Batman (1940-2011) #427

Batman (1940-2011)

by Jim Starlin

"A Death in the Family" is a Batman comic book story arc first published in the late 1980s which gave fans the ability to influence the story through voting with a 900 number. "A Death in the Family" ran in Batman #426-429, published in 1988-1989. The story was credited to Jim Starlin (script), Jim Aparo (pencil), Mike DeCarlo (ink), Adrienne Roy (color), and John Costanza (lettering). Covers were illustrated by Mike Mignola. The story is also collected as a trade paperback under the title Batman: A Death in the Family, which has gone through multiple printings and is still available today.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Dc Comics, Comic Book

44 pages, Board book

First published December 1, 1988

About the author

James P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Death and suicide are recurring themes in Starlin's work: Personifications of Death appeared in his Captain Marvel series and in a fill-in story for Ghost Rider; Warlock commits suicide by killing his future self; and suicide is a theme in a story he plotted and drew for The Rampaging Hulk magazine.

In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974).

When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by the company itself. (

In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd, the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. For DC he created Hardcore Station.

Reviews

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This storyline is so famous for a reason, even though I’ve read this before and know what happens the suspense and fear I felt as this issue came to an end is unavoidable. It still feels like there is so much fluff and dead ends in this storyline but as it leads into Jason not only being killed by the joker in the most brutal fashion ever, but also being betrayed by the biological mother he JUST met…it hurts way worse because of all the setup. Continuing the hunt from the last issue for Jason’s biological mother, batman and Robin begin to hunt down Shiva in Beirut. And wouldn’t you know it, according to Batman’s CIA contacts she was staying at a local hotel…whose clerk happened to see her kidnapped on the street. By interrogating the local scum batman it able to find the camp of the terrorist cell that room her, and then batman and Robin are able to use their expert techniques to sneak around the camp and take everyone down without being noticed. Well noticed by no one…but one. As they get to the center tent where Shiva was supposedly held…they found it empty. Only for Robin to go down moments later and batman to turn around to face lady shiva! Come on, this is shiva we are talking about. She wouldn’t be kidnapped if she didn’t want to be, she was taken here to train these terrorists and it’s very apparent after three days she needs to work them harder. Batman tries to deescalate and ask her the question they came there to be answered, but as this is batman, Shiva wants a crack at him. The two lock into combat and Robin wakes up in time to provide an assist to batman, allowing by him to take her down. They drag all the terrorists to a ditch outside the camp, blow their munitions, and drag Shiva outside the camp while tied up. They try to ask her about any children she has had, and when she didn’t give a straight answer they decided to inject her with the truth serum batman conveniently brought with him, where they finally got the answer they were looking for and found out Jason is not her son. The two left shiva there to use her skills to break free and began to head for the final suspect. Hey at the least the prospect of Jason’s mother providing aid in Ethiopia is WAY better than the last two choices. But there is a catch, all the while the Joker, in his uncanny skin makeup and dyed hair, has made his way to Ethiopia specially searching for the same woman they are, Dr Shelia Haywood. She immediately recognizes him through the makeup, probably because of those terrifying eyes and unmistakable chin, and he reveals that he is here to blackmail her. She had to leave the states after getting her medical license revoked for illegal operations on teenage girls (wonder what that could be alluding to…) and it would be quite a shame if joker told the people she is currently working for what she did, ending her career here if she doesn’t help him steal a few truck loads of her medical supplies.

In the next chapter we see as Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd arrive at the starvation stricken camp where his potential mother lives. They made their way through the crowds and to her tent as immediately upon Bruce introducing him as Jason TODD, she recognized that name and realized who he was! It’s true, this is his biological mother and Bruce could even see the truth in their eyes. Bruce went out to give them some time to talk, she explained how she lost her medical license and the original plan was for Jason and his father to move over to England with her. But then she found out about him falling in love with another woman and she didn’t have the money or will to fight for custody as she knew it would be too rough on him. All these years her work helped her to get through it, and speaking of work she has something to attend to now and maybe Jason can help with the food dispersal while she attends to it. But Jason immediately recognizes the man she is meeting as the joker, and heads over to the tent to eavesdrop as he overhears everything about her being black mailed and joker forcing her to steal medical supplies for him. They head off to the warehouse where the supplies will be unloaded and Jason chases them on a motor bike he borrowed from another person at the camp. And this is where the horrific nature of joker is dialed up another notch, as he reveals he isn’t just stealing the medical supplies, but replacing them with trap boxes filled with laughing gas. His way of knocking out the local population a bit. How sick. Jason overhears all of this from the window and rushes back to the camp to get Bruce and explain the situation, they rush over and see the trucks coming back to the camp loaded with the trap supplies! Naturally batman pulls out his trusty bat mini copter that he conveniently takes everywhere he goes and gives chase to the trucks, leaving Jason behind. But this is Jason we are talking about and he can’t just stand around doing nothing, he heads back to the warehouse to confront his mother where he reveals he is Robin. She is surprised and seems to accept his help as she ushers him into the warehouse where joker has left. But as Robin gets inside he finds that joker was waiting for him and his mother had just betrayed him and has now even turned a gun on him! Joker wastes no time pistol whipping Jason to the ground as he begins to beat him senseless with a crowbar. It’s a horrific sight and all his REAL MOTHER can do is then away and smoke. Disgusting. Batman is able to catch up with the convoy and quickly explain to them the entire situation, which they thankfully believed after seeing a man dressed in a bat outfit come down in a mini copter. Unfortunately the copter was actually shot down as what else see you supposed to do when you see a potentially dangerous mini copter chasing your convoy, and batman commandeers a truck to race back to Jason at the warehouse. As we jump back joker is dripping in blood and Robin is passed out on the floor. Joker decides the best way to leave this situation is with no evidence at all. “What the batman doesn’t know can’t hurt me.” Because Jason’s mom is a witness they decide to tie her up and leave one of the bombs that joker naturally carries around with him everywhere. The issue comes to a stressful end with Robin struggling to get up as the mob ticks down with 2 minutes left. Batman notices Joker’s car leaving but gets a bad feeling and decides to keep heading for Jason and the warehouse regardless. The most strength Jason is able to muster he uses to untie his mother. But with 2 seconds left and the revelation the door is locked…there is no way out before the building explodes and batman arrives just in time to look on in horror.

As we come to the end of this issue: insert telephone numbers to call to let Jason live or die.

[cairo]

bro.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some character decisions in this are wack, but this was still pretty dramatic.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"But who do I help? Bruce, the man who took me off the streets and gave me a home? Or Shiva, the woman who might be my mother?" This was building up to be a heartbreaking issue, now wasn't it? And, oh boy.

Jason is nothing more than a pure ball of love and unyielding loyalty, he deserves the best the world has to give which is sadly not enough.

[☆]

"just for once, please, listen to me, jason!" et lui qui est déjà prêt à se mettre en danger, à risquer sa vie pour protéger sa mère qu'il vient tout juste de rencontrer :(( je suis abattue. "i'll save you, mom" alors qu'elle vient littéralement de le trahir 2s avant. j'ai les larmes, il est si selfless

[Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a few heartbreaking final pages! Except for that woman, she deserved it.

My main gripe so far is Batman failure as a detective. Maybe some people were too harsh on The Batman (2022)?

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Death In The Family part-2-The search for Jason Todd real mom continues with the help of Batman.

[Hammaad · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5

[Steven DeVito · Rating 5 out of 5]

favorite pages: 12, 35-37, 44 and 45

(93%)

[augustine]

slightly less number of racist lines + killing myself in front of all who voted for jason’s death

[Denim Datta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second of four issues covering the storyline "A Death in the Family".

The four issues (#426 - #429) was reprinted collectively as A Death in the Family