WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Batman: The Adventures Continue #10, by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Ty Templeton, Monica Kubina and Josh Reed, on sale now.
Batman: The Adventures Continue is a digital-first comic series that follows up on the events of the DC Animated Universe's Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. In the former, Batman's sidekick Robin was Dick Grayson, while in the latter, Tim Drake was the third character to wear the Robin costume in the DC Universe. The Adventures Continue kicked off by bringing Jason Todd into the fold, the second Robin in the regular DCU. Jason was already operating in his Red Hood persona, which had readers theorizing that he did fight at Bruce's side at one time in the past.
Batman: The Adventures Continue #9 revealed that Jason was in fact the second Robin, filling the role after Dick Grayson's departure. Until recently, readers were left to guess at why Jason was no longer wearing the Robin costume. However, Batman: The Adventures Continue #10 reveals that the real reason for Todd's departure involves the Joker and a brutal encounter with the Scarecrow.
In The Adventures Continue #9, Alfred revealed how Bruce and Jason initially met. After Jason's brother was killed because of his involvement with a street gang known as the Wolves, Bruce took the young orphan in, gave him a home and started training him to become a crime-fighter. Jason proved to be rougher around the edges than Dick, and Bruce held off on making him the new Robin. Jason had no interest in being held back, so he suited up as the Boy Wonder anyway.
Now, in issue #10, the story continues. After Jason disobeys orders, he and Bruce eventually mend faces and they start operating in Gotham as the new Dynamic Duo. However, as they continue going out on patrol, Jason grows increasingly confident, dangerous and violent. After he nearly kills the Scarecrow, Bruce realizes that Jason simply isn't Robin material. Before he can do anything about it, however, Jason runs away from the Batcave.
This is where the flashbacks end in The Adventures Continue #10. Although Alfred goes on to say that while he never saw Jason again after that night, Bruce did have one last encounter with him, which he describes as "the bitterest tragedy of Batman's career."
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In the regular DC Universe, the death of Jason Todd is infamous. The young Robin was brutally killed by the Joker, and he was dead for years before he came back as the Red Hood. While The Adventures Continue #10 doesn't show exactly what happened to Jason, the character does go on to confirm that the Joker is also to blame for his apparent demise in the DCAU.
At the end of the issue, Bruce and Jason are reunited in the Wolves' old hangout. After Batman asks where he has been all these years, Jason answers: "Sorry I never wrote. You gave me up for dead right after that wild night at Joker's, so I didn't think there was much point."
Clearly, the Clown Prince of Crime is yet again to blame for what happened to Jason. In a previous issue of the comic series, we saw Jason go after the Joker, but the maniacal villain was able to get away. While it's clear that Jason was in town to get his revenge on Batman and the Joker, the precise nature of what happened between the trio is still unclear.
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