Fearing that Robin, aka Jason Todd, is becoming hot-headed and careless, Batman suspends him from active duty. However, Robin leaves Gotham on a quest of his own, and the two crimefighters end up reuniting in Bosnia to stop the Joker from getting enough uranium to create a dirty bomb. Robin is captured and savagely beaten, and Batman hurries to find him before it’s too late. He arrives at the warehouse where Robin is being held just as it explodes.
And what happened next? Well, whether Robin lived or died was up to the readers, who voted using their telephones — and decided to kill him. A gimmick? Certainly. An effective one? Judging by the amount of press the story received, absolutely.
Regardless of the publicity stunt, it’s a powerful story. The Joker has rarely been more chilling, and the beating he gives Robin is absolutely brutal, especially for a mainstream comic. Jason Todd was the second person to take the Robin mantle, with the original, Dick Grayson, having departed for the Teen Titans. Poor Jason was never as popular as his predecessor, but it’s still genuinely shocking to see him meet such a grisly fate — especially since the voting audience is just as complicit as the Joker.