Batman and Robin. There was a time in which they were completely inseparable. Ranging from the duo’s origins in 1940 until the 80s, Batman and his sidekick Robin were always together, fighting the huge selection of villains the team had. The public took to the two heroes, featuring them in animated tv shows for kids and most importantly, the 1966-68 Batman TV show which starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. After the TV shows, the public became fully aware of the dynamic duo and it was thought that the two would never be apart. But then the eighties arrived and Dick Grayson (the first Robin) got tired of wearing those ridiculous shorts and decided to quit as Batman’s sidekick and became full time in the Teen Titans, becoming their leader and changing his superhero identity to Nightwing in part three of the famous Judas Contract story (Tales of the Teen Titans 42-44 and Annual 3). After some time of being alone, Batman found his new Robin, Jason Todd, created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton in 1983. While at first his character and origin were almost completely the same as his predecessor, Crisis on Infinite Earths transformed this and in Batman 408 in 1987, his origin was retold, and he was made to be a kid with attitude and often disobeyed Batman’s commands. The relationship between the two was rocky and negative, making him different from Dick Grayson. But, when writer and artist Jim Starlin (known for creating Marvel’s Thanos and writing both the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War miniseries in the 1990s) came onto the Batman title with issue 414, he had the intent of performing the unthinkable, killing the Boy Wonder. From late 1988 to early 1989, a four-part story set in the main Batman title began, ranging from issues 426 to 429 named A Death in the Family. A vote was conducted in the comic in which the audience could phone two different numbers, one voting to keep Robin alive and one voting to kill him. The result was shown in this story, featuring one of Batman’s most notorious, evil and crazy villains and features art by great Batman artist Jim Aparo, with inks by Mike DeCarlo.
I have read this storyline in the original trade paperback released which simply
featured Batman 426-429. However, later releases of the four-part story also feature another storyline named A Lonely Place of Dying (Batman 440-442 and New Titans 60-61) written by Marv Wolfman and George Perez which introduces the third Robin, Tim Drake.
THE PLOT
On a normal day of fighting crime, Batman and Robin locate a warehouse which contains child pornography and the duo are ready to take out the thugs in the warehouse. However, Robin charges ahead, ignoring Batman’s command to stay still. The thugs are taken care off and Batman tells Robin off for ignoring his orders, in which Robin grins and ignores his comments. Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce is speaking to Alfred about Jason and his behaviour. However, Jason overhears their talks and confronts them and ends up storming out. After these events, Batman is called by Commissioner Gordon to Arkham Asylum as the Joker has escaped. In his hideout, the Joker tells one of his thugs that his assets are gone after he was arrested, but after speaking with a military contact, he now has a missile and launch vehicle which he is now planning to sell to Arab terrorists. We then go back to Jason, who is visiting his old road where he used to live and he speaks to a friend of his mother, who gives Jason a box of his personal belongings before he leaves. At this point, Batman hunts down one of Jokers own associates and discovers that he has a visa and passport for the Asian country Lebanon and that all of the others that work for the Joker have all left Gotham as well. Back to Jason, he is looking through his belongings and finds his birth certificate. On the certificate, he finds out that his mother’s name begins with an “S” and that Catherine Todd was actually his step mother. Jason then searches though he father’s diary (his father died at the hands of Two Face after he used to work for him and doubled crossed him) and finds three women with the same letter first name, those being Sharmin Rosen, Shiva Woosan and Dr Sheila Haywood. Jason thinks one of those may be his real mother and that they have changed their surname. He searches on the Bat computer to find their location before leaving to begin his search. Meanwhile, the Joker and company are on a plane to Lebanon while Jason is also on a plane to the same area. Batman gets back to the Batcave and Alfred informs him that Jason has run away and they both don’t know where he could be. Some time later, Batman locates the stolen craft that the Joker was using while Alfred has discovered that Jason had booked a flight to Israel. When then go back to Jason (now as Robin) who has broken into a military camp to find Sharmin who is an intelligence agent and he has discovered she is in Lebanon, where Batman is attempting to get information from terrorists about the missile. Batman learns the missile is being offered for sale by one of Joker’s men at the hotel where Sharmin is staying. At that same time, Jason arrives at the hotel and is surprised to see Batman there (who is in his Bruce Wayne guise). The two discuss their separate plans and missions that they are on. Realising the two are going to the same place, they arrive to the camp to find that the Joker’s missile has been sold to a terrorist and is going to be launched. Batman and Robin intervene and stop the terrorists and the missile launch is averted as Joker makes his quick escape. The duo finds Sharmin who Robin discovers isn’t his mother and the two leave. Batman decides to help Robin in his quest and to stop the Joker.
Bruce and Jason go off looking for Shiva Woosan, a freelance mercenary. However, the two discover that she was kidnapped by some terrorists and taken to an area in Bekaa Valley. Meanwhile in a famine relief camp in Ethiopia, The Joker blackmails Dr Sheila Haywood in order to get shipments of medical supplies. At the same time, Batman and Robin find Shiva Woosan and discover that she is none other than Lady Shiva (who first appeared in Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter issue 5 in 1976 by Dennis O Neil). The duo fights the mercenary and defeat her, but their efforts were in vain as she isn’t Jason’s mother and that she has never had any children. The two then go off to Ethiopia to find Sheila Haywood and when they find her, it is revealed that she is the mother of Jason Todd. Bruce leaves the two to catch up. However, their talk is ended short as she has to do her work. Jason wonders who she is working for and he finds out that person is The Joker. Dr Sheila Haywood, The Joker and his gang go off to a warehouse where it is shown that he has boxes of his laughing gas in the place of the medical supplies. Jason goes back to Bruce and tells him about Joker’s plan as the two drive away in haste towards the warehouse. However, Bruce discovers the truck that is transporting the gas and decides to catch it. He orders Jason to not enter the warehouse and fight Joker. But Jason being who he is disobeys him and goes to his mother. He reveals to his mother that he is Robin and she takes him to the warehouse, telling him Joker is gone. But she lied and the Joker is still here. Robin is outnumbered by the Joker and his thugs and they beat him to the ground. After that, Joker picks up a crowbar and beats Robin with it while his mother ignores it all. Meanwhile, Batman takes care of the laughing gas and informs the villagers about their toxicity as he heads back to the warehouse. Joker then betrays Sheila and leaves her in the warehouse with a bleeding Jason and a load of explosives. After Joker leaves, Batman nearly arrives at the warehouse and is close to it as he sees Joker drive away in a car. Jason gets up and frees his mother as they head for the door, but the door is locked and there is no way out. The explosives go off, destroying the warehouse as Batman cries “JASON!!!” and runs towards the rubble of the warehouse.
Batman searches through the rubble as he was too late to stop the explosion. He thinks about Jason and how they met and how he became Robin. He thinks about his attitude when fighting and some of the villains they fought, such as Two Face as he was the one who killed his father. After some time of searching, Batman finds Sheila Haywood, who is nearly dead, and she tells him about what happened with the Joker and that she is proud of her son. She dies. Batman looks around more and discovers Jason, who is lying there dead. Batman picks him and holds him, looking downwards sadly. Meanwhile, Joker meets with government officials and they make a mysterious deal with him. Bruce removes Jason’s body from what remains of the Robin suit, removing the links between Jason and Robin. He promises to take both of the bodies back to Gotham for burial and he then goes off to Joker’s base and discovers that his henchmen are all dead, leaving a message on the wall to Batman saying the location of where Joker wants to meet him. The funeral takes place for Jason and Sheila with a small turnout, including Bruce, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon and his daughter, Barbara, who was recently shot and crippled by The Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland. Afterwards in the Bat-Cave, Batman finds out that the location Joker wants to meet him in is the United Nations building in New York City. Batman goes to the UN building and is met by Superman, who tells that Iran has a new UN ambassador and that he won’t tell Batman who. After Batman punches Superman and badly injures himself, it is revealed then that the ambassador is actually The Joker.
A C.I.A agent speaks to Batman and Superman about The Joker’s diplomatic immunity and his ambassador title, making Joker virtually untouchable to Batman or anyone else. Batman tells Superman about Jason Todd, but he has no proof to a court of law about the murder. Batman leaves Superman and heads back to his hotel. Back at the hotel, Batman thinks about what has happened and decides to look deeper into the Joker’s real plans so he can be brought to justice. Meanwhile, Joker is preparing for a speech to the UN because of his endorsement as a UN ambassador. However, he is interrupted by Batman, who tells him to turn himself. Obviously, Joker refuses, but Batman leaves (feeling a bit satisfied that he has got confirmation from Joker about him killing Jason). Joker goes to shoot Batman, but he already disappeared and is gone. The next night, Bruce obverses the UN talks to see the Joker’s plan take shape. When Joker comes into the room, he stares at Bruce and he stares back, both looking moody before Joker walks off. The Joker begins his speech as a representative of Iran and (surprise surprise) he throws his cloak off and reveals a laughing gas gun, in which he sprays the people around him with. Suddenly, a guard destroys the gas gun and sucks up all of the laughing gas into his lungs. Joker looks completely horrified and shocked, until the guard reveals himself to Superman, who tells Batman to deal with Joker as he has to release all of the gas into a safe location. Joker then makes his escape by blowing a whole in the wall and runs out to a helicopter. As Joker gets onto the helicopter, Batman gets on as well. One of the henchmen on the helicopter fires his gun all over the place and one of the bullets kills the pilot, making the helicopter fall. Batman jumps out of the helicopter and leaves Joker in there to seemingly die. As Batman falls into the water, safely away from the crashed helicopter, Superman helps him up and demands to find the Joker’s body. However, inside Batman knows that the fight between himself and the Joker will never end.
MY THOUGHTS
Without any doubt, killing Robin was going to be a big event and because of that, he had to be killed by somebody big and well known. Therefore, the Joker was the choice and was probably the best for it. Around that time, The Killing Joke took place in which he crippled Barbara Gordon, who was once Batgirl and some years before that, Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns changed the Joker to even more a dark crazy maniac then what Dennis O Neil and Neal Adams did in the early 1970s. This and because of the great relationship of good and evil between Batman and the Joker, I believe Joker has the best choice for this story. The plot can be split into two different sections, Batman hunting down Joker as he is messing about in Asia and the other section is Jason searching for his mother. Out of the two, Jason’s quest is the better of the two as his character changes when he is searching for his mother and when he does her in, it’s the happiest Jason has ever been since his first appearance in the then new continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Batman hunting down the Joker is partly interesting, but you care more about Jason finding his mother. This leads to his death which is done so well and the way each panel is shown is dramatic and eye catching, but completely horrifying at the same time. You’ve got to remember that Jason is only a kid still and his death would ultimately do down as possibly the
cruellest crime Joker ever committed. That’s what makes it so unfortunate but superb writing when Batman has no concrete evidence at all that Joker killed him. Joker threatening Sheila by bringing up her dodgy past is great as it displays her selfishness when she just sits and watches her son being beaten to death. Parts of the story with Jason looking for his real mother are appealing as said and it is a bit of a surprise to find Lady Shiva being involved, even if she is just in it for a fight scene to pace out the story more. There are many moments in the story where Batman is with military officials and fighters in Asia, taking out terrorists. Although this does come across as strange and unrealistic to a certain degree, I feel that it works well because it shows how internationally known Batman is, which writers such as Grant Morrison are fans of clearly due to both of his Batman Incorporated runs in recent years. The appearance of Superman in the latter half of the story makes sense as Superman is one of the only people who can really calm Batman or control him. This aspect is taken by a number of future writers because it makes perfect sense and because if Batman does wrong, Superman has the power to rip him apart, even if he is as much of a coward as he normally is. Moving onto the characters, Joker and Jason are probably the best two aspects of the whole story. For Joker, its just how evil he is and how much he doesn’t care about important things to other people such as Robin and a UN speech. But with his evil touch comes his jokes and one of the best aspects that Starlin adds is even after beating up Robin with a crowbar, he always pulls jokes and always has that massive grin (with the help of Jim Aparo). Joker comes across as funny and chillingly amusing, while also being evil and one of the most horrible people in the world. Also, Joker having diplomatic immunity and being the UN ambassador to Iran is one of the most bizarre pieces of writing ever, but it is carried out very well and does make a lot of sense, particularly after killing Jason. Speaking of the devil, Jason Todd is done incredibly well too, showing that as much of a brat and unruly child he can be, he is still a hero and has good intentions as he tries to save his mother who betrayed him in the biggest way possible while he was bleeding to death. Batman holding him in his arms is one of the saddest and shocking moments of the whole story, with Batman looking down, his eyes completely invisible. Moreover, the use of absolutely no dialogue at all is excellent and really fitting for a page as impactful as that one. Batman himself is okay in the story too, even if he comes across as too calm towards the Joker, especially after he killed his sidekick. Other than that, he is just the normal Batman. However, there are some great moments in the story where is clearly looking out for Jason, even if most of those moments are after Jason is dead. Some other highlighted moments in the story would be in the beginning when Jason loses control and takes out the thugs, completely disobeying Batman. This part is good because it gives a taste to new readers of the title what Jason is like and how it leads him to his death at the end of part two of the story. Additionally, the funeral is also a good touch to be included, even if it falls short on multiple levels.
For a story that is well known and internationally loved among fans, there are so many things I think this story does wrong and many things in it that don’t feel right. Firstly, this story is full to the brim for coincidences and there are just simply too many. All of the people that Jason thinks can be his mother all have some link to the Joker’s plan. Batman is heading to Asia to deal with Joker while Jason is going to the same place to find his mother with the two not telling each other about what they are doing. The two meets by chance in a trashed town, which is ridiculous because there are so many people on the planet and in Asia and the chances of meeting each other by chance are literally nearly nothing. While there are a few more in the story, the ones I’ve mentioned are the most absurd and outright lazy I feel. Also, with the three women in Jason’s father’s diary, why the hell would he have a professional hired assassin and ninja in it (Lady Shiva). As we know, Jason’s father was a small-time crook and villain who worked for Two Face. Surely Two Face himself would have the contact for someone like that, but why would he need it? He has a mob of gangsters working for him anyway who have guns to take out most of his enemies. If Jason’s father did have the contact, surely, he would hide it in a safe location. I mean I understand he was a lackey of Two Face, but still, have some common-sense man. Relating to Shiva, what else does she do in the story apart from fight Batman? Also, Batman injecting her with something to tell the truth I thought was a bit lazy and I thought it would have been massively more interesting and realistic if Batman beat the truth out of her. This is because then it would show Batman means business and that he cares for Jason in his quest of finding his mother. As I said before, The Joker is one of the two best characters in the story and as much as I like the ambassador part of the story, how he becomes ambassador and gets all the perks with it is quite rushed and confusing. Plus, Joker is a known criminal to not just Gotham, but probably the world. He has had crimes put to him thousands of times in the past and technically he has committed a crime that he hasn’t been punished with yet, which is breaking out of Arkham Asylum in the very start of the story (the death of Jason Todd isn’t a crime known to officials, only Batman and because of that, he hasn’t got any evidence against the Joker in this case). On a smaller topic, the funeral of Jason Todd has a number of different problems. Firstly, the whole funeral should have been moved to the end of the whole story. This would work so well because the Joker wouldn’t be captured so Batman would feel even more angry at the end, knowing that Jason’s killer is still out there (his anger can be seen though in Batman 496 during the Knightfall event). Secondly, where is Nightwing in all of this? Nightwing had met Jason Todd in Batman 416 (also by Jim Starlin) and he had a respect for him. Because of that, logic says that he should be there. Thirdly and finally, Commissioner Gordon shouldn’t be there. His daughter makes sense because she was Batgirl and worked with Jason as Robin. However, James Gordon doesn’t know that Bruce was Batman and that Jason was Robin and because of that, he didn’t even know the kid so realistically he could be there. That last one was a bit of a nit-pick, but all of the other issues relating to the funeral were bigger and it didn’t make too much sense.
For someone who was drawing comics ever since the 1960s, Jim Aparo doesn’t disappoint here as his artwork looks excellent and is action packed. Aparo has a great sense of storytelling and that can clearly be seen in this story. A great moment
certainly is the splash page near the start of part three of the story where Batman is holding onto Robin’s dead body because although Batman’s face is pretty much blacked out, you can instantly tell he is sad and down because he is looking downwards and just the way it is drawn instantly gets that message across. The inks by DeCarlo are incredibly faithful to Aparo’s pencils as it keeps the sense of drama and he really embellishes the lighting that Aparo gives in the story. I will say that there are times where the inks look a little out place in certain areas and that there are instances in which people are standing sideways, which is certainly a trait of the older artists from the silver age of comics. However, the sideways looking art is done better than other artists such as Mike Sekowsky who draw characters like they are standing on walls. But overall, the art is very nice and even though Aparo has come from an era where comics weren’t violent, his art style still works well for the brutal scenes that are featured in the story.
VERDICT
Overall, Batman: A Death in the Family is above average. While there are many aspects of the plot, I think are great such as the death of Robin and characters like Robin and Joker are done excellently, I think elements of the plot are quite lazy at points or rely too heavily on coincidences. There are also some points that I think are naff and needed more development. But that all said, the story featuring Jason and his mother is very good due to the emotional factor and the betrayal mid-way through the story. It is clear that Jason Todd is clearly a highlight in this story. The art is very good as well because it works well on so many different levels, ranging from fight scenes, the brutal scenes or just characters talking. Each panel has clearly had care and love put into them for that, I think the art is very good and not too far off from perfect.
Story: 6.5/10
Art: 9.5/10
Highlighted Character: Tied between Robin (Jason Todd) and The Joker. Who would have thought the victim and the murderer would be more admired so much.
BONUS REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Although there has been a number of different Robins since 1940, The one most remembered and well known is Dick Grayson. He has certainly been the most used one in media outside of comics such as Batman: The Animated Series and even the infamous Batman and Robin movie. Dick Grayson first appeared in Detective Comics (vol 1) 38 and the issue was written by Bill Finger with art by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson. From this issue onwards, Batman is always remembered to be with a Robin, and they became the dynamic duo.
This issue can be read in loads of different books. You’d have to be rich to own the original issue, but it can be read in archive editions or omnibuses, which is how I’ve read the issue in Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus Volume 1.
THE PLOT
Mr Haly is the owner of a travelling circus that is visiting Gotham City when a group of gangsters working for Boss Zucco ask Haly to pay a fine for being in the city. Haly refuses their command and they go off promising something bad will happen to their circus. Not long after, The Flying Graysons (featuring John and Mary Grayson with their son Dick) are performing their act to a large audience, one of which in the audience is Bruce Wayne. Suddenly when John and Mary are performing without Dick, the tope snaps and they both fall to their death. This is when it is revealed that Zucco’s men were behind the murder, butchering the rope making Dick’s parents die. Dick finds out about this when he suddenly finds Batman standing behind. He offers to help Dick, so he takes him in and trains him. After the training is complete, Dick’s costume is created and he becomes Robin, The Boy Wonder. Bruce then tells Dick to search for the extortion gang by pretending to be a newsboy as the gangsters take a percentage of their money. Dick finds the location of Zucco, who is now planning to demolish a building for his own needs. Batman and Robin finds him at the site and they both take Zucco together. Zucco gets arrested for murder and Batman and Robin becomes partners to fight crime.
MY THOUGHTS
While the main plot is lacking certain details, I think this story serves very well as an origin for Robin. There is a sense of tragedy when his parents and killed and when he becomes Robin, he becomes happier and acts more like a kid sidekick. Zucco is displayed as a horrid gangster, using children to do his dirty work of collecting money from innocents. This is the first real time ever we see Batman feel sympathy because beforehand, he just tended to be very grim and miserable. However, the details missing are quite weird and almost key parts to the overall story. Firstly, Bruce just basically tells Dick that he is taking him home. To any normal person, that would seem dodgy, a millionaire playboy who lives along inviting a kid to his house to stay with him (Michael Jackson much) and not only that, surely Dick is known to be living with the circus and is legally staying with them, therefore making them after his parents’ deaths his legal guardian. Secondly, Zucco and this building site are just brought up randomly and probably used just so a fight scene that looked cool could happen. The fight could have just taken place in Zucco’s base because it would have just made more sense. Although these are quite jarring problems in terms of the story, you have to understand that back in these days of comics, the team were only focused on releasing the book on time and there wasn’t as much care and detail in the work as there is now. Therefore, we just have to accept that these mistakes were just a sign of the times. These aspects don’t impair my enjoyment of the story at all though as I still find it fun and enjoyable. The origin is sensible and because of that, the origin has never changed (unlike Jason Todd) which makes it timeless.
The art by two core Batman artists Bob Kane and inks by Jerry Robinson is great and the look they create for the title is one of the most well-known, which is no surprise at all. There are times where the art looks crude and unclear at points, but there are some great instances in the story of how Kane tells the story well. He keeps his Batman looking mysterious and draws Robin as an excitable young child, just as (continues after image)
should be in the early days of The Dark Knight. Yes, the art looks more like Kane, there are some instances in the story in where Robinson adds his own details which he is known for, such as the ears being shorter than normal and the cape looking more blue than black. As I said there are times where it is unclear, particularly in backgrounds, I think that the story looks good and the inks by Robinson add a lot into the finished art.
VERDICT
Overall, Robin’s first appearance is good and sets up the core basics to the character of Dick Grayson. We get to see his training with Bruce and see him take down the murderer of his parents. While details are missing (some of which are more important than others), it didn’t make me see the story negatively and I still enjoyed it, which is what only really matters at the end of the day. The art is classic and really defines how Batman looked in the golden age of comics, even if it is crude in certain places.
Story: 8/10
Art: 8.5/10
Highlighted Character: Robin, The Boy Wonder (Dicky Grayson)
Next Review – Batman: Hush (Batman 608-619). Written by Jeph Loeb with art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams. Expected to be published on 24/03/2019
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