#precrisis

Jason’s Personality

For the most part, Jason is a cheerful, happy kid. He does acrobatics all the time, both to entertain himself and let out his feelings. While he can occasionally be violent, it’s rarely more than necessary, and he is honestly more afraid of this than Batman.

He forms attachments easily, latching onto Bruce Wayne and Natalia Knight as parental figures within a matter of months. However, he’s not too secure in these attachments—he’s constantly worried that Bruce will lose interest in him. This causes him to beef with Catwoman for a while. To be fair, Bruce isn’t exactly good at reassuring Jason in this regard.

Jason really, really hates being left out of things. He can get extremely impulsive and reckless, constantly rushing into danger or jumping into fights. It is impossible for Bruce to effectively contain him—Jason is willing to run away to the circus, take a plane to Guatemala to assist Batman, etc. Jason will join a mission if he knows about it. That said, this seems about par for the course with a Robin. The difference with Jason is that it’s accompanied by this constant fear of getting left behind.

While Jason does have some disregard for the law—breaking into a shop to steal what he needed to defeat a villain, stealing money from Bruce, or hiding a body with Natalia—he’s overall a goody two-shoes, and is bullied for it at school. He’s a sincere, sweet kid.

Bruce’s Parenting

Bruce loves Jason. Genuinely. You can tell how much he loves him. He is open with physical and verbal expressions of affection, putting his hand on Jason’s shoulder, telling him he’s doing well, even hugging him to comfort him.

Bruce also loves Dick, and that hurts his relationship with Jason in the beginning. Part of the reason Bruce agrees to make Jason his partner is because he misses Dick, and he has trouble seeing Jason as his own person at first. This improves greatly over time, though, and after about a year, Bruce seems to be seeing Jason primarily for who he is.

At first, Bruce is extremely absent from Jason’s life. He spends some time with him, training on the trapeze or going to a movie (canceling his date with Vicki to do so, which causes a whole Thing) but Batman takes priority, and it shows. Jason literally runs away because Bruce isn’t paying attention to him.

After Jason becomes Robin, it gets much better. Bruce still has a habit of leaving Jason alone while he goes on trips (once leaving him home alone for multiple days with no Alfred), but he does give Jason enough time and attention—at least, until he starts spending too much time with Catwoman.

The problem is that Bruce started paying attention to Jason only after he became Robin, which does make it look unintentionally conditional. And so, when Bruce begins going on patrol with Catwoman, of course Jason is lonely and feels unwanted (until he gets a girlfriend of his own and starts skipping patrol).

There is, however, no real element of coercion here, unlike some interpretations of post-crisis. While getting attention is connected to Robin for Jason, there’s no sense of a “deal” or “agreement” or purposeful withholding or earning love. It’s less that Bruce won’t give Jason attention if he’s not Robin and more that being Robin is a way to be more present in Bruce’s life.

So, could Bruce have stopped Jason from being Robin by giving him more attention? Lol no. Jason has been gunning for the position since Day 1, and he has Must Get Involved syndrome. This kid can’t stay out of anything. While he’s partially motivated by Bruce’s early neglect, he also…just really wants to fight crime with Batman. I don’t think that there’s anything Pre-Crisis Bruce could have done to keep Jason from becoming Robin. And he did try—Bruce was heavily resistant to the idea at first.

In general, Bruce cares a ton about Jason’s well-being. When he loses custody of him (partially due to corruption, partially due to his absences, partially due to Jason enacting a plan to take down Natalia Knight), his absolute first priority is getting Jason back. He would do anything for his son. When he learns that Jason is falling asleep in class, he fixes his patrol and sleep schedule and makes rules so that Jason gets all his homework done.

During a very, very limited number of conversations, Bruce may be a bit emotionally manipulative. But this is nothing beyond typical parent stuff, and it’s not a major aspect of his parenting. For the most part, he tries to understand where Jason is coming from.

Ultimately, Bruce tries to be a good father to Jason, and I think he succeeds. While he was initially too absent, he improved a lot, and when he is spending time with Jason he’s not afraid to show him affection. Over time, Jason becomes his son—and his absolute priority.

Character Relationships

Bruce and Selina — They get together, close to the end of pre-crisis, after Catwoman goes on the straight and narrow and becomes a vigilante. However, their relationship doesn’t last because Bruce isn’t able to fully let her in.

Bruce and Jason — Jason engages in almost-constant attention seeking. Bruce is affectionate with Jason when he’s present, but is absent a lot from the kid’s life.

Bruce and Vicki — Bruce is a truly terrible boyfriend, constantly standing her up on dates. Doesn’t help that she spends a while not believing Jason exists and that Bruce is actually seeing another woman when he claims to be spending time with Jason. Although this is eventually resolved, Julia Pennyworth enters the picture, and the song and dance begins again. Their relationship is on-again-off-again and causes Vicki some self-image issues.

Jason and Alfred — Jason is very friendly with Alfred and treats him like part of the family, but doesn’t seem particularly respectful to him.

Jason and Natalia — At first, Jason is very resistant to Natalia Knight being a motherly figure, mostly because she’s a criminal. He warms up to her, though, and comes to see her as his mother.

Alias: Robin, Red Hood,

Age: 18

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: green

Born to Joseph and Trina Todd

Jason Todd and His parents grew up in the poverty of Gotham.. they did what they could to survive yet stuck together... one day they took their young son to see the flying graysons... where they also met with the drakes another family.. where they withessed their deaths.. as time got passed they were still financially struggling doing their best to raise their young son.. they ran a resteraunt below their apartment.. until the day they lost it... they hid that knowledge from jason... seemingly lost.. joseph and Trina inspired off the flying graysons along with their son decided to join an amateur circus, with little money, they called themselves the flying todds.. , they would tour around show off their skills they made money, finally they had a meal on their table to eat, they were happy... a year passed.. they called up the former orphan and member of the flying graysons dick grayson who decided to come to gotham.. to watch them play a performance in front of him they talked and dick was amazed he met with them, invited them to the gala of Bruce wayne, Jason was content... Trina walked in on dick, bruce and alfred in costume.. where dick allowed Joe and Trina in on a case.. they decided to aid in on his vigilantism... they left jason to stay with Waldo at wayne manor "mom... will you be back?"

"Before the sun rises dear" she kisses him on the cheek... before leaving off... jason stood there for hours.. on hours.. he was tired of waiting.. he wanted to know if they were ok.. he discovered the clock tower open.. the curious Lad decided to sneak down.. from there he discovered the batcave, from there on he put himself together a suit.. a suit he made on his own..

From there on he snuck into the trunk of the batmobile and he snuck out to aid his parents, batman, Robin and Batgirl... once he got there, he took killer croc down.. he laughed, he kept laughing he looked around his parents weren't there, "where are my parents?" The Lad said to the croc he kept laughing.. he broke down with rage, fury he would have killed him.. until he finally revealed what had happened... they were fed to crocodiles... he would have murdered him he choked killer croc to a half inch of life "YOU KILLED MY MOTHER AND FATHER!!" His eyes widened with rage dick and barbara pulled him back before anything went further.. dick embraced the boy in his arms as he broke out into tears.... he knew how it felt... is this how Bruce felt with him? Jason broke down and hugged dick....

Wayne Manor

Dick spoke to bruce.. " I want to adopt jason i know what hes going through.." jay sat there still in tears.. Waldo sitting next to him for comfort, dick wanted to adopt him.. he came to grow fond of the boy.. but was he ready for that type of responsibility yet..? Bruce put a hand on his shoulder "you forget dick... so do i.." from there on jason walks out with jason.. they talk.. he feels better in a way.. Bruce would go on to adopt him.. something he hadn't done for dick.. they grew together, their bond one of the best.. dick was slightly jealous in a sense.. why did Bruce not adopt him.. nonetheless.. he stuck around with jason, they went to see the play Les Miserables together in Broadway.. jason was big on theater, poetry.... art he took his girlfriend kori along who he loved as well... he even met wonder girl.. his childhood crush... he fanboyed upon meeting her... upon time jason met Nocturna, he dyed his hair... and put on dicks costume.. his first villain.. the joker, the man who would make his life miserable.. he became the next robin... as Dick became nightwing he had decided to give his old costume to jason.. passimg he mantle to him him and batman would go on many adventures.. even getting in the middle of a custody battle with Nocturna.. on top of it all.. he met kid devil, he even for a period joined the teen titans.. that would all end upon him getting a box back from an old friend of his parents he took it back to the manor and inside... he found a birth certificate... s something...? Trina wasn't Jason's real mother? Was he lied too... he traveled everywhere to search for her.. Bruce followed along.. was this foolish? Perhaps but he needed to know... he met Sheila Haywood in Ethiopia.. she dated Joseph for a brief period yet his heart belonged to someone else... he went on to marry his mother... she then led jason to a werehouse.. the joker stood waiting.. she had betrayed him... why? Joker beat jason with a crowbar.. over and over and strapped Sheila to a bomb... before leaving.. jason with an inch of his life had freed his mother and went to the entrance of the warehouse.. it was locked.. as he finally got it open it was to late.... jason todd had died.... Bruce found the body he hugged his body in his arms... breaking down... dick.. having not received the call missed the funeral..... it was his fault in a sense... no matter how much kory needed to ensure him it wasnt.. he gave him his costume... his name was jason todd... a boy from a similar background to dick grayson.... Robin...... and now.... deceased... but not for long...

It has previously been established that Kara Zor-El was 15 when she crash landed on Earth at 12:17pm on 18th May 1959. But... how old was she when she died in Crisis on Infinite Earths..?

If she was 15 in 1959, then surely she would have been in her early 40s 26 years later in 1985? But a middle-aged Supergirl just doesn't seem right!

In her alter ego as Linda Danvers, Kara had grown up, graduated college, then been employed variously as a camera operator for a news channel, a college counsellor, and a daytime soap actress. She certainly wasn't a 15 year old girl any more, and she didn't look or act like she was approaching middle age, so how old was she..?

Aside from that one issue of Action Comics in 1960 when Kara celebrated a birthday, her exact age had been kept rather ambiguous. Time passes at an odd rate in the DC Universe. While some adult characters seem to never grow a day older, the junior characters are often allowed to slowly age from childhood into early adulthood. By her mid-1970s run in Superman Family, Kara was assumed by most fans to be in her mid 20s. Even though DC Comics had been careful to never verify her exact age, it was a plausible answer given how the character was depicted in her stories.

But that was to suddenly change! Supergirl was re-launched into her own title in 1982, and with it came a substantial change of policy.

The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 soft-rebooted Supergirl's origin, skipping over her various jobs as Linda Danvers (as if they never happened) and the rediscovery of her Kryptonian parents in the Survival Zone, resetting the character back to being a college student once more. In lieu of a letters page, the first issue featured a two page editorial introducing the new title and its creative team. In sympathy with the soft-reboot, the article's opening paragraphs definitively set Kara's age as just 19 years old!

So, after years of ambiguity, DC was now giving a specific answer -- but it was an answer that seemed to be an odd fit with Supergirl's recent adventures.

Naturally, fans took notice..!

By issues 4 and 5 of DNAOS, letters responding to the new comic were starting to be published. And Kara's sudden re-aging was obviously going to be a topic of discussion. Issue 4 contained a long answer that sought to justify the decision. The driving force behind the move was, it was explained, to ensure Supergirl didn't become too much like her cousin Superman. Having Supergirl be in her mid 20s, and Linda Danvers be a career professional, was just too close to Superman and Clark Kent -- at least that's what DC feared.

Whether fans agreed with the de-aging or not, as of DNAOS #1 Supergirl's official age was 19 according to DC Comics.

So, to return to the original question, how old was Supergirl when when she died in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7..?

There's obviously a near three year gap between November 1982 when the editorial in DNAOS #1 was published, and October 1985 when CoIE #7 was published, but it is very clear that when DC soft-rebooted Kara Zor-El as a 19 year old college student they intended that she shouldn't start to drift once again towards her mid-20s. The plan seemed to be that -- just like her cousin Superman -- Supergirl's age was to be permanently fixed (at least until some later creative team might come along and decided to unfix it.)

With that in mind, we can reasonably conclude that Kara was still 19 years old when she died in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. As such her whole career as Supergirl, from seeing the destruction of her Argo City home, to crash landing on Earth and becoming Supergirl, to sacrificing herself to save multiple universes, took place in just a four year span..!