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160-700: Following Max Allan Collins 's revamping of Todd's origin story in Batman #408–411, the character was written by Jim Starlin , who had him become increasingly aggressive and reckless. This led DC Comics to conduct a telephone poll concerning the 1988 storyline " A Death in the Family " to determine whether the character should die at the Joker 's hands. The poll ended with a narrow majority of votes in favor of killing Todd, resulting in his death. Subsequent stories dealt with Batman's guilt over failing to save him. The character

320-471: A trade paperback . This first Sin City "yarn" was rereleased in 1995 under the name The Hard Goodbye . Sin City proved to be Miller's main project for much of the remainder of the decade, as Miller told more Sin City stories within this noir world of his creation, in the process helping to revitalize the crime comics genre. Sin City proved artistically auspicious for Miller and again brought his work to

480-429: A $ 25 million defamation and economic interference lawsuit against Miller and fellow producer Silenn Thomas. L'Heureux alleged the pair had repeatedly made, "false, misleading and defamatory statements" about L'Heureux's ownership of the developmental rights of Sin City and Hard Boiled to Skydance Media CEO David Ellison and other Skydance executives and prevented the creation of a film adaptation of Hard Boiled and

640-476: A 2006 film adaptation of 300 , directed by Zack Snyder , brought new attention to Miller's original comic book work. A sequel to the film, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For , based on Miller's second Sin City series and co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez, was released in theaters on August 22, 2014. In July 2011, while at San Diego Comic-Con promoting his upcoming graphic novel Holy Terror , in which

800-536: A TV series based on Sin City . Miller's attorney Allen Grodsky denied the allegation stating, "The claims asserted in Mr. L'Heureux's lawsuit are baseless, and we will be aggressively defending this lawsuit." Miller was married to colorist Lynn Varley from 1986 to 2005. She colored many of his most acclaimed works (from Ronin in 1984 through 300 in 1998) and the backgrounds to the 2006 movie 300 . Miller has been romantically linked to Kimberly Halliburton Cox, who had

960-455: A better Robin and better person had he had had a life like Drake's and friends like the Titans. Todd eventually kidnaps and holds Joker hostage, luring Batman to Crime Alley , the site of their first meeting. Despite their now-antagonistic relationship, Batman desperately wants to help Todd and intends to atone for his failures. Todd asks Batman why he has not avenged his death by killing Joker,

1120-623: A bomb beneath the Batmobile while Batman is on a stakeout for the arms deal. Batman enters the car and is at Jason's mercy, detonator in hand. However, Todd realizes that if he went through with it, his former mentor would never know about his return nor the identity of his killer. Todd instead decides to kill Batman directly by traveling across the globe in search of a similar, but the deadlier type of training to Bruce Wayne's own to prepare for that day. For years, Todd learns various skills from various masters, assassins, mercenaries, and aviators around

1280-503: A botched assignment. Bruce Wayne sees to it that Todd is placed in a school for troubled youths, which turns out to be Ma Gunn's School for Crime. Jason earns the Robin mantle a short while later by helping Batman apprehend the gang of thieves. However, Todd does not wear the Robin costume until completing six months of training. Batman notes that while Todd does not possess Dick Grayson 's natural athleticism and acrobatic skills, he can become

1440-503: A bulldozer. Flamingo is assumed dead, although Commissioner Gordon reports that his body cannot be recovered from beneath the rubble. Grayson offers to rehabilitate Todd who, in a moment of clarity, tells Grayson it is too late for him, and how he tried to be what Batman wanted, "but this world... this dirty, twisted, cruel and ugly dungheap had... other plans for me". He then proceeds to fall back into his hero persona, ranting how he did what Batman never did. He "defeated his archenemy". Todd

1600-530: A cameo in The Spirit (2008). In response to claims that his comics are conservative , Miller said, "I'm not a conservative. I'm a libertarian ." Miller is a recovering alcoholic, and states that he used alcohol heavily in his early career to free him from inhibitions and increase his creative output. Although still conforming to traditional comic book styles, Miller infused his first issue of Daredevil with his own film noir style. Miller sketched

1760-554: A critical success and further cemented Miller's place as an industry star. His first creator-owned title was DC Comics' six-issue miniseries Ronin (1983–1984). In 1985, DC Comics named Miller as one of the honorees in the company's 50th-anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great . Miller was involved in a few unpublished projects in the early 1980s. A house advertisement for Doctor Strange appeared in Marvel Comics cover-dated February 1981. It stated "Watch for

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1920-407: A flattering introduction to an early collected edition of The Dark Knight Returns , and the two have remained friends. Moore has praised Miller's realistic use of minimal dialogue in fight scenes, which "move very fast, flowing from image to image with the speed of a real-life conflict, unimpeded by the reader having to stop to read a lot of accompanying text". Miller's graphic novel Holy Terror

2080-412: A four-issue miniseries for Dark Horse. Give Me Liberty was followed by sequel miniseries and specials expanding on the story of protagonist Martha Washington , an African-American woman in modern and near-future North America, all of which were written by Miller and drawn by Gibbons. Miller wrote the scripts for the science fiction films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 , about a police cyborg . Neither

2240-401: A gun-running organization, which brings Batman to Star City . Jason's true motives are shown in the third part as he kidnaps Mia Dearden to dissolve her partnership with Green Arrow, feeling that they are kindred spirits, cast down by society and at odds with their mentors. The two fight while Todd discusses the insanity of heroes for placing child sidekicks in danger. Mia is deeply troubled by

2400-526: A hero. What I wanted to do here is put him in a place that he can't come back from. The things that he does here in Battle for the Cowl are things that can never really be forgiven. The only outcome would have to be imprisonment or something worse. But from this point on for Jason, the gray area between good and bad has disappeared. It's crystal clear now that he is on the dark side. Timothy Drake eventually takes up

2560-526: A history with Grayson. Batman himself would slowly grow to accept Tim as his new partner, although the memory of Jason would play a heavy part in how Batman trained Tim in the months building up to his official appearance as Robin. Before the release of Batman #617 (September 2003), a page of art from the issue by artist Jim Lee circulated on the Internet, apparently revealing the mystery villain Hush , who

2720-496: A last will statement for him. After hearing the statement in private, Todd prepares to leave, not revealing what he was told, although he does pause before his old costume and the tattered remains of Batman's, he is sad. Jason Todd reappeared in the " Battle for the Cowl " series. Dressed in a version of a Batman costume, Todd is also living/operating out of an abandoned Gotham subway system. His inner monologue reveals that he had always wanted to eventually replace Batman, and thinks it

2880-516: A legend of comic books. However, later material such as Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again received mixed reviews. In particular, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder was widely considered a sign of Miller's creative decline. Fellow comic book writer Alan Moore has described Miller's work from Sin City -onward as homophobic and misogynistic , despite praising his early Batman and Daredevil material. Moore previously penned

3040-575: A major part in the character's youth: Stick , leader of the ninja clan the Chaste , who had been Murdock's sensei after he was blinded and a rival clan called the Hand . Unable to handle both writing and penciling Daredevil on the new monthly schedule, Miller began increasingly relying on Janson for the artwork, sending him looser and looser pencils beginning with #173. By issue #185, Miller had virtually relinquished his role as Daredevil's artist, and he

3200-408: A major voice against censorship in comics. After announcing he intended to release his work only via the independent publisher Dark Horse Comics , Miller completed one final project for Epic Comics , the mature-audience imprint of Marvel Comics. Elektra Lives Again was a fully painted graphic novel written and drawn by Miller and colored by longtime partner Lynn Varley . Telling the story of

3360-465: A mysterious creature called the Black Mercy and Mongul there to battle the heroes. Todd as Robin saves Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman from Mongul by unleashing Mongul's hallucination-causing creature on the tyrant himself. Following the revamp due to Crisis on Infinite Earths , Jason Todd is recast as a young street orphan who first encounters Batman while attempting to steal the tires off

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3520-425: A new Wingman to take over Penguin's Iceberg Lounge . The initial version of Jason " Jay " Todd from before Crisis on Infinite Earths had an origin that was similar to the 1940 origin of the original Robin (Dick Grayson). Originally, he is the son of circus acrobats (Joseph Todd and Trina Todd, killed by a criminal named Killer Croc ) and is later adopted by Bruce Wayne. Distinguished by his blond hair, Todd

3680-581: A new form of more adult-oriented storytelling to both comics fans and a crossover mainstream audience. The Dark Knight Returns influenced the comic-book industry by heralding a new wave of darker characters. The trade paperback collection proved to be a big seller for DC and remains in print. By this time, Miller had returned as the writer of Daredevil . Following his self-contained story "Badlands", penciled by John Buscema , in #219 (June 1985), he co-wrote #226 (Jan. 1986) with departing writer Dennis O'Neil . Then, with artist David Mazzucchelli , he crafted

3840-598: A new villain identity, the Arkham Knight , after being trapped in Arkham Asylum for years and tortured by The Joker who conditioned him to despise and turn on his former mentor before assuming the Red Hood identity near the end of the game. By the time Len Wein took over as editor of DC Comics' Batman titles in 1982, Dick Grayson had largely moved on to starring as the leader of the young superhero team

4000-556: A one-page war-comic job." The Grand Comics Database does not list this job; there may have been a one-page DC story, or Shooter may have misremembered the page count or have been referring to the two-page story, by writer Roger McKenzie , as "Slowly, painfully, you dig your way from the cold, choking debris" in Weird War Tales #68 (October 1978). Other fledgling work at DC included the six-page "The Greatest Story Never Told", by writer Paul Kupperberg , in that same issue, and

4160-410: A pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, fed by Woodstock -era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness." He said of the movement, "Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy. Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you've been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you've heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamicism ." Miller's statement

4320-511: A pimp about to slash one of his working girls and Todd asks Batman if it would have been a big loss if he had killed him. In Batman #425, the Dynamic Duo is challenged by Felipe's father, who kidnaps Commissioner Gordon in retaliation for his son's death. Batman is instructed to meet the kidnappers at a city junkyard and to bring Robin. Batman does not wish to involve Todd and keeps this information from him. However, Robin senses something

4480-419: A pistol at Batman and begins to count to three while standing behind Joker, leaving Batman with only a headshot if he wants to stop Todd from pulling the trigger. At the last moment, Batman throws a batarang at Todd, which bounces off a pipe and sinks into his neck causing him to drop his gun. Joker takes advantage of the situation, detonating nearby explosives that engulf the platform and send them plunging into

4640-504: A productive crimefighter by channeling his rage. He also believes that if he does not help the boy, Todd will eventually become part of the "criminal element". In the revamp period, Todd is portrayed as the "rebel" Robin, reflecting the late 1980s youth culture. He smokes, swears, and fights authority. He is prone to defying Batman's orders, sometimes to success (bringing in the Scarecrow singlehandedly) and sometimes to failure (botching

4800-526: A pseudonym visited Todd in prison to give him the Justice League access code to release himself from prison. Todd is booked under a pseudonym (John Doe), due to there being no identifiable prints on file for any member of the main bat heroes as well as Jason is still legally dead. Following his escape, Todd continues on the mend and is summoned by Tim Drake to come to the Batcave, where Batman has left

4960-544: A psychopath who has murdered countless people and crippled one of their best friends , arguing that Batman should have done it "because he took me away from you". Batman admits that he has often been tempted by the thought of taking the Joker somewhere private to torture for weeks before finally killing the maniac, but says that he refuses to go to that place. Todd then offers Batman an ultimatum: he will kill Joker unless Batman kills Todd first. Holding Joker at gunpoint, he throws

Jason Todd - Misplaced Pages Continue

5120-473: A raid on a drug lab by jumping the gun too soon). Todd also aided Batman while Gotham City was temporarily overrun by Deacon Blackfire as shown in Batman: The Cult . The most controversial moment before his death occurred in Batman #424 when serial rapist Felipe Garzonas escapes the prosecution due to his father's diplomatic immunity . One of his victims, a girl named Gloria, hangs herself amid

5280-738: A recurring character in the Arrow television series and is portrayed by actor Rick Gonzalez . Another Collins contribution to the Batman franchise was scripting the English-language translation of Batman: Child of Dreams in 2003. He wrote books to expand on the Dark Angel TV series. He has written books and comics based on the TV series franchise CSI . In 2006 he wrote Buried Deep (also released as "Bones Buried Deep"), based on

5440-506: A replica of it (the original was destroyed and beyond repair after Jason emerged from it). Todd enters into a pact with Hush and the Riddler . He confirms to Hush that Riddler is correct and that Bruce Wayne is Batman. As Hush, Riddler, and Jason collaborate, Jason initially confronts Batman at his gravesite. Jason then switches places with Clayface to observe Batman from afar. When Batman expresses no remorse for sparing Joker's life after

5600-412: A seven-issue story arc that, like The Dark Knight Returns , similarly redefined and reinvigorated its main character. The storyline, " Daredevil: Born Again ", in #227–233 (February–August 1986) chronicled the hero's Catholic background and the destruction and rebirth of his real-life identity, Manhattan attorney Matt Murdock, at the hands of Daredevil's nemesis, the crime lord Wilson Fisk, also known as

5760-684: A simplified version of his origin story as the Red Hood in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0, a special prequel issue between #12 and #13. Red Hood and the Outlaws was later rebooted as part of DC's Rebirth event. This series starred a new lineup of Outlaws: Todd, Artemis of Bana-Mighdall and Bizarro , who was touted as a darker counterpart to the Trinity . This lineup lasted for 25 issues, after which Todd briefly reunited with Roy Harper and then went solo. Todd later rescues Bunker and joins forces with

5920-846: A superficial reality to superheroes which is rather stupid. They work best as the flamboyant fantasies they are. I mean, these are characters that are broad and big. I don't need to see sweat patches under Superman 's arms. I want to see him fly." Miller considers the Argentinian comic book artist Alberto Breccia as one of his personal mentors, even declaring that (regarding modernity in comics), "It all started with Breccia". In that same regard, Miller's work in Sin City has been analyzed by South American writers and artists –as well as European critics like Yexus – as being based or inspired in Breccia's groundbreaking style, especially regarding

6080-454: A team-up with Doctor Strange while the 1981 Annual showcased a meeting with the Punisher . As penciller and co-plotter, Miller, together with writer Chris Claremont , produced the miniseries Wolverine #1–4 (Sept.-Dec. 1982), inked by Josef Rubinstein and spinning off from the popular X-Men title. Miller used this miniseries to expand on Wolverine's character. The series was

6240-437: A wider Western audience. During this time, Miller (along with Marv Wolfman , Alan Moore , and Howard Chaykin ) had been in dispute with DC Comics over a proposed ratings system for comics. Disagreeing with what he saw as censorship, Miller refused to do any further work for DC, and he took his future projects to the independent publisher Dark Horse Comics . From then on Miller was a major supporter of creator rights and became

6400-526: A wider audience without comics. Miller lived in Los Angeles , California in the 1990s, which influenced Sin City . He later lived in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City , which was also an influence. Daredevil: The Man Without Fear was a five issue miniseries published by Marvel Comics in 1993. In this story, Miller and artist John Romita Jr. told Daredevil's origins differently from in

6560-557: A winter 1983 interview as the issue he is most proud of; by this time, he had transformed a second-tier character into one of Marvel's most popular. Additionally, Miller drew a short Batman Christmas story, "Wanted: Santa Claus – Dead or Alive", written by Dennis O'Neil for DC Special Series #21 (Spring 1980). This was his first professional experience with a character with which, like Daredevil, he became closely associated. At Marvel, O'Neil and Miller collaborated on two issues of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual . The 1980 Annual featured

Jason Todd - Misplaced Pages Continue

6720-494: Is a Democrat , describing his political views thus: "I think of myself as slightly left of center , but my father thought of himself as slightly right of center , when he was slightly right of Genghis Khan . So who knows? I do know that I veer left when the right is getting out of hand, which they frequently do." Collins and his wife, Barbara, have a son, Nathan. In 2008, the band he started in 1966 in Muscatine, Iowa—

6880-465: Is an adult Todd, standing at his own desecrated gravesite, and wearing a redesigned and darker version of his Robin costume. Batman subdues this mystery "Jason" and discovers that it is only Clayface impersonating Todd, concluding that "Jason's" greater physical age was to hide the flaws in Clayface's impersonation by allowing him to partially mimic Nightwing's combat skills. However, Todd's actual body

7040-771: Is an organization for writers of tie-ins and novelizations. Collins studied in the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa . Collins is a fan of the mystery writer Mickey Spillane from childhood and later became close friends with him. The two collaborated on a comic book series in the 1990s called Mike Danger . Upon Spillane's death in 2006, Collins was entrusted to finish various uncompleted works by Spillane including Dead Street , The Big Showdown , and an ongoing series of Mike Hammer novel completions, beginning with The Goliath Bone in 2008. To date, Collins has completed thirteen Spillane Hammer novels, with

7200-498: Is arrested by Gordon who informs him that the reason he has always worked with Batman is that Batman never violates the law "where it counts". As Gordon leads him away, Todd tauntingly asks Grayson why he has not put Wayne's corpse into a Lazarus Pit to bring him back, citing his resurrection from its bath. Scarlet flees Gotham, her mask finally falling from her face as she exits the city limits. Jason files an appeal to be moved from Arkham Asylum where he has been held for observation for

7360-599: Is captured and imprisoned by local mobsters Barry and Buddy Pierce. Grayson reluctantly rescues him, and the two join forces to defeat the Pierce Brothers. Shortly afterward, Todd leaves New York City and the Nightwing mantle to Grayson, along with a telegram telling Grayson he has returned to normal and still considers himself a gift from Batman. Jason Todd resumes his persona as the Red Hood and appears in several issues of Green Arrow alongside Brick as part of

7520-416: Is missing from its grave. It is later revealed that Todd had indeed died at the hands of the Joker. However, when Superboy-Prime alters reality from the paradise dimension in which he is trapped—his punches against the barrier keeping him from the rest of the universe causing temporal ripples that create an overlap of parallel timelines ( Hypertime )—Jason Todd is restored to life (as he was meant to survive

7680-545: Is taken by Talia al Ghul after a small-time crook recognizes him as Robin due to his combat skills on the street. Talia took Todd in out of her love for Batman, while her father Ra's al Ghul was interested in the secret behind his resurrection. The League of Assassins tracked and eliminated everyone in Gotham who knew of Todd's resurrection to prevent Batman from finding out. They also interrogated Joker's henchmen who were with him during Todd's murder, in hopes to find out how

7840-484: Is wearing various pieces of Dick Grayson's old childhood disguises as a costume to fight crime until Grayson presents him with a Robin costume of his own. At that point, Todd dyes his hair black, and in later stories blossoms under Batman's tutelage. For a time Natalia Knight, the criminal also known as Nocturna, Mistress of the Night is a stabilizing influence in his life; she becomes his surrogate mother and even adopts

8000-431: Is wrong and hides in the Batmobile's trunk as Batman heads to the junkyard. There, Batman is unable to reach Gordon, surrounded by Garzonas' men, and Todd intervenes, saving Batman from a close call. Machine gun fire breaks out and Gordon is wounded in the arm. All of the henchmen die, and Garzonas is finally crushed by a pile of junk cars. In 1988's "A Death in the Family" storyline, Jason Todd discovers that Catherine Todd

8160-468: The Batman R.I.P. follow-up storyline Batman: Battle for the Cowl (2009), Jason Todd is featured as a gun-wielding vigilante. Commenting on the direction and utilization of Jason Todd in the storyline, writer and artist Tony Daniel has stated that, from this point on, Jason is a " bona fide " villain: At this point [Jason] is beyond the point of no return in terms of ever being considered even remotely

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8320-510: The Batman and Detective Comics titles with regards to the portrayal of Jason. A lot of adventures occurred post-Crisis which fit with the circus acrobat era and in some cases ran simultaneously in Detective as the street kid origin was being laid out in Batman . This led to a blackout of almost any Robin appearances in Detective . This became especially apparent after his death. Eleven months passed between Jason's death in Batman #428 and

8480-617: The Batmobile in Crime Alley , the very place where Batman's parents were murdered years before. The son of Catherine and Willis Todd, Jason lives on the east end of Gotham City in the Park Row district called Crime Alley. Catherine was a drug addict who died of an overdose sometime before he began living on the street. Willis, a former medical student, was working as hired muscle for Two-Face and had disappeared suspiciously following

8640-546: The Black Box set—from Troma Team Video, and the Ness film is distributed by VCI Entertainment. The DVD release of Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market being notable for being one of the first films to take advantage of the multi-angle feature on DVD players, thus giving viewers the opportunity to watch the story unfold from different viewpoints. Collins has written and performed music with his rock band, Crusin'. Collins

8800-752: The Forerunner , but before she can kill them, the apologetic Monitor stops her and recruits Jason and Donna for a mission to the Palmerverse, a section of the Nanoverse discovered by Ray Palmer , in an attempt to find Palmer. During the trip, Jason takes it upon himself to name the Monitor "Bob". Jason seems to have a romantic interest in Donna and is shown to be visibly disgruntled when her old boyfriend Kyle Rayner joins their group as they take their tour to

8960-523: The Kingpin . After completing the "Born Again" arc, Frank Miller intended to produce a two-part story with artist Walt Simonson but it was never completed and remains unpublished. Miller and artist Bill Sienkiewicz produced the graphic novel Daredevil: Love and War in 1986. Featuring the character of the Kingpin, it indirectly bridges Miller's first run on Daredevil and Born Again by explaining

9120-756: The Teen Titans in DC's New Teen Titans title. However, with the character no longer featured in Batman comics, the disadvantages of telling Batman stories without the character to act as a sounding board for the protagonist became apparent. Jason Todd was created to become Dick Grayson's replacement as Robin. The character debuted in Batman #357 (March 1983) and made his first full appearance in Detective Comics #525 (April 1983), but it wasn't until later that year that he would appear in costume as Robin in Batman #366 (December 1983) when he showed up towards

9280-549: The Vietnam War in 1973. The books are narrated in first person by Quarry (a code name). He maintains his own code of honor, and rationalizes his crimes by taking contracts to kill people who he believes brought about their own demise and will eventually be murdered by one enemy or another (e.g., corrupt politicians, mobsters, exploitative businessmen, drug traffickers). Cinemax created a TV adaptation of Quarry . Written by Michael D. Fuller and Graham Gordy based loosely on

9440-452: The resurrection of Elektra from the dead and Daredevil's quest to find her, as well as showing Miller's will to experiment with new story-telling techniques. 1990 saw Miller and artist Geof Darrow start work on Hard Boiled , a three-issue miniseries. The title, a mix of violence and satire, was praised for Darrow's highly detailed art and Miller's writing. At the same time, Miller and artist Dave Gibbons produced Give Me Liberty ,

9600-594: The 1984 Shamus Award for Best P.I. Hardcover from the Private Eye Writers of America . Collins won his second Shamus in 1992 for the Heller novel Stolen Away , an account of the Lindbergh kidnapping . His 1999 novel Flying Blind sees Heller investigate the disappearance of Amelia Earhart , along the way becoming romantically involved with her. With the release of Chicago Confidential , Collins moved

9760-673: The 1996 Kingdom Come limited series and worn by the Earth-22 Dick Grayson, is seen in Countdown to Final Crisis #16 in the Earth-51 Batman's base of operations; it is revealed that Earth-51 became the peaceful world it is because the Batman of this Earth killed all the supervillains after his Jason was killed by the Joker. In issue #14, Jason dons the Red Robin suit—described by Earth-51's Batman as something he

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9920-550: The 52 Earths which comprise the Multiverse . A teaser image released to promote Countdown showed a figure resembling Red Robin among assembled heroes in poses symbolic of their roles in the series. After a series of contradictory statements about this figure, executive editor Dan DiDio firmly stated in the July 2007 DC Nation column that the figure is Jason Todd. The Red Robin costume, originally designed by Alex Ross for

10080-418: The Batcave regardless; when Alfred Pennyworth asks if he wants the costume removed, Batman sadly replies that the return of Todd "doesn't change anything at all" because he wants to remember Jason as the good kid he was when they first met and blames himself over how violent he has become by letting him assume the Robin mantle. Acting on his obsession with Tim Drake, Todd breaks into Titans Tower to confront

10240-510: The Boy Robot , published as a two-part miniseries by Dark Horse. In 1999, it became an animated series on Fox Kids . Written and illustrated by Miller with painted colors by Varley, 300 was a 1998 comic-book miniseries , released as a hardcover collection in 1999, retelling the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. 300

10400-579: The Daybreakers —was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Ten years later, in 2018, Collins was again inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the band Cruisin'. Collins received an Inkpot Award in 1982. He won the Shamus Award in 1984 and 1992. This series features a former U.S. Marine sniper turned professional assassin after returning from

10560-758: The Joker (driven out of Gotham by Hush) and beats him with a crowbar just as Joker had beaten Jason. Despite the violence of the beating, Jason spares Joker, intending to use him later against Batman. Red Hood assumes control over several gangs in Gotham City and starts a one-man war against Black Mask's criminal empire, who himself had recently allegedly murdered a Robin ( Stephanie Brown ). Overall, he strives to take over Gotham's gangs, control their activities, and kill Joker in revenge for his death. In his new role as Gotham's most powerful crime lord, he repeatedly comes to blows with Batman and several of his allies . After several confrontations, Batman becomes obsessed with

10720-426: The Joker's assaults), breaks out of his coffin, and is eventually hospitalized; because he wandered so far from his grave before his discovery, no connection was ever drawn between the two events. Todd never turns up on any missing person reports—as he was never 'missing'—nor can he be identified since no prints are on file for him. After spending a year in a coma and subsequently another year as an amnesiac vagrant, he

10880-418: The Joker. After learning of the Joker's arms deal in Los Angeles for another terrorism scheme against Gotham, Jason begins to stalk the villain as a masked gunman. After successfully capturing Joker (who fails to recognize him due to being older), Jason contemplates burning his killer alive after dousing him with gasoline. However, Jason realizes that he does not simply want Joker to die, but desires to punish

11040-755: The King Arthur legend from the point of view of the Lady of the Lake in October 2019. In December 2019, DC released Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child , the fifth series in The Dark Knight Returns universe to mixed reviews. It is written by Miller with artwork by Rafael Grampa. In July 2020, Netflix released a 10-episode series based on Cursed with Miller and Wheeler serving as both creators and executive producers. On April 28, 2022, it

11200-549: The Midwest. The Mallory series is about a mystery writer in Iowa who solves crimes. Collins' longest running series and arguably his best known work is his Nathan Heller series. Heller is a Chicago private investigator who gets involved in famous crimes and meets famous people from the 1930s to the 1960s, including Orson Welles , Frank Nitti , and Sally Rand . The first novel in this historical fiction series, True Detective , won

11360-515: The Monitors that they are now the monitors of the Monitors. Todd and Drake are confronted by another Red Robin in Robin (vol. 2) #177, whose identity is initially a mystery but later turns out to be Ulysses Armstrong . Due to a combination of Red Robin's involvement and a gun-toting gang member, Todd was shot in the leg and arrested by police. Upon the resolution of the gang war in Gotham, Drake under

11520-509: The Rise of Alexander , which marked his first work as both writer and artist comics creation since Holy Terror . In 2017 Miller announced he was writing a Superman: Year One project with artwork by John Romita Jr. The three-issue series was released by DC Black Label from June to October 2019 and received mixed reviews. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing published his and author Tom Wheeler 's young-adult novel Cursed , about

11680-623: The Road to Perdition Books 1–3. A mystery series set in and around the American comic book industry during the tail end of the Golden Age of Comic Books Frank Miller (comics) This is an accepted version of this page Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil , for which he created

11840-548: The TV series Bones . He has written two sequel novels to Road to Perdition : Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise . He wrote three more graphic novels starring the characters from Road to Perdition . These graphic novels, called collectively On the Road to Perdition , form the basis of the film. He co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers with Lee Goldberg . The IAMTW

12000-481: The Teen Titans have left except Donna Troy . Jason tells her what happened the night of Duela's death, and about the dueling Monitors. He knows that both he and Donna Troy have come back from the dead, even already deducing that his resurrection has something to do with Alexander Luthor Jr. 's plans during Infinite Crisis , and wonders which of them is next on the Monitor's hit list. The two are then attacked by

12160-626: The action into the 1950s. Target Lancer , about an alleged attempt to assassinate John F. Kennedy in Chicago just weeks before the actual assassination in Dallas, was published in November 2012. This series of novels is about real life Untouchable Eliot Ness 's career as Director of Public Safety in Cleveland. (*) Note: Road to Perdition: On the Road , is a single-volume collection of On

12320-642: The aid agency and as part of the cover-up, she hands her son, having arrived as Robin, over to Joker. Joker beats the boy brutally with a crowbar and then leaves him and Sheila in the warehouse with a time bomb . Sheila and Jason try desperately to escape the warehouse but the doors are locked as the bomb goes off. Batman arrives too late to save them and finds Jason's lifeless body in the rubble. Sheila lives just long enough to tell Batman that Jason died trying to protect her. The bodies are taken back to Gotham City for burial. Todd's death continued to haunt Batman afterward, as he considered it his greatest failure. He keeps

12480-474: The artists. Issue one was the top-selling comic of November 2015, moving an estimated 440,234 copies. In 2016, Miller and Azzarello also co-wrote the graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade with art by John Romita Jr. and Peter Steigerwald. From April to August 2018, Dark Horse Comics published monthly Miller's five-issue miniseries sequel to 300 , Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and

12640-500: The bat mantle when Dick Grayson refuses to and sets off to fight Todd, who easily defeats him. Grayson then comes to the rescue and refuses to believe Todd when he claims he has killed Drake (which he had not since current Robin Damian Wayne rescued Drake at the last moment). The two battle and Grayson eventually defeats Todd, who says that he will be seen again. On June 6, 2011, as part of DC Comics' line-wide revamp initiative, it

12800-423: The bay. Jason Todd resurfaces following the " One Year Later " period, patrolling the streets of New York City as a murderous version of Nightwing . However, Jason shows no intention of giving up the Nightwing persona when confronted by Dick Grayson and continues to taunt his predecessor by wearing the costume and suggesting that the two become a crime-fighting team. Not long after the two Nightwings meet up, Todd

12960-616: The book series, the project centers on a Marine marksman who, upon returning home from Vietnam in 1972, finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. The disillusioned vet is quickly recruited into a network of contract killers and corruption spanning the Mississippi River. The show was cancelled in May 2017 after the first season. This series features a professional thief, similar to and apparently inspired by Richard Stark 's " Parker " character, who operates in

13120-482: The boy could have survived. Talia later restored Todd's health and memory by immersing him in a Lazarus Pit in which her father was also bathing and helped him escape the House of al Ghul. It is suggested by Ra's that the power of the pit resulted in Todd's mental instability. Ra's refers to Todd as a "curse" and a "pestilence" unleashed on the planet, saying that madness may affect him for "hours, months, or decades". Using

13280-461: The change in the Kingpin's attitude toward Daredevil. Miller and Sienkiewicz also produced the eight-issue miniseries Elektra: Assassin for Epic Comics . Set outside regular Marvel continuity, it featured a wild tale of cyborgs and ninjas , while expanding further on Elektra's background. Both of these projects were critically well received. Elektra: Assassin was praised for its bold storytelling, but neither it nor Daredevil: Love and War had

13440-400: The character Elektra , and subsequent Daredevil: Born Again , The Dark Knight Returns , Batman: Year One , Sin City , and 300 . Miller is noted for combining film noir and manga influences in his comic art creations. He said: "I realized when I started Sin City that I found American and English comics be too wordy, too constipated, and Japanese comics to be too empty. So I

13600-446: The character's death won by a slim 72-vote margin of 5,343 votes to 5,271. The following issue, Batman #428, was published featuring Todd's death. Years later, O'Neil said hundreds of votes in the "Jason Dies" line might have come from a single person, adding a large degree of uncertainty to the honesty of results regarding a poll designed to determine the character's popularity. "I heard it was one guy, who programmed his computer to dial

13760-645: The comic book private eye Ms. Tree , and took over writing the Dick Tracy comic strip from creator Chester Gould . Collins briefly wrote the Batman comic book in 1987 and crafted a new origin for the Jason Todd character. Collins and artist Terry Beatty created Wild Dog at DC that same year in a self-titled limited series. The character later appeared as a feature in the Action Comics Weekly anthology. As of 2016, Wild Dog became

13920-483: The crime". He describes his vendetta against Grayson as "the revenge of one crazy man in a mask on another crazy man in a mask". Todd has reappeared with red hair, claiming that he is a natural red-head and that Bruce Wayne had him dye his hair black to look like Dick Grayson. He also claims the white streak of hair that he got is from being resurrected in the Lazarus Pit, though the white streak disappears again. In

14080-616: The dead than I am about what Jason's return will do to Batman. Now." The explanation for the character's return was revealed in Batman Annual #25 (2006). After a storyline in Nightwing as part of the One Year Later event where Todd took the mantle of Nightwing for himself, the character reappeared in his Red Hood persona as one of the focal characters of DC's year-long weekly Countdown series starting in May 2007. In

14240-446: The death of the second Robin ( Jason Todd ) and, at age 55, returns to fight crime in a dark and violent future. Miller created a tough, gritty Batman, referring to him as "The Dark Knight" based upon his being called the "Darknight Detective" in some 1970s portrayals, although the nickname "Dark Knight" for Batman dates back to 1940. Released the same year as Alan Moore 's and Dave Gibbons ' DC miniseries Watchmen , it showcased

14400-402: The discussion but ultimately decides to remain with Green Arrow . At the start of Countdown , Todd rescues a woman from Duela Dent . After a Monitor shoots and kills Duela, he attempts to kill Jason, but is stopped by a second Monitor. This second Monitor apologizes to Jason before they both disappear, leaving Jason alone with Duela's body. Later, at Duela's funeral, Jason hides until all of

14560-415: The end of the story to help Batman fight the Joker. Following the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths , DC took the opportunity to reboot many of its properties. The character was completely revamped. According to Dennis O'Neil , who took over as Batman editor in 1986, "[The fans] did hate him. I don't know if it was fan craziness—maybe they saw him as usurping Dick Grayson's position. Some of

14720-608: The events of War Games and just before War Crimes , Jason Todd reappears in Gotham City as the Red Hood. During the events of Batman: Under the Hood , he hijacks a shipment of Kryptonite from Black Mask , and in the midst of a battle with Batman, Nightwing and Mr. Freeze , Red Hood gives them the Kryptonite back, and tells them he has gotten what he truly wanted: a "lay of the land". Shortly afterward, Red Hood finds

14880-509: The film 300 , and directing the film adaptation of The Spirit . Sin City earned a Palme d'Or nomination. Miller was born in Olney, Maryland , on January 27, 1957, and raised in Montpelier, Vermont , the fifth of seven children of a nurse mother and a carpenter/electrician father. His family was Irish Catholic . Miller grew up a comics fan; a letter he wrote to Marvel Comics

15040-701: The film screened in Cinemark theaters across the U.S for one day only. In October 2012, Joanna Gallardo-Mills, who began working for Miller as an executive coordinator in November 2008, filed suit against Miller in Manhattan for discrimination and "mental anguish", stating that Miller's former girlfriend, Kimberly Cox, created a hostile work environment for Gallardo-Mills in Miller and Cox's Hell's Kitchen living and work space. In July 2020, producer Stephen L'Heureux, who worked on Sin City: A Dame to Kill For , filed

15200-520: The first full appearance of the ninja mercenary Elektra —who became a popular character and star in a 2005 motion picture—although her first cover appearance was four months earlier on Miller's cover of The Comics Journal #58. Miller later wrote and drew a solo Elektra story in Bizarre Adventures #28 (Oct. 1981). He added a martial arts aspect to Daredevil's fighting skills, and introduced previously unseen characters who had played

15360-400: The first mention of his passing in Detective Comics #606. In 1989, Denny O'Neil, Marv Wolfman, and Pat Broderick would introduce Tim Drake as the third Robin. Mindful of the poor reception Jason received from readers, O'Neil arranged for a more nuanced introduction in which Tim first introduced himself to Dick Grayson and impressed the former Robin with his skills, and was revealed to share

15520-640: The five-page "The Edge of History", written by Elliot S. Maggin , in Unknown Soldier #219 (September 1978). His first work for Marvel Comics was penciling the 17-page story "The Master Assassin of Mars, Part 3" in John Carter, Warlord of Mars #18 (November 1978). At Marvel, Miller settled in as a regular fill-in and cover artist, working on a variety of titles. One of these jobs was drawing Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27–28 (February–March 1979), which guest-starred Daredevil . At

15680-415: The globe, including guns, poisons and antitoxins , martial arts , acrobatics , and bomb-making. Upon learning that the man training him in lethal combat is also the leader of a child sex slave ring, Jason frees the latest shipment of children and takes them to a local embassy, then returns to the training compound and poisons his new mentor for his crimes. Upon being questioned by Talia al Ghul, Todd says it

15840-421: The influence or reached as many readers as Dark Knight Returns or Born Again . Miller's final major story in this period was in Batman issues 404–407 in 1987, another collaboration with Mazzucchelli. Titled Batman: Year One , this was Miller's version of the origin of Batman in which he retconned many details and adapted the story to fit his Dark Knight continuity . Proving to be hugely popular, this

16000-514: The issue, Todd is characterized as increasingly unstable and his idea of "finishing off" Batman and Robin now consists of stripping them down to their underwear and exposing their identities via webcam activated by a phone poll [a nod by Morrison to his death poll]. A fight between Batman, Robin, and the Flamingo – a foreign hitman hired by a Mexican cartel after Red Hood killed their operative in Gotham – ends with Jason burying Flamingo in debris with

16160-485: The last several months. Bruce Wayne as Batman visits him there to inform Jason he's in Arkham for his protection. Jason points out he's passed all the psychological tests repeatedly and there is no reason to keep him in what he calls Batman's "kennel of freaks". It is also revealed that, like Tim, Jason was also aware that Batman survived his encounter with Darkseid. Jason is transferred to a Gotham prison and upon his arrival,

16320-450: The latter's chiaroscuros and strong use of stark black-and-white technique. Daredevil: Born Again and The Dark Knight Returns were both critical successes and influential on subsequent generations of creators to the point of being considered classics of the medium. Batman: Year One was also met with praise for its gritty style, while comics including Ronin , 300 and Sin City were also successful, cementing Miller's place as

16480-732: The licensed TV series comic book The Twilight Zone #84 (June 1978), by an unknown writer, and is credited with the five-page "Endless Cloud", also by an unknown writer, in the following issue (July 1978). By the time of the latter, Miller had his first confirmed credit in writer Wyatt Gwyon's six-page "Deliver Me From D-Day", inked by Danny Bulanadi, in Weird War Tales #64 (June 1978). Former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter recalled Miller going to DC Comics after having broken in with "a small job from Western Publishing , I think. Thus emboldened, he went to DC, and after getting savaged by Joe Orlando , got in to see art director Vinnie Colletta , who recognized talent and arranged for him to get

16640-458: The mail response indicated that this was at least on some people's minds." In 1988, Dennis O'Neil suggested that an audience might be attracted to the comics by being offered the opportunity to influence the creative process. Settling on the idea of the telephone poll via a 1-900 number, O'Neil had decided due to discussions with DC Comics president Jenette Kahn that the poll should not be wasted on something insignificant. O'Neil settled on using

16800-405: The mantle of Batman. It is later revealed in Battle for the Cowl that Bruce Wayne's last words to Jason were of regret at how he had overlooked the young man's deep emotional problems. He thought he could do what could never be done for him and 'make him whole'. His message goes on to plead that Todd gets psychiatric help, a notion that the latter rejects. It is suggested by Dick Grayson that Todd

16960-516: The mercs, Red Hood rescues Scarlet and escapes using the helicopter. Batman and Robin attempt to chase him, but Red Hood tells them that he planted bombs over Gotham City months ago. Scarlet desires to stay with Red Hood as his partner. Red Hood and Scarlet head towards an unknown destination. Max Allan Collins Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic novels. His work has been published in several formats and his Road to Perdition series

17120-433: The money from Talia and infuriated by her statement that he "remains unavenged", Todd paid a group of mercenaries to help him return to Gotham. Upon arriving, he enacts a plan to get revenge on Batman, whom he resents for refusing to kill the Joker and thus avenge his death. Jason Todd creates a false arms trafficking of advanced military arsenal, knowing that Batman would respond. This provides Jason an opportunity to plant

17280-640: The most recent being Kill Me If You Can , published in 2022. In 2021, he and Canadian actor/writer Dave Thomas teamed to write the sci-fi mystery novel The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton . In addition to his work as a writer, Collins has written and directed four movies: Mommy , Mommy 2: Mommy's Day , Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market , and Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life (based on his Edgar Award–nominated play). All four were produced independently on location in Collins' hometown of Muscatine, Iowa . The first three are available on DVD—separately or in

17440-453: The most recent, most painful thing he had to endure. That's why Hush played the card—to get inside Batman's head... But 'Hush' wasn't about Jason—Jason was a pawn to be moved around the table... If someone else wanted to tell another Jason story or bring him back and we at least opened the door, that's great!" In 2005, writer Judd Winick began the Under the Hood storyline that revolved around

17600-404: The mystery of the identity of the new Red Hood. The character's identity was revealed as Jason Todd in Batman #638. Winick explained that after his initial arc on the Batman title, he suggested doing "something big" to his editors. Specifically, he wanted to bring the character back from the dead. Winick said, "I was less interested in the how and the why and the what of Jason Todd returning from

17760-525: The new adventures of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme—as mystically conjured by Roger Stern and Frank Miller!". Miller's only contribution to the series was the cover for Doctor Strange #46 (April 1981). Other commitments prevented him from working on the series. Miller and Steve Gerber made a proposal to revamp DC's three biggest characters: Superman , Batman, and Wonder Woman , under a line called "Metropolis" and comics titled "Man of Steel" or "The Man of Steel", "Dark Knight" and "Amazon". However, this proposal

17920-465: The new penciller on the title. As Miller recalled in 2008: When I first showed up in New York, I showed up with a bunch of comics, a bunch of samples, of guys in trench coats and old cars and such. And [comics editors] said, 'Where are the guys in tights?' And I had to learn how to do it. But as soon as a title came along, when [ Daredevil signature artist] Gene Colan left Daredevil , I realized it

18080-464: The person that hired them and that he is in no danger. Jason breaks free and fights them off all the same as Batman and Robin arrive. Once the hired guns are subdued they reveal their employer has captured Scarlet, Jason's former sidekick. Dick, Damian, and Jason go to one of the Red Hood's weapon caches where he assembles a composite costume made from his biker and "superhero" Red Hood attire. The three intend to rescue Scarlet. After Batman and Robin defeat

18240-560: The planet Apokolips before Earth-51's destruction. After the group is sent back to Earth, Todd leaves the group and returns to his crime-fighting ways. When the Morticoccus virus is released from Karate Kid 's body, he is forcibly brought back to the group by Kyle, much to his dismay. When the Challengers return to New Earth, Todd disposes of his Red Robin costume and abandons the rest of the group, though they go on to declare to

18400-410: The poll to determine the fate of the second Robin. O'Neil said, "The logical candidate was Jason because we had reason to believe that he wasn't that popular anyway. It was a big enough stunt that we couldn't do it with a minor character." Even though Jason Todd was unpopular with readers, O'Neil could not decide what to do with the character, so he opted to present the choice to the readership. The vote

18560-442: The possibility of resurrection from the dead, suspecting that it was Jason he fought, and seeks advice from allies such as Superman and Green Arrow , both of whom have died and returned to life. Around this time, Batman discovers that the empty coffin buried at Jason's gravesite is a replica of what he bought. After a series of tests confirmed that it is Jason, Batman continues to keep his Robin costume in its memorial display case in

18720-518: The previous comics, and they provided additional detail to his beginnings. Miller also returned to superheroes by writing issue #11 of Todd McFarlane 's Spawn , as well as the Spawn/Batman crossover for Image Comics . In 1994, Miller became one of the founding members of the comic imprint Legend, under which many of his Sin City works were released via Dark Horse Comics . In 1995, Miller and Darrow collaborated again on Big Guy and Rusty

18880-670: The protagonist hero fights Al-Qaeda terrorists, Miller made a remark about Islamic terrorism and Islam , saying, "I was raised Catholic and I could tell you a lot about the Spanish Inquisition , but the mysteries of the Catholic Church elude me. And I could tell you a lot about Al-Qaeda, but the mysteries of Islam elude me too." In November 2011, Miller posted remarks pertaining to the Occupy Wall Street movement on his blog, calling it "nothing but

19040-404: The resources of British law-enforcement away from mob crime and onto Islamic extremist terrorism with a framed bombing plot. Todd manages to hunt down the gang and safely detonate the bombs. Ironically, the only surviving member of the gang offers Jason the possibility of a large government payday in exchange for his life, because he knows where a very wanted man is. That wanted man turns out to be

19200-476: The roofs of New York in an attempt to give his Daredevil art an authentic feel not commonly seen in superhero comics at the time. One journalist commented: Daredevil's New York, under Frank's run, became darker and more dangerous than the Spider-Man New York he'd seemingly lived in before. New York City itself, particularly Daredevil's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, became as much a character as

19360-486: The second Robin was killed, Todd is further angered and takes up his murderer's original mantle. After she initiated a takeover of Kord Industries for him, Talia gifts Jason the flame dagger (a replica of the one Ra's al Ghul often carried) and the red motorcycle-helmet based hood which become his signature weapon and mask. A domino mask is found in the Batmobile . The mask is of the style that Todd wore as Robin, suggesting that he'd been stalking Batman. Shortly after

19520-458: The second Robin's uniform on display in the Batcave as a reminder. The Joker, on the other hand, would occasionally remind Batman of this loss to torment him. Years later, while trying to discover the identity of a mysterious figure plotting against him, Batman discovers that Tim Drake, Jason's successor as Robin, has been kidnapped. He confronts the kidnapper and is stunned to discover that he

19680-503: The sequel initially released as a three-issue miniseries, and though it sold well, it received a mixed to negative reception. Miller also returned to writing Batman in 2005, taking on the writing duties of All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder , a series set inside of what Miller describes as the "Dark Knight Universe," and drawn by Jim Lee . All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder also received largely negative reviews. Miller's previous attitude towards movie adaptations

19840-666: The series, as he disliked McKenzie's scripts. Miller's fortunes changed with the arrival of Denny O'Neil as editor. Realizing Miller's unhappiness with the series, and impressed by a backup story Miller had written, O'Neil moved McKenzie to another project so that Miller could try writing the series himself. Miller and O'Neil maintained a friendly working relationship throughout his run on the series. With issue #168 (Jan. 1981), Miller took over full duties as writer and penciller. Sales rose so swiftly that Marvel once again began publishing Daredevil monthly rather than bimonthly just three issues after Miller became its writer. Issue #168 saw

20000-520: The shadowy crimefighter; the stories often took place on the rooftop level, with water towers, pipes and chimneys jutting out to create a skyline reminiscent of German Expressionism 's dramatic edges and shadows. Ronin shows some of the strongest influences of manga and bande dessinée on Miller's style, both in the artwork and narrative style. Sin City was drawn in black and white to emphasize its film noir origins. Miller has said he opposes naturalism in comic art: "People are attempting to bring

20160-459: The suicide rate spikes amongst top incarcerated crime figures there. Several homicides occur due to many botched attempts on Jason's life by inmates with a grudge against Red Hood's tactics. Jason escalates things further by poisoning the cafeteria, killing 82 and sickening 100 more inmates. He is immediately transferred back to Arkham but is broken out of the paddy wagon by a group of mercenaries. The mercs reveal they are under orders to bring Jason to

20320-472: The third Robin, thus revealing the truth of their encounter at the cemetery to his successor. Having learned that Tim defeated the Joker by himself in their first fights, Jason seeks to best him in combat. Wearing another version of his Robin costume, Todd quickly immobilizes the other Teen Titans and defeats Drake in the Tower's Hall of Fallen Titans, demonstrating that he is now a more formidable fighter than he

20480-417: The threat of a third rape from Felipe. Todd discovers her hanging and makes a beeline for Felipe, ahead of Batman, who arrived just in time to see Felipe take a 22-story fall to his death, with Todd as Robin at the edge of the balcony. Todd maintains "I guess I spooked him. He slipped." It is left ambiguous whether Todd killed him. This recalls an earlier exchange in Batman #422 where he uses excessive force on

20640-544: The thumbs down number every ninety seconds for eight hours, who made the difference", O'Neil said in a Newsarama interview conducted alongside writer Judd Winick during the "Under The Hood" arc. O'Neil would later repeat the claim with further specifics: "I heard it was a lawyer who was using a Macintosh and lived in California—I obviously don't have hard information on this, but I heard someone out there programmed his computer to dial it every couple of minutes, and since there

20800-462: The time, sales of the Daredevil title were poor but Miller saw potential in "a blind protagonist in a purely visual medium", as he recalled in 2000. Miller went to writer and staffer Jo Duffy (a mentor-figure whom he called his "guardian angel" at Marvel) and she passed on his interest to editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to get Miller work on Daredevil's regular title. Shooter agreed and made Miller

20960-408: The very concept of Batman obsolete, he puts a lot of effort into public relations : he drastically alters his Red Hood costume to look more like a traditional superhero outfit and recruits his sidekick Scarlet. In their war on crime, Red Hood and Scarlet freely kill criminals, villains, and anyone who gets in their way, even the police. He leaves behind a calling card that states "let the punishment fit

21120-426: The villain with Batman. Jason spares Joker and decides to wait for the right opportunity. Jason also admits to Talia that he has already deduced that the reason she finances his training is to stall him from killing Batman, but he has no desire to kill his former mentor anymore. Talia then gives Todd the idea to be the Batman that Gotham needs. She also hires the same carpenters who built Jason's casket and had them build

21280-426: The whole killing of Robin thing was probably the ugliest thing I've seen in comics, and the most cynical." However, DC stood behind the outcome of the poll. O'Neil was quoted on the back cover of A Death in the Family trade paperback collecting the story with Todd's death as saying, "It would be a really sleazy stunt to bring him back." O'Neil would later regret his comment. There was a degree of discontinuity between

21440-684: The young Todd. Catwoman would be a frequent guest star during this era as she wrestled with the role of hero and as a love interest for Batman which led to clashes with the boy feeling left out. In the Alan Moore epic Superman Annual #11, For the Man Who Has Everything , Batman and Todd join Wonder Woman at the Fortress of Solitude to celebrate Superman 's birthday. They arrive only to find Superman incapacitated by

21600-486: Was a bad idea for Batman to become a public figure, rather than an urban legend . After stabbing Tim Drake in the chest with a Batarang, he and Dick Grayson battle down in the subway. Nightwing still wants to save Todd, but Todd refuses the offer, and instead allows himself to fall off a speeding subway into the Gotham River while stating they would see each other again soon. This allowed Grayson to officially take up

21760-533: Was accused of being anti-Islamic . Miller later said that he regretted Holy Terror , saying, "I don't want to wipe out chapters of my own biography. But I'm not capable of that book again." Miller's film adaptation of Sin City was well received by audiences and critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 77% based on 254 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Visually groundbreaking and terrifically violent, Sin City brings

21920-472: Was adapted by Steven Grant for Avatar Press 's Pulsaar imprint. Illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp , the series is called Frank Miller's RoboCop and contains plot elements that were divided between RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 . In 1991, Miller started work on his first Sin City story. Serialized in Dark Horse Presents #51–62, it proved to be another success, and the story was released in

22080-639: Was announced that Jason Todd would headline his title in the guise of the Red Hood. Todd acts as leader of the Outlaws, a group of antiheroes that "have several different exciting characters from the DC Universe – some we've seen before and some we haven't," Batman Group Editor Mike Marts said. The group included Roy Harper and Starfire . Red Hood and the Outlaws debuted in September 2011, written by Scott Lobdell and with art by Kenneth Rocafort . The series focused on Jason Todd's redemption and introduced

22240-410: Was as influential as Miller's previous work. A trade paperback released in 1988 remains in print, and is one of DC's best selling books. The story was adapted as an original animated film video in 2011. Miller illustrated the covers for the first twelve issues of First Comics ' English-language reprints of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima 's Lone Wolf and Cub . This helped bring Japanese manga to

22400-476: Was attempting to do a hybrid." Miller has received every major comic book industry award, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. Miller's feature film work includes writing the scripts for the 1990s science fiction films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 , sharing directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For , producing

22560-403: Was before his death. Furious that no memorial statue was made for him (despite his short tenure as a Titan), he demands that Drake tell him if he is as good as Todd has been told. Drake says "Yes" and passes out. As he leaves, he tears the 'R' emblem from Drake's chest, though he later grudgingly acknowledges that Drake is a worthy successor. Todd is also left wondering if perhaps he would have been

22720-443: Was critically well received. In 2007, Miller stated that "There was a lot of interference in the writing process. It wasn't ideal. After working on the two Robocop movies, I really thought that was it for me in the business of film." Miller came into contact with the fictional cyborg once more, writing the comic-book miniseries RoboCop Versus The Terminator , with art by Walter Simonson . In 2003, Miller's screenplay for RoboCop 2

22880-678: Was criticised by fellow comic writer Alan Moore . In a 2018 interview, Miller backed away from his comments saying that he "wasn't thinking clearly" when he made them and alluded to a very dark time in his life during which they were made. On July 10, 2015, at San Diego Comic-Con, Miller was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame. From 2015 to 2017, DC released a nine-issue, bimonthly sequel to The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again , titled The Dark Knight III: The Master Race . Miller co-wrote it with Brian Azzarello , and Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson were

23040-636: Was focusing its efforts on the Ronin sequel and Pandora , a fantasy adventure series produced together with The Kubert School that Miller described as "look[ing] like a children's book, but it's also a dark fairytale". The documentary film Frank Miller: American Genius premiered on June 6, 2024, at the Angelika Film Center in New York City. The event featured a live introduction with Miller, moderated by author Neil Gaiman. On June 10,

23200-454: Was going to give Todd's counterpart when he was older—and goes into battle alongside Earth-51 Batman. During a battle with a group of Monarch's soldiers, Earth-51 Batman is killed by the Ultraman of Earth-3 , deeply affecting Jason. In his grief, Todd kills an alternate version of the Joker, also involved in Batman's killing, who then mocks his loss, vacating alongside Donna, Ray, and Kyle to

23360-454: Was infuriated by Wayne's last words, a reaction that led him to become a monstrous, murdering Batman in that same arc. Plus, it aggravated his hatred towards the Bat family, as he repeatedly attempts to kill members of it. In the second story arc of Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison and Philip Tan , Jason Todd retakes the Red Hood mantle after losing his bid to become the new Batman. To make

23520-455: Was my secret in to do crime comics with a superhero in them. And so I lobbied for the title and got it. Daredevil #158 (May 1979), Miller's debut on that title, was the finale of an ongoing story written by Roger McKenzie and inked by Klaus Janson . After this issue, Miller became one of Marvel's rising stars. However, sales on Daredevil did not improve, Marvel's management continued to discuss cancellation, and Miller himself almost quit

23680-435: Was not accepted. In 1986, DC Comics released the writer–penciller Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns , a four-issue miniseries printed in what the publisher called "prestige format"—squarebound, rather than stapled; on heavy-stock paper rather than newsprint, and with cardstock rather than glossy-paper covers. It was inked by Klaus Janson and colored by Lynn Varley . The story tells how Batman retired after

23840-497: Was not his biological mother, and runs away to find the woman who gave birth to him. After following several leads, including an Israeli Mossad agent and Shiva Woo-San , Todd finally tracks his biological mother Sheila Haywood to Ethiopia , where she works as an aid worker. While Todd is overjoyed to be reunited with his real mother, he soon discovers that she is being blackmailed by the Joker using her to provide him with medical supplies. Sheila herself has been embezzling from

24000-410: Was not murder but rather that he "put down a reptile". Jason has since repeated the same pattern of killing his teachers when finding them guilty after he has finished with his training. During his journey, Jason discovers his Robin replacement was Timothy "Tim" Drake, which further torments him. He also learns that the man teaching him bomb-making is involved in a Russian mafia-backed deal meant to push

24160-437: Was only about 65 votes that made the difference if that story is true, that guy, that guy killed Jason Todd!" Despite the poll results, O'Neil noted, "We did the deed, and we got a blast of hate mail and a blast of negative commentary in the press." A few comics creators voiced their displeasure at the event. Writer/artist Frank Miller , who had worked on Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One , said, "To me,

24320-530: Was particularly inspired by the 1962 film The 300 Spartans , a movie that Miller watched as a young boy. He was one of the artists on the Superman and Batman: World's Funnest one-shot written by Evan Dorkin published in 2000. Miller moved back to Hell's Kitchen by 2001 and was creating Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again as the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred about four miles from that neighborhood. His differences with DC Comics put aside, he saw

24480-461: Was providing only rough layouts for Janson to both pencil and ink, allowing Miller to focus on the writing. Miller's work on Daredevil was characterized by darker themes and stories. This peaked when in #181 (April 1982) he had the assassin Bullseye kill Elektra, and Daredevil subsequently attempt to kill him. Miller finished his Daredevil run with issue #191 (February 1983), which he cited in

24640-489: Was published in The Cat #3 (April 1973). His first published work was at Western Publishing 's Gold Key Comics imprint , received at the recommendation of comics artist Neal Adams , to whom a fledgling Miller, after moving to New York City, had shown samples and received much critique and occasional informal lessons. Though no published credits appear, he is tentatively credited with the three-page story "Royal Feast" in

24800-505: Was reported that Miller was launching an American comic book publishing company titled Frank Miller Presents ( FMP ). Miller will act as the company's president and editor-in-chief, working alongside Dan DiDio as publisher and chief operating officer Silenn Thomas. FMP expects to produce between two and four titles per year, with Miller's initial contributions to include Sin City 1858 and Ronin Book Two . As of November 2023, FMP

24960-587: Was resurrected in the 2005 " Under the Hood " story arc, which saw him becoming a murderous villain known as the Red Hood . In the current New 52 / DC Rebirth continuity, Todd is a more nuanced antihero who maintains a tense, albeit partially mended relationship with Batman and has been accepted as a full member of the Batman family . Todd has made several appearances as Robin and Red Hood in other forms of media outside of comics, including television series, films, and video games. The 2015 game Batman: Arkham Knight in particular reimagined Todd resurfacing with

25120-428: Was set up in the four-part story "A Death in the Family" that was published in Batman #426–429 in 1988. At the end of Batman #427, Jason was beaten by the Joker and left to die in an explosion. The inside back cover of the issue listed two 1–900 numbers that readers could call to vote for the character's death or survival. Within the 36 hours allotted for voting, the poll received 10,614 votes. The verdict in favor of

25280-419: Was the basis for a film of the same name. He wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for many years and has produced numerous novels featuring the character as well. Collins has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction . He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition (which was developed into a film in 2002), created

25440-500: Was the focus of Lee and writer Jeph Loeb 's " Hush " storyline, as a resurrected Jason. The following month's Batman #618 (October 2003) revealed that the appearance of Todd was a ruse by the villain Clayface under the direction of the Riddler and Hush. Loeb explained, "I always liked Jason, liked the idea that Batman had a Robin who died in the line of duty and how that would motivate anyone to continue their quest. It would also be

25600-449: Was to change after Robert Rodriguez made a short film based on a story from Miller's Sin City entitled " The Customer is Always Right ". Miller was pleased with the result, leading to him and Rodriguez directing a full-length film, Sin City using Miller's original comics panels as storyboards . The film was released in the U.S. on April 1, 2005. The film's success brought renewed attention to Miller's Sin City projects. Similarly,

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