Jason Todd was killed in 1988 by a telephone poll of the fans. That sounds fake, but it really happened. He’d been Robin for only five years.
The arc was called A Death In The Family. The second issue of the four-issue arc ended on a cliffhanger: Robin, tied up in a warehouse with a bomb. The back pages of the issue included a 1-900 number inviting fans to call within a 36-hour window to vote: should Robin live or die?
For those not in the know, 900 numbers are set up for premium charges. DC Comics must have made bank: a little over ten thousand votes were placed.
Rumor had it that someone with autodial, a grudge against the new Robin, and money to burn placed over a hundred votes for ‘Die’. If that’s true, then that one anti-fan could be said to have single-handedly killed Robin. Jason’s fate was sealed by a margin of 72 votes.
When Jason came back from the dead, he seemed to know he’d been murdered by his fanbase. He was angry at everyone - including the readers! - and he survived the next several years of rough treatment in comics out of sheer spite. I couldn’t help but be charmed.
A Robin binder may be purchased in Superhero Binders. If someone buys a Tim Drake version, the resulting essay will be voluminous.