#speaking of reboots does pre crisis jason have a specific age for when bruce took him in...

[robiinjason]

Have you seen the post about Jason being taken in by Bruce when he was 9 and the panels that support it? What do you think about that?

Oh I think I have! Is it this one?

I’m gonna be honest that post absolutely fries my brain kjasfhj (not the fault of op dc canon and timelines are just A Mess) but! It could be plausible and it’s an interesting concept?

I’m just gonna. Go over what's known from the comics to organize my thoughts on the matter

So I thought for the longest time he was 12 when he started out as Robin because of this panel, which is the only indication of Jason’s age within the comics themselves, other than the “5th grade dropout” comment which assumedly means he stopped going to school around the age of 10-11

(Detective Comics #571)

(Batman #410)

Also, on the issue where Jason first officially wears the Robin suit, it’s said that it’s been six months since Bruce took Jason in and started his training. So assumedly Jason’s Robin training started at the same time he was taken in, putting six months between Bruce taking him in and Jason first going out as Robin

(Batman #410) 

 We ALSO know Jason was taking care of Catherine for over a year until she died, and she seemingly died sometime in the past six months before Bruce and Jason met (I don’t know how Bruce got that specific information or if he’s just guessing because I didn’t see Jason mention when she died, unless I missed it). From Jason’s comment about school I think it can be inferred that he dropped off of school around the time he started having to take care of his mom?

(Batman #408)

(Batman #409)

And when she died, juvenile authorities wanted to put him in a state home. Since he didn’t want to go and was already used to fending for himself, he ran off and eventually got to the abandoned building Bruce first found him in

(Batman #426)

(Batman #408)

SO what I can gather from what’s presented within the comics is

Jason took care of Catherine for sometime over one year, and dropped off of 5th grade upon having to fend for himself and care for her

She then died sometime in the six months before Bruce and Jason first met

So between the timeframe of Jason having to take care of his mom and meeting Bruce, that’s around one year and a half of him fending for himself, with Catherine being dead and Jason being fully alone in the last six months or so within that time

Then he was taken in, and six months of training later he was going out as Robin for the first time

He was already Robin when he was 12

Based on that alone, I think what Could be gathered is that Jason could’ve been 10 when he dropped out of 5th grade to care for his mom, then she died when he was 11, and he was on his own for the next few months until meeting Bruce, either still at 11 or having recently turned 12. Then, six months later, he was 12 and officially donning the Robin outfit for the first time

This letter checks out with him being 12 - but the mention of the story occurring three years ago makes things?? Really confusing?? That could either mean that Jason’s origin story is set when he was 12 and present stories have him at 15, or that he’s 12 in the present time, which THEN would check out with him being 9 when Bruce took him in, but also mess up with him being a fifth grade dropout??

(Batman #413) 

 So! I don’t know where I’m going with this. Just like the original post I have no official veredict? DC timelines are a mess and I believe generally characters don’t always get a specific age, just a vague age timeframe that writers can work with, so defining Jason’s specific age might’ve not been a concern. My intention here was just figuring out more pieces of the puzzle, not debunking the possibility of Jason being taken in at 9 presented in the original post - depending on which pieces of the puzzle you choose to take as canon, it could probably go either way honestly!

Personally I stick with him being around 11 when Bruce took him in and starting out as Robin at age 12 since it makes the most sense to me and fries my brain less (i’m also disregarding the three years ago thing from the letter because it confuses me kjhfjkf), but him being taken in at 9 is also a really interesting route to take!! It’d mean he gets a few more years of being Bruce’s kid and Robin before his death which is 🥺

Other people feel free to add your thoughts or any evidence not here or in the original post that I missed! :]