- Title: Batman: The Adventures Continue #9
- Comic Vine: link
- Writers: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini
- Artist: Ty Templeton
The tale of Jason Todd begins here. Batman‘s second partner was skipped over in the Batman: The Animated Series run which featured Dick Grayson in the role at the series outset and Tim Drake in the relaunch of the show. Todd was a controversial character in comics, likely why the series chose to ignore him, but after teasing us with the character lurking in the shadows for several issues Batman: The Adventures Continue #9 finally gets things started when Todd’s stakeout of the Joker ends poorly leaving evidence for Batman to discover that his fallen protege has returned (although no word yet on how the comic will explain those events).
Looks like the surprise of Todd’s return has been ruined, but we still don’t know what his larger plans are (other than some revenge against the Joker). Along with Batman’s discovery and the early action of Todd evading attacks from the Joker’s minion, much of the comic is focused on Todd’s backstory allowing Alfred to teach Tim about his predecessor and giving fans the first appearance of Jason Todd as Robin in the DCAU.
[DC, $.99]