Robin appeared in Batman comic books from 1940 to 1989.
`` A Death in the Family '' is a four-issue Batman comic book story arc first published by DC Comics in Batman # 426-429 from 1988 - 1989 , which gave fans the ability to influence a critical plot point through voting with a 900 number , which would determine whether Jason Todd , the second person to assume the mantle of Batman 's sidekick Robin , survived a bomb . Robin (comics) . Robin made regular appearances in Batman related comic books and other DC Comics publications from 1940 through the early 1980s until the character set aside the Robin identity and became the independent superhero Nightwing . The character 's second incarnation Jason Todd debuted in Batman # 357 ( 1983 ) . This Robin made regular appearances in Batman related comic books until 1988 , when the character was murdered by the Joker in the storyline `` A Death in the Family '' ( 1989 ) .