All language subtitles for Slugfest s01e07 Kill Robin.eng

- NARRATOR: DC Comics had
helped usher in the new generation of writers and

that were focused
on grittier stories

that appealed to an older,
more mature audience.

Marvel titles were also
becoming more intense

as the two companies
continued to push the boundaris with racier content.

But in an attempt to engage
this edgier generation,

DC put the fate of one of
their most beloved sidekicks

into the hands
of hardcore fans.

[triumphant music playing]

Since 1940, the real identity
of Batman's trusty sidekick Robin, the Boy Wonder,

had always been
Dick Grayson.

- Dick Grayson had been a
staple of the Batman mythology

for many,
many years.

- He was the gold standard
of sidekick characters.

- NARRATOR: But beginning
in the late '60s,

DC decided to age Dick
Grayson through high school

and begin his own adventures
in the Teen Titans.

And in 1984, Dick Grayson
retired his role as Robin

to assume the new superhero
persona of Nightwing.

- MICHAEL: Robin
had grown up.

That left a void in the
Batman and Robin team.

And DC realized
that there was commercial value

in the names Batman
and Robin together.

And a new guy named Jason Todd
is introduced as Robin.

- USLAN: That was one of
the most major changes

in a major comic book
character in decades.

This was huge.

- MICHAEL: Jason originally
came from the wrong side of the streets.

Real world stories had been
becoming more commonplace.

Jason Todd was the
evolution of that mechanism.

- IVAN: Jason Todd
was introduced as a kid

who was stealing the
tires off the Batmobile.

- A young man not that
you'd necessarily want your teenage daughter to... to date.

- IVAN: He was a
jerk. He was horrible.

He was an asshole if we're
allowed to say "asshole."

And this was the character who
was going to replace Dick Grayson

who had been on TV
and a thousand comics.

- MICHAEL: Dick Grayson
was trained by Batman,

and so there was a
certain expectation

of altruism and heroism
that Robin should have.

And Jason was at least
originally kind of a bratty kid.

- He rubbed people
the wrong way.

- REED: Readers did not
really warm up to Jason Todd.

- Ugh! Jason Todd is
seriously the worst.

- Ugh! I just don't
appreciate how they forced him on us.

And then to make
him kind of a turd?

- DC realized that
he was never gonna be

a real hit character.

- [sighs] I wish he was dead.

- What's that?
- Nothing.

- So, maybe they would try
to do something about that.

[dramatic music playing]

- USLAN: The big comic
companies were always looking for that magical

where they could capture some
publicity in mainstream press.

- JENETTE: Our readers
didn't really like Jason Todd o much.

So we came up with
an idea which was,

"Should we let our readers
decide whether Jason Todd shoud live or die?"

Thumbs up or thumbs down?

- USLAN: In 1988, DC Comics
had the idea to do the story-line called,

A Death in the Family.

- We are dealing with the life
and death decision made by fans

to decide whether the
second Robin, Jason Todd,

is either killed or not killed
by the Joker.

You're given these
numbers, 900 numbers.

You pay 50 cents a call, and
you have these hours to call in.

- USLAN: And if you
called one number,

you registered kill him.

If you called another
one, it was keep him alive and keep it going.

Oh, everyone was talking
about it in every fanzine.

You would hear about it
at comic book conventions.

- KRYSTEN: Just
involving the fans

in that decision-making in
the storytelling is... is really cool.

And probably candy for the fans
to feel involved.

- USLAN: This was
the late '80s.

We had the beginnings
of the transition

into a world of what
would become social media.

And I think this is
like maybe a caveman-era attempt

to be more
interactive.

That was the new thing.

"How can you be more interactive
with your audience?"

- IVAN: DC
challenged the fans

to literally put their
money where their mouth was.

- When I wrote the script, we
had the two different, uh, versions.

It was two pages at the end
where either Robin bites the dust or he's still alive.

- JENETTE: We had both
of the story-lines completely ready to go to the printer.

- IVAN: You don't like
this character, phone lines are open.

[phones ringing]

- OPERATOR:
Thank you.

- MICHAEL: Some people I know
voted repeatedly to kill him.

I voted once, and I voted
to keep the guy alive.

- JIM: I was
banking on the fact

that my readership was so
ghoulish that they were gonna o him in.

I was quite surprised the vote
was actually as close as it was.

- PERSON: Over 10,000
votes were cast

and it as just neck and neck
up until the last half hour.

- MICHAEL: Back then we had
no idea. "Was Robin going to live?"

"Was Robin going to die? "

"You know, tune in next issue."
That's the only way you're gonna find out.

- REED: It was a
72-phone-call margin that pushd him over the edge.

And Robin got the chop.

[heavy metal music playing]

- USLAN: The old
Roman thumbs down.

They went with the
extermination of Robin at the hands of the Joker.

- REED: The way they killed
him off was disturbing

considering he
was a teenage boy.

- JIM: It was a
really gruesome scene

with multiple shots of the
Joker bringing the crowbar down.

Then blows up the
warehouse that he's in.

- Any time you get that level
of investment from the fans

shows you're doing
something right.

- DE CARLO: DC was hoping it
was gonna be a big mainstream story

that would attract
attention. And guess what?

They got their
mainstream story.

- I was opening up
the paper one day,

and there's a full page spread

of Batman holding
the dead Jason Todd Robin

in the New York Daily News
with a three or four million subscriber audience.

And ultimately, they got the
coverage that they wanted.

So it worked really,
really, really well.

- Proof that it
was not a hoax ...

we have original
un-run, alternate pages.

And I think it's the happiest
Batman you've ever seen.

- NARRATOR: Fans were
becoming increasingly passionate

about their
favorite characters,

so both Marvel and DC needed
to continue to push the envelope

to keep those
fans engaged.

- The most unusual thing I've
signed in regards to this

was a guy who snuck in a crowbar
into the convention.

Got it past security somehow and
came over and asked me to sign the crowbar.

A little bit macabre,
but also very humorous.

So I... I did get a
picture of it. [chuckles]

- NARRATOR: As for the
untimely death of the Boy Wonder...

the plan worked.

It attracted media attention
and became a bestseller for the company.

[shouting]

One thing that became clear
to everyone was that death sells,

so that meant life for DC
characters was about to get a whole lot bloodier.

- Let's kill him.

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