I voted for Jason to…
As a part of an ongoing installment, we’ve been looking for people who voted for Jason in DC’s phone-in poll Sept. 15-16, 1988, which determined that Jason would die. Jim Zimmerman, a moderator of the Batman forum for CBR voted for Jason to live, and he graciously offered to answer our questions. He discusses it in more detail here:
1. What do you remember of the advertising for the vote?
Not much. I believe it was announced at the end of the issue and I’m pretty sure that DC told the retailers this was coming in advance. There may have been house ads in some of the other DC titles, but I really can’t remember.
2. Do you remember being influenced to vote in one way or the other? If so, how do you feel you were influenced?
Not at all.
3. How much did it cost?
I don’t remember. (Wikipedia says fifty cents)
4. Which way did you vote?
That Jason would live.
5. Why did you vote that way?
I liked Jason. I didn’t like the revamped version of the character as well as the original, but I still didn’t want him killed.
6. How old were you at the time?
37
7. What do you remember of people talking about it before and afterwards?
There was a lot of interest in it. I increased my store’s order significantly, but still sold out very quickly. I remember a lot of customers telling me they were voting for him to die. When I asked why, the comment I remember hearing a lot was, “Because Robin is a wimp.” Many of these were not regular Batman readers and I’m not sure they even realized that this wasn’t the original Robin.
8. Were you surprised at the outcome? Why or why not?
Not really, because of what I related directly above.
What about the reaction of people following his death?
Surprise and increased interest in the book, at least in the short term.
9. Anything else you’d like to add?
Don’t think so.
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Thank you so much, Jim! And just as a reminder, we’re looking for anyone who voted either way in the phone-in poll to contact us!
