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WARNING : Contains possible Spoilers for Batman and Robin # 18 !
Red Hoodhas just delivered a brutish truth about why he and the otherRobinstook up the mantle — and it reach hard than you might expect . This revelation is as bowel - wrench as Jason Todd ’s infamous soliloquy in Judd Winick’sBatman : Under the Red Hood , so take hold of a box of tissues — you’re break to need it .
With Bruce and Damian at betting odds , Red Hood has step inas the Dark Knight ’s temporary married person inBatman and Robin#18 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson , Miguel Mendonca , Javier Fernández , and Marcelo Maiolo . Throughout their squad - up , Jason and Bruce share several recondite conversation while battling their opposition .
During one such moment , Red Hood pointedly asks if Damian might be quit as Robin . Bruce ’s reply is firm:“He ca n’t … Gotham needs Robin . ”This rig the microscope stage for Jason to degenerate abombshell about the genuine reason Damian — and every Robin before him — ever take up the mantle in the first position .
Red Hood Delivers Devastating Truth About Robin:“…We Thought It Would Make You Love Us.”
Comic Panel Comes From Phillip Kennedy Johnson’sBatman and Robin#18 (2025) – Art by Miguel Mendonca, Javier Fernández, and Marcelo Maiolo
During a tense struggle , Jason finds himself cornered and outnumber , with Batman rushing to reach his side in time . Over their comms , Jason circles back to Bruce ’s earlier program line thatGotham require Robin . But rather of letting it go , he unload on Bruce , discover a roughshod truth that the Old man has never full see — one that use not just to Damian , but to every Robin before him:“[Damian ] does n’t give a # % $ & about Gotham . None of us ever did [ Robin ] for Gotham . We did it … because we remember it would make you love us . ”This unmarried admission is perhaps the most annihilating thing ever said about the Robin mantel .
Beyond being an absolute gut - puncher of a Bat - Family moment , Jason ’s words reframe everything DC had previously established about the need behind being Robin . While each Robin — Dick , Jason , Tim , and Damian — had their own single reasons for initially taking up the mantle , Jason ’s disclosure suggests that , late down , they all stayed for the same reasonableness . It was n’t about protect Gotham — it was about earning Bruce ’s love . What makes this sentiment all the more tragic is that it also seems to suggest that order love was never move over .
DC seem to be bait the resurgence of Red Hood ’s retaliation - fueled daddy issues with Batman — and this prison term , they ’re baneful than ever .
Red Hood Just Matched His Most Heartbreaking Moment in Comics
Summary
Batman is face up with a hidden face from the past : it ’s the return of the vigilante Red Hood who appear to be Batman ’s one - time spouse Jason Todd , the same Jason Todd that died many years ago . But the Red Hood ’s violent ways pit him against the Dark Knight in his hunt for the very person responsible for for his death : The Joker . This volume gather Batman # 635 - 641 , # 645 - 50 and Batman Annual # 25 .
Jason may not be the most reliable narrator when it comes to speaking for the other Robins . However , even if his assumption about his buddy ’ motivations is off , his statement about becoming Robin in an attempt to earn Bruce ’s erotic love undeniably apply to himself . This Apocalypse cements the moment as one of the most heartbreaking inRed Hood’scomic history , rivaling even his infamous soliloquy inBatman : Under the Red Hood , where he tearfully declared,“I’m not spill the beans about killing Cobblepot and Scarecrow or Clayface , not Riddler or Dent … I ’m speak about him . Just him . And doing it because … because he took me away from you . ”
Batman and Robin # 18is available now from DC Comics !
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