Batman: A death in the family - Review

The reason for the making of this comic is quite diabolical really. A poll was passed asking fans to choose one of two options. Should Robin die or should he live? After thousands of votes 51% agreed that the character should die off due to the decline in his popularity among comic book readers. This faint difference in votes lead to the birth of "Batman Death in the Family". This comic focuses around the second boy wonder; Jason Todd. His search for his long forgotten mother who he previously believed to be dead, his dreadful encounter with the maniacal Joker and what transpired after.

Jason scours the earth to find his biological mother without the consent of Batman. Batman then follows the trails left by Jason finally bringing him to the Sahara Desert. After 2 failed attempts Jason finally locates his biological mother. Shortly after he realizes the grim truth that his mother is in fact working with the Joker along with other non-state actors of the local area in the drive to supply the Joker with a nuclear bomb. Joker being aware of the fact that Jason Todd is related to this woman takes advantage of the situation.

He sets up a trap where Jason is supposed to meet with his mother. Joker intervenes the meeting and then proceeds to brutally hit Jason with a crow bar and then shortly afterwards ignite and blow up the hut that they were in and make his escape. Batman arrived a matter of seconds later only to find Jason - The boy wonder wrapped around his mother, dead on the floor.

Many would think that this ending to Jason Todd was brutal. It was. Although it helped bring out a new even more radical character - The Red Hood (Jason Todd after his reincarnation by one of Ra's Al Ghuls Lazarus Pits). There exists little to no regret by the readers and The Death in the Family goes down as one of the most iconic Batman comics ever.