I've never been a big Batman reader, but this is one I own and go back to time and again. While it's not the best dialogue, the story is gripping, and still relatively contemporary. The art, on the other hand, has a throwback feel which I appreciate. ( )

I love Batman, don't get me wrong. But this is an overrated comic and certainly a product of it's time. I also just don't care for the Joker in the age of Reganomics. ( )

Batman: A Death in the Family was an amazing collection of comics full of the nerdy Batman I always loved!

Every year on my birthday I splurge a little bit and buy myself a comic book. I bought this one year ago and totally slacked on reading it and posting my review. So now is my time to shine and finally reveal my thoughts on it!

So far, this is one of my favourite series of comics in the Batman universe. Is it the best ever? No. Is it a hit or miss set of comics? Yes. But I absolutely love the artwork featured within this book. The style alone of how it was written pulls me in to the story and made me want to continue reading it. Add in the bright colours and old style comics and you have me hooked! I love retro/old style Batman, it's my aesthetic for comic books.

This set of comics was interesting because back in the day readers got to vote what happened to Robin. That little information alone makes me more interested in this book - can you imagine eagerly waiting for the next comic to know whether or not the general public agreed with you on Robin's fate? That is so intriguing to me (and the results interested me even more). Clearly I need to read the earlier comics featuring Robin to see if I can understand why his fate was so tragic.

When you look at the big picture, this was something gigantic that the DC Comics line did. The writers depended on the readers to determine a character's fate. This appears to be a strategic marketing campaign (as this comic and plot line is still famous to this day) but also very problematic. Some people like that the writers left the fate of Robin in the hands of the readers, but others are 100% against it. That sort of background to the story is what pulls me in - it's dramatic and interesting.

I find this comic series to be a little more brutal (without spoiling how the death occurs, of course). I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers (teenagers and up are my suggested audience). There is also a little bit of politics in this book as well, which might not be understood by the younger audience if they choose to read it.

I do dislike the fact that the ending to this book is given away in the title. It's a really good name, but it also ruins everything for the reader. We know what's going to happen based on the title and the cover page. I'm not sure how they could change this because it is so attention grabbing.

My other issue with this book is the plot line - it seemed like the writers rushed into the plot line as a way to simply kill Robin off. Robin is going to find his mother, magically finds her and BAM he's done for. I would have liked to see the Mother storyline expanded a little more and made it meaningful so the death did feel more powerful (especially if they are going to ruin the surprise by making the title "Death in the Family").

On a side note, I always looked up to Batman as a child. Now that I'm an adult and reading this book, I think I've changed my mind. This Batman wasn't the brightest or most helpful in the end. Alfred seemed to be so invested, but Bruce/Batman did not. I plan to pick up a few more comic books to see if this is a writer issue or simply how Bruce/Batman was meant to be in the long run.

Four out of five stars! ( )

Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, & Mike DeCarlo’s Batman: A Death in the Family collects Batman nos. 426–249. The story focuses on Batman tracking the Joker, newly escaped from Arkham Asylum, to the Middle East where the Joker hopes to find new financial assets by working with terrorists after Gotham and federal authorities seized his funds following the events of Batman: The Killing Joke. Meanwhile, Jason Todd has traveled to Lebanon looking for his birth mother after finding paperwork indicating that the woman he always thought of as his mother was in fact his step-mother. Batman had previously benched Jason as Robin due to Jason’s increasing recklessness. The title itself refers to the death of Jason Todd. He discovers that his mother is reluctantly working with the Joker due to her past, but the Joker beats Robin with a crowbar before leaving him and his mother locked in a warehouse with a bomb. Batman fails to reach them in time. Though he seeks to make the Joker pay, the Joker has a final surprise as Ayatollah Khomeini has appointed the Joker to be Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, effectively shielding Joker from his crimes under the rules of diplomatic immunity. Naturally, Batman finds a way around this, but he’s left with his guilt over the death of Robin. The events of A Death in the Family – like those of The Killing Joke – cast a long shadow over Batman’s career and set the stage for a darker tone in the post-Crisis continuity. That said, it is also very much of its time, full of 1980s references and recalling other stories like those in Batman: Tales of the Demon, which set Batman’s adventures against contemporary geopolitics. A must-read for Batman fans and one of the essential stories in any continuity. ( )

This is far more bizarre than I thought it would be, although it was written in the late 80s so I should have expected some level of camp. I just didn't expect Batman and Robin going to the Middle East and getting caught up with Joker involving himself politically with Iran. How they determined Jason Todd's fate is insane, I had no idea. I think that dampers the story, however, though they dealt much better with the aftermath in terms of how it impacted Bruce Wayne/Batman. ( )