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The first rule of comics may very well be "anyone who dies comes back from the dead." Superman and Captain America can attest to this fact, as can Green Arrow, Green Lantern, half the Fantastic Four and most of the X-Men. Of course, any rule needs notations, and these would probably read "Exceptions: Uncle Ben does not come back. Bucky does not come back. Jason Todd does not come back."
When Dick Grayson grew too old to be the Boy Wonder any longer, Batman got a new Robin. That was Jason Todd, a tough street kid who was living by himself in Gotham's slums. Brought in and trained by Batman, Jason Todd became the second Robin, but his brash and impulsive style was increasingly at odds with what Batman was trying to teach him. Moody, reckless and violent, Jason was sidelined after a rapist he was tracking plunged to his death from his apartment balcony. Though Jason reported that the man had slipped, there was no way to know what had really happened.
Eventually, Robin was captured by the Joker, beaten nearly to death and locked in a room with a ticking bomb. Fans called a 900 number to decide whether Jason should live or die; when the deadline passed, a mere 28 votes separated life from death. Jason was buried and it was about a year later that Tim Drake showed up to become Robin, and despite a few hints or in-jokes over the years, Jason Todd has remained dead and buried. Until Batman #617.
Near the end of their blockbuster "Hush" storyline, creators Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee shocked fans when the namesake villain who had been making Batman's life hell for the better part of a year was unmasked and revealed to be the now-adult Jason Todd.
As part of their new "Hush" line of figures, DC Direct offered an exclusive Unmasked Hush through ToyFare magazine. Unlike their last ToyFare exclusive, Red Arrow, this wasn't just a simple repaint: while the body is almost exactly the same as the standard Hush figure, this one features an all-new Jason Todd headsculpt.
Jason is, understandably, a little older than the last time we saw him. His domino mask is harsh and angular, and he's got a slight smirk on his face, which suits the character. He's got a silver streak in his hair, which is okay - dying can be a pretty stressful event. You can tell at a glance that this is based on Jim Lee's artwork, which can be hard to convey in a three-dimensional sculpt, so good job, Tim Bruckner!
The costume is also obviously a Jim Lee design - it just looks like something that would have emerged from his drawing table. Overlapping armor plates for the boots, lots of straps and pouches and, of course, that tan trenchcoat. Really, it's a pretty nice costume, and the red piping on the padded black body looks pretty sharp.
6 3/4" tall, Jason will fit in with the rest of your DCD collection well. He moves at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees,
and is sculpted holding his twin pistols, though he doesn't include the interchangeable hands of the masked version.
The Hush figures all come with a display base shaped like the Batman logo. Five inches wide and 3" deep, the base is only about 3/8" thick, but looks nice beneath the figure.
The Hush figures, originally scheduled for release in May 2004, were pushed back a month. This Wizard-exclusive version, however, still met its intended release date, which meant that it was available before its mass-market counterparts. Instead of being a cool bonus, Jason Todd turned out to be a sneak preview.
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