It looks like being Red Hood as a heartbreaking confession from Jason Todd reveals that his time as the Boy Wonder failed to give him the meaning he desperately needed as a young man.
After Dick Grayson parted ways with Batman, he left behind a void that was eventually filled by Jason. The Dark Knight first met the street tough after Jason was caught trying to steal tires from the Batmobile. Batman tried putting him on a path to a better life by making him the new Robin. Unfortunately for Jason Todd, his time as Robin was much more difficult than Dick's tenure had been. Jason's anger issues and anti-authoritarian behavior caused constant conflict between him and Bruce. And nothing captures how bad things got for Jason than his infamous run-in with the Joker during "Death of the Family" where the villain killed the young man in his prime.
Things were certainly hard for the second Robin and it turns out that Jason is the first one to it it. In Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 by Scott Lobdell and Dwayne Turner, Jason narrates his life right from the beginning. The future Red Hood discusses his parents and the unfortunate circumstances that brought them together. Despite the child they have together, it's clear that the Jason's parents aren't right for one another. But Jason still comes into the world and while he's still in the safety and security of an incubator, Red Hood describes it as "hands down—the happiest day of my life."
Considering the things young Jason would witness in his childhood, this is pretty understandable. Jason witnessed his parents' fighting and he details the pain he felt watching his mother slide into depression and drug use. Jason Todd's origin story is steeped in tragedy, but what makes it even sadder is that he considers his happiest moment the first day he was alive. For Jason, none of the adventures and adrenaline he experienced firsthand as Robin can compare to the blissful ignorance of being an infant.
This is a pretty stunning confession. For someone like Dick, being Robin was one of the high points of his life. It gave him a new path after his life took a tragic turn and helped him become an involved member in the young superhero community. But Jason never got that experience. Jason Todd's time as Robin was a frustrating experience for him. He was constantly stacked up against someone considered the gold standard of sidekicks. Batman set his expectations much too high for Jason and failed to realize that Jason had different needs than Dick did. It's no wonder Todd considers infancy one of his happiest moments. It was a time where he wasn't aware of the disappointment his future parental figures would bring him. Being a sidekick didn't give Red Hood the validation he needed and it may have been better if Jason had never been Robin at all.
