I agree 120%! Jason Todd is the reason I started collecting comics back in 1989. I thought that Jason's troubles, and the way his death led to Batman's descent into his own psychotic tendencies was pure joy to read! I felt like I was growing up with these characters, the irony, of course, was that one character had to die in order for me to fully embrace the world of all these other characters.
Jason was the fallen angel. He was this beautiful, talented boy, who had a fierce streak and was a shadow representation of Batman's own darkness. He was shady in a way that Dick never was. In a way, Jason represented the dark half of the Robin persona. That dark half would later be integrated with the Dick Grayson's lighter side by Tim Drake, who represents all the things that Robin should be. Truthfully, as much as I sympathized with Tim's struggles, I never really cared for him as much as I did for Jason. Maybe because Jason's story is so much more primal, and tragic.
I also see Jason as a throwback to the tragic Greek heroes, like Achilles, who relished battle more than anything else, and died young because of his blood lust and his own delusions of immortalilty. There is something very archetypical in Jason's story and character, one that goes beyond the ordinary archetypes found in the other heroes or villains. He is the piece of the puzzle that doesn't quite fit, but belongs somehow just by nature of its existence. It's as if fate played a cruel trick on Jason's soul, making him die because of his need to feel loved, only to be resurrected and make him hate the people who he sought approval from. He's a spirit that cannot rest and refuses to leave earth in order to make everyone pay for not giving him the guidance he needed. I can't say enough about Jason, but I think that he ulitmately speaks to all of our unspoken and spoken needs of love and acceptance; and the rage, anger, confusion, and loss that we feel when that love is not found.
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