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Anne's Reviews > Batman: A Death in the Family

Batman by Jim Starlin
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bookshelves: kindle-app, prime-reading, comics, classics, graphic-novels, read-in-2019

Finally!
I've been wanting to read this one forever, but I've never been able to find it anywhere (free). But Amazon has kindly included it in their Prime reading section, so I snatched it up and here we are.
Ok, while I did know the basic gist of the story, there were several surprises in here that made it well worth reading, especially since I'm a big fan of Red Hood.

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Readers actually paid (50 cents) to kill off Jason Todd!
Wow. The hatred was real.
I knew they voted him off, I just didn't realize they had to fork over money for the privilege. Ok, well more likely, they had to ask their parents if they would let them call a 900 number. But I remember landline phones, long-distance telephone numbers, and how parents felt about paying for calls they didn't make.
Kids today have no idea how brutal the Dark Ages were.
Plus, there was such a small window of time to make the call to save/kill The Toddster.
Dedication, thy name is Comic Fan.

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However, after reading this, I can see why Jason lost his little cartoon life.
The kid was annoying.

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Still...ouch.

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I think most people will agree that the crowbar has become a pretty iconic part of Red Hood's origin story. But what's been forgotten was the last few panels of that page.
You know, the part where it was actually his fucking birth mother who turned him over to the Joker.
Holy Twat Tacos, Batman!

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Ok, Batman notices that Jason is a bit out of control, so he attempts to bench him and get him some help. Jason simultaneously tells Bruce to piss off and begins an ill-fated search for this real mother. <--these things rarely end well
Meanwhile, Batman goes off in search of Joker, who is attempting to sell weapons to some bad guys in the Middle East.
At some point, the two meet, team up, and discover which one of Jason's Maybe Moms is the one who pushed him out of her womb.

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Oh, Jason.
Another surprise (for me) was that Joker blackmailed his mother (Dr. Shelia Haywood) into turning Jason over to him with the threat of exposing her part in an illegal abortion that caused the death of a teenage girl. The fact that she was painted as evil for performing abortions seemed really weird and dated to me. I mean, she was also embezzling from the refugee camp she was working in, but even that doesn't seem like the level of villainy needed to have a smoke while your son is getting beaten to death by a psycho. Robin's Mom & her actions were off-putting and strange, and I actually agree with the subsequent writers who decided to gloss over that whole part of the story. Good riddance to Dr. Haywood.

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The big questions of the day were, of course, whether or not Batman shows up in time to save Jason, or whether or not Jason survives the bomb going off.
Well, we all know how it turned out.
R.I.P., Jason Todd - world's douchiest Robin.
2006 - Enter Winnick's Under the Red Hood & one of DC's best anti-heroes.

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Another thing I loved was the alternate ending panel. Batman is smiling?! That's worth the price of admission, right there.

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But wait! There's more!
I'm sure you're all wondering why the hell Batman didn't just go after the Joker and kill the fuck out of him. Right?
Welcome to the second part of this wacko story:

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The old diplomatic immunity trope.

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Superman (ever the government stooge) stops Bruce from going after Iran's newest ambassador.
I can't even...

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Anyhoo.
The truth is that I thought the story itself was kind of stupid, and it doesn't really hold up over the years - if it ever did. Just sort of felt slapped together and weird. But it's become a linchpin in not only Red Hood's origin story but Batman's, as well. Yeah, it's dumb, but you really need to see this shit for yourself.
Required Reading for Batfans.

PS- In the edition I had, it included a whole bunch of issues that had the introduction of Tim Drake and (maybe) some other stuff. I was struggling to finish the main story, so this was a definite no-go for me. I skimmed it and I skipped it. But for those of you who are interested..?
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Reading Progress

November 24, 2009 – Shelved
July 28, 2019 – Started Reading
August 16, 2019 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-45 of 45 (45 new)

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message 1: by Dan (new) - rated it 3 stars

Dan I happily paid .50 to kill Robin.

Then I felt guilty when I saw the results of the vote on the news. (Yes, this was covered on network and cable news!) I think I just voted to kill him because I didn't think they'd really go through with it.


Anne OMG! You're a MONSTER!
Hahaha! Just kidding. I would have done the same thing in your shoes. Plus, we got Red Hood out of it.


message 3: by David Cordero (new)

David Cordero Great review. I agree that the story hasn鈥檛 aged well but the art is pretty awesome. If it wasn鈥檛 for Jim Aparo I鈥檒l probably give this two stars.


Pete I've recently just read this too. And I felt exactly the same as you.


message 5: by Dan (new) - rated it 3 stars

Dan Anne wrote: "OMG! You're a MONSTER!
Hahaha! Just kidding. I would have done the same thing in your shoes. Plus, we got Red Hood out of it."


Yeah, ya know....I struggle with my monsterhood. I may have even voted to kill him more than once.....I remember giving my Aunt a few bucks to cover the calls.

I have this collection in my stacks, so I'm not sure if/how it holds up, but regardless, I'll always consider Jim Aparo to be THE Batman artist. I freakin' LOVE his work on the Batman titles.


Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan Jim Starlin is the king of Marvel Cosmic titles, but he never understood Batman and this was just made to cash in a check and nothing more. The Cult has some good religion bashing and some interesting ideas about the use of poverty by populism, but Batman acts completely out of character. And the KGB-beast saga...shit, simply put. If only DC had let him do with the bats what was known for in Captain Marvel and Warlock. A.K.A time travel and personal philosophy mixed with LSD space imagery it would have produced a milestone of the medium for eons and eons to come, instead we got a stilted robot on one side and a stupid government puppet (superman) in the other.


message 7: by Jason (new)

Jason Donoghue Never got into batman, just a spoiled rich kid with a weird thing for bats.


message 8: by Nikki (new)

Nikki The worst part is, it wasn't a bunch of different fans calling to kill him. One fan in particular really hated Jason and set up his computer to call over three hundred times to kill him.




Anne David Cordero wrote: "Great review. I agree that the story hasn鈥檛 aged well but the art is pretty awesome. If it wasn鈥檛 for Jim Aparo I鈥檒l probably give this two stars."

Tha facial expressions were spot-on.


message 10: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Pete wrote: "I've recently just read this too. And I felt exactly the same as you."

Crazy, right? I was thinking it was just a Joker vs Robin thing. I never realized it was tied to arms sales or a search for Todd's bio-mom!


message 11: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Nick wrote: "The worst part is, it wasn't a bunch of different fans calling to kill him. One fan in particular really hated Jason and set up his computer to call over three hundred times to kill him.

..."


WHOA! That's hilarious!


message 12: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Jason wrote: "Never got into batman, just a spoiled rich kid with a weird thing for bats."

Moon Knight is my Batman.


message 13: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Dan wrote: "Yeah, ya know....I struggle with my monsterhood. I may have even voted to kill him more than once.....I remember giving my Aunt a few bucks to cover the calls.

I have this collection in my stacks, so I'm not sure if/how it holds up, but regardless, I'll always consider Jim Aparo to be THE Batman artist. I freakin' LOVE his work on the Batman titles."


Yeah, the art was surprisingly good. The colors were what really dated it, but that can't be helped. I think it holds up quite well.


message 14: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Doctor wrote: "Jim Starlin is the king of Marvel Cosmic titles, but he never understood Batman and this was just made to cash in a check and nothing more. The Cult has some good religion bashing and some interest..."

Batman in Space sounds terrible. I think you're right about Starlin being the king of cosmic, though. I've enjoyed some of his older stuff in that genre quite a lot.


message 15: by Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan (last edited Aug 17, 2019 08:10AM) (new) - rated it 1 star

Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan I strongly disagree about Batman in space sounding terrible :-) The Batman from the Planet X is a classic for a good reason, there is not limit to what you can do with these characters since they're not real people. That is why Silver Age rules 馃挅 馃挅 馃挅


message 16: by Dan (new) - rated it 3 stars

Dan Nick wrote: "The worst part is, it wasn't a bunch of different fans calling to kill him. One fan in particular really hated Jason and set up his computer to call over three hundred times to kill him.

..."


I'm not sure that I buy this story, as much as I'd like to. I vividly remember the news stories, and there were not over 10,000 calls made....I think it was more like 2,000-3,000, and Denny O'Neill, the Editor cited in the story, has been wracked with guilt for decades over his part in the "murder". He went along with it assuming that fans would save Robin. So it might be a way to assuage a guilty conscience to blame it on some mystery person who made 350 calls. I think history has greatly inflated the numbers of voters, and I'm not even sure if this computer-programmed-to-call would even have been possible in 1988.


message 17: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Doctor wrote: "I strongly disagree about Batman in space sounding terrible :-) The Batman from the Planet X is a classic for a good reason, there is not limit to what you can do with these characters since they'r..."

Get out of here with your silver age rules! ;)
Although, I suppose even opinions that aren't mine do count just as much...lol
I honestly haven't read Batman from Planet X, so I can't actually disagree with that. How do you like all the different Batmen that Snyder has in the Metal stuff?


message 18: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Dan wrote: "I'm not sure that I buy this story, as much as I'd like to. I vividly remember the news stories, and there were not over 10,000 calls made....I think it was more like 2,000-3,000, and Denny O'Neill, the Editor cited in the story, has been wracked with guilt for decades over his part in the "murder". He went along with it assuming that fans would save Robin. So it might be a way to assuage a guilty conscience to blame it on some mystery person who made 350 calls. I think history has greatly inflated the numbers of voters, and I'm not even sure if this computer-programmed-to-call would even have been possible in 1988."

I wondered about that, too. If he did, then he was leaps and bounds above the regular person, at that point. I still couldn't do something like that with my computer. I mean personal computers weren't much of a thing in '88. I still remember all of my friends getting the big gift of a word processor instead of a typewriter when they went to college and that was mid-90's


message 19: by Anne (last edited Aug 18, 2019 07:11AM) (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Oh, oh! Does anyone else remember being blown away that you could talk to someone from another part of the country/world in a 'chat room'? Bahahahaha!


message 20: by Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan (last edited Aug 18, 2019 07:38AM) (new) - rated it 1 star

Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan I have not read it yet. Well, it's easy to read the Batman from Planet X, just grab a copy of The Black Casebook by Grant Morrison and you'll find it, together with the human monstruosity that dwells in Robin Dies at Dawn. Or, you can watch the episode The Super Batman from Planet X! of the Brave and The Bold Series, even if it differs a little from the comic. Zur-En-Arrrh is awesome.


message 21: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne I LOVE the Bold and Brave series! I may do just that, Doctor...


message 22: by Dan (new) - rated it 3 stars

Dan Anne wrote: "Dan wrote: "I'm not sure that I buy this story, as much as I'd like to. I vividly remember the news stories, and there were not over 10,000 calls made....I think it was more like 2,000-3,000, and D..."

Anyway, I don't recall DC having a "One call per household" caveat on the voting, so...even if it IS true, which I doubt, the guy was certainly allowed to call as much as he wanted.


message 23: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Brave and Bold not Bold and Brave. lmao


message 24: by Dan (new) - rated it 3 stars

Dan Doctor wrote: "I have not read it yet. Well, it's easy to read the Batman from Planet X, just grab a copy of The Black Casebook by Grant Morrison and you'll find it, together with the human monstruosity that dwel..."

I just read the first two Omnibus editions of Morrison's Batman, and that prompted me to seek out THE BLACK CASEBOOK, which seems to be out of print and fetching high prices. High enough for me to pass, at least.


message 25: by Anne (last edited Aug 18, 2019 07:53AM) (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Unbelievably, they have The Black Casebook at my library. I just put it on hold!


message 26: by Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan (last edited Aug 18, 2019 08:39AM) (new) - rated it 1 star

Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan Really? that's strange. They almost gave it to me as a free gift a year or so ago in a comics fair :O


message 27: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Oooh. Ok, I'm curious now.


message 28: by Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan (last edited Aug 18, 2019 12:05PM) (new) - rated it 1 star

Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan Seems you're right, Dan. On ebay it currently sell for 35 to 45 euros. It's insane!


message 29: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Wow. I better read it before some scumbag steals it from the library, then. lol


Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan Maybe it can convert you too to the Silver Age :-D beware of the effects of Robin Dies at Dawn, it seems innocent but I can assure it stings. At least it is what it did to me. It's beautiful, but it is really frightening.


message 31: by Chad (new)

Chad I deposited my 50 cents towards killing off Jason Todd. I hated that little brat.


message 32: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Doctor wrote: "Maybe it can convert you too to the Silver Age :-D beware of the effects of Robin Dies at Dawn, it seems innocent but I can assure it stings. At least it is what it did to me. It's beautiful, but i..."

Jesus! You're scaring me!


message 33: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Chad wrote: "I deposited my 50 cents towards killing off Jason Todd. I hated that little brat."

Chad?! No! You seem so sweet! lol


message 34: by Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan (last edited Aug 20, 2019 05:16AM) (new) - rated it 1 star

Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan I don't know how to post gifs here, so I'll put this link instead.

Silver age comics are a drug that once you taste you cannot stop eating or searching...


message 35: by Chad (new)

Chad Doctor wrote: "I don't know how to post gifs here, so I'll put this link instead. "

You do it like this < img src="url to gif"> Just remove the space before img.


message 36: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne I can do it one issue at a time.

And that gif of Crazy-Tom laughing...hahahahaha!


message 37: by Jeff (new)

Jeff So you could do more than get a "date" with the 900 phone numbers?


message 38: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Apparently. Are 900 numbers still a thing? Anybody? Can you still call a 900 number and wank it to some dirty talk?


message 39: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne YES! Yes, they are alive and well.



Eddie I was in in my twenties, freshly married. I thought dealing with Jason this way was asking for trouble. The hate was real. To kill him would just lazy and mean. But I did not call to save him. I always thought this was the start of the "dark times."


message 41: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne Hahaha! The Dark Times. I can see that. The whole thing - from the 900 number to all the different reasons they decided to do this - just makes for a great story when it's all said and done.


message 42: by Zebulynn (new)

Zebulynn Hanson download the Libby app. it's an online library where you can check out books.


message 43: by Anne (new) - rated it 3 stars

Anne I use Libby all the time! I was using it today to listen to an audiobook. Have you tried Hoopla? It's a library app that really caters to comic books. <--ebooks, music, movies, too.


message 44: by Zebulynn (new)

Zebulynn Hanson just caught up on walking dead with hoopla


message 45: by Ronald (new)

Ronald Yup, story made no dang sense as was the custom of the time. I was reading some of my old single issues with old Jason Todd and it quickly became obvious why the fans voted the way they did. Todd was a horrible character.


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