Sevi

Here is my current reading list for Pre Crisis Jason, aka Jason from Earth One, which includes all issues he appeared in in chronological order of publishing. Please keep in mind that this list may get updated if people point out issues I missed or if I realize later that an issue takes place earlier within the comics continuity (e. g. World’s Finest 308).

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 357

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 524

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 525

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 359

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 526

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 360

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 527

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 361

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 528

New Teen Titans Vol 1 33

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 529

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 363

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 530

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 364

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 531

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 365

New Teen Titans Vol 1 37

World’s Finest Vol 1 (1941) 308

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 366

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 533

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 367

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 534

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 368

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 535

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 370

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 537

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 371

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 538

Action Comics Vol 1 556

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 372

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 539

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 373

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 540

Tales of the Teen Titans Vol 1 (1984) Annual 3

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 374

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 541

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 375

Batman and the Outsiders Vol 1 (1984) Annual 1

Best of DC Vol 1 (1979) 52

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 542

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 376

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 543

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 377

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 544

New Teen Titans Vol 2 (1984) 3

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 378

New Teen Titans Vol 2 (1984) 4

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 379

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 546

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 380

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 547

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 381

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 548

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 382

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 383

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 384

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 551

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 385

Best of DC Vol 1 (1979) 62

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 552

Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 5

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 553

Superman Annual Vol 1 11

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 387

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 554

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 388

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 555

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 389

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 556

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 390

Blue Devil Vol 1 (1984) 19

Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 (1985) 9

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 557

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 391

Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 (1985) 10

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 558

Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 (1985) 11

Tales of the Teen Titans Vol 1 62

Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 12

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 560

Tales of the Teen Titans Vol 1 (1984) 63

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 394

Best of DC Vol 1 (1979) 71

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 561

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 395

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 562

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 396

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 563

Action Comics Vol 1 (1938) 583

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 397

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 564

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 398

Batman Vol 1 (1940) Annual 10

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 565

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 399

Detective Comics Vol 1 (1937) 566 (end of pre Crisis Detective Comics books)

Batman Vol 1 (1940) 400 (official end of pre Crisis Batman books)

Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths (1999) (flashback to pre Crisis)

Not for his character or anything, but because I don’t think I’ve seen anyone shoot themselves in the foot with a single character half as badly as DC did with Jason.

He was, during Under the Red Hood, one of the biggest gamechangers they could have thrown at Bruce Wayne’s Batman. Here was an intellectual equal to Batman and superior to the Joker and Gotham’s entire criminal underbelly. A tactical nuke primed to devastate Batman both emotionally and ideologically. Physically, ridiculously dangerous. exceptionally well-trained. a match for Batman in every way. He’s a character that Bruce can’t fight properly, and, worse, one that punches holes in Batman’s modus operandi in ways that instinctively makes sense to the audience.

Bruce’s son, his greatest failure, returned from the grave as an agent of vengeance. Batman, through a mirror darkly.

sounds super interesting, huh. 

Unfortunately, characters like Jason are also the agents of introspection and change. He would have forced Bruce to reflect and, worse still, readers to start second-guessing Batman’s morality. How many people walk away from Under the Red Hood thinking “holy shit, they should have killed the Joker”? Most, right? Jason would have changed Gotham’s status quo irreversibly and, unfortunately, Gotham can’t really change. progress can’t be made, villains can’t die forever, Batman can’t be wrong. 

Because it sells that way, obviously. The Joker will never die, no matter how heinous he is, not really. Not while he’s selling merch. 

So once it turned out that Jason was also super popular, what could DC do? He would shake things up too much if allowed to stay on course. He’s too dangerous, too strong. and so… character assassination! Keep the aesthetics of the angry shooty red helmet daddy issues clowns-bad man while changing the internal workings - fans won’t notice, right? 

Strip away his competence, reduce his skillset, make him an idiot, a lunatic, a brawny shoot-first-don’t-think meathead! He’s not a strategist, he’s stupid, he charges in headfirst. Change his approach to vigilantism. He was always a bad Robin - he was violent and petty and dangerous and he and Bruce never jived in the first place. Keep him out of Gotham as much as possible and when you can’t do that, either quietly pretend he’s on good terms with the batclan or have him and Bruce run around in circles.

And, most importantly, he has to be wrong. He has to be unreasonable. He needs to be the screwup that needs to be sanitised, put in his place, and come crawling back to Bruce so he can be safely assimilated into the family.

Circling around to Urban Legends, Jason and Bruce’s dynamic has completely flipped. Jason is the one that has to change for Bruce’s conditional love, rather than Jason setting the terms Bruce has to meet for Jason to trust him again. Jason is the one that has to learn a Very Important Lesson about the flaws in his morality and align himself with Bruce’s - bearing in mind that Jason developed his worldview after experiencing, firsthand, the flaws in Bruce’s.

Jason is no longer a mirror forcing Bruce to think and develop and grow. He’s one of two things - a stupid, unreasonable villain or Just Another Graduated Robin that Bruce has to control and keep in line just a touch more than the others. His post-reboot arc is him trying to move past his trauma and grow but losing it all and returning, battered and beaten, to Bruce’s side. He’s rapidly losing what made him interesting in the first place and fifteen years later Bruce still hasn’t learnt a damn thing.