Drake but Jason Todd was just as interesting a Robin who brought just as much to the Bat’s world as any other character.
The only thing worse than letting the fans vote to kill him was bringing him back because comics really needed another gun-toting anti-hero in the Nineties.
The reason Jason Todd was optioned for a vote is because the Jim Starlin had been trying to kill him off for quite awhile already. He saw Robin as child endangerment and he was trying to tell more grounded crime stories. Jason Todd was also extremely unpopular at the time.
At first, DC was going to do a storyline where someone died of AIDS. Jim Starlin filled the ballot box with Jason Todd. They chose Jimmy Olson instead. Upon learning one of the actors from the Suoerman movies had AIDS they canned the story feeling it was inappropriate.
Later, they learned they could make a little cash off of a 1-800 “call in” event and decided to put Robin up for the vote.
Jason Todd resurfaced in 2005.
Dont take my word for it, heres Jim Starlin, writer of Death in the Family
The more you know…
I did and I’d do it again!
I voted to kill him, and so far as I’m concerned the little jerk needs to get back in his grave and stay there! Anyone else who has ever worn the suit would be a better Robin, and that includes Stephanie and first time cosplayers at a minor con.
I was dead lol
I wasn’t alive but wish I was to experience it
I bought my comic just slightly too late and missed the cutoff time to vote. I was SOOOOOO bummed. I would have voted for him to live, though, and, looking back, I think better stories probably came from Jason dying. We’ll never know, though!