|
Jason Todd Era (1986-1988) |
 In the wake of
Crisis on Infinite Earths,
DC reintroduced Jason Todd as Robin. This time his personality would be considerably
different, however. He would be a juvenile delinquent who Batman first met while the kid was
stealing the wheels off the Batmobile. After an aborted attempt to place Jason in an
orphanage, Batman took him in as the new Robin. It would be an impulsive decision that Batman
would come to regret as Jason continued to defy Batman's orders.
The Joker took prominence in this era, most notably in the classic
Batman: The Killing Joke, a prestige format one-shot written by
Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland.
Bolland, who afterwards retired from interior art, had actually taken a couple of years to
complete the project. Besides an artisticly told tale of the Joker's origins and of both his
-- and perhaps Batman's -- insanity, the story featured the paralyzation of Batgirl as the
Joker stormed into James Gordon's home and shot his daughter in front of him. DC had approved
the change without much debate, perhaps understandable given Batgirl's lack of importance in
the years previous, but it would have lasting implications on the Batman franchise. In later
years, the crippled Barbara Gordon would become Oracle, and in time another Batgirl would be
introduced.
An era came to an end with "A Death in the Family," a storyline that
ran over four issues of Batman (two of them of added size) in late 1988. Jason Todd's
impulsivity, a liability with various foes, would now lead him into solo confrontation with the
Joker, newly escaped and wrapped up in international terrorism. The Joker savagely beat Robin,
leaving him in a building with a timed explosive: Batman arrived just in time to watch the
explosion. As part of a gimmick experimenting with the relatively new phenomenon of paid
telephone calls, DC had arranged two toll telephone numbers: one to vote to kill Robin and the
other to save him. From Jason's reintroduction in early 1987, the overall arc of the Batman
titles had been leading inevitably to this point, and now readers would be able to decide. DC
had two different version of Batman #428 ready to go, one showing Batman recovering
Robin's dead body and the other showing Batman recovering Robin nearly dead but alive. Either
eventuality would lead Batman to thoughts of revenge, so only a few different pages had to be
prepared.
The phone lines were given in Batman #427 and would only be open
for a few days. The calls seemed relatively even, and those in favor of saving Batman's
sidekick were in the lead for some time. A large number of calls in favor of the character's
death were made as the deadline approached, and that contingent won by a fairly narrow margin.
Their motivations became the subject of some speculation: perhaps they prefered Batman as a
vigilante fighting alone against the world, perhaps they simply disliked Jason's delinquent
character, and perhaps they simply wanted to see if DC would follow through. In any case, DC
did: Batman #427 went to press with Robin dead in the opening pages. It would be the
greatest tragedy Batman had ever experienced, and it would mark the end of the arc begun with
Robin's reintroduction in early 1987.
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| IMAGE | TITLE | DESCRIPTION | STATUS |
| Batman #401-403, 408-429:
no data entered |
| Batman #401 | participates in DC's Legends crossover; Batman battles Magpie; cover-dated November 1996 | 0 |
| Batman #402 | Batman battles a Batman-imposter | 0 |
| Batman #403 | Batman defeats his imposter; cover-dated January 1987 | 0 |
|
Batman #404-407 carried the "Batman: Year One" storyline are not a part of this era |
| Batman #408 | introduces Jason Todd, who steals the Batmobile's tires in Crime Alley; Batman captures the Joker, who shoots Robin, and the media reports that Robin is dead; Batman leaves Jason Todd with a school for boys; cover-dated June 1987 | 0 |
| Batman #409 | Batman battles Ma Gunn, who runs the school for boys where Batman left Jason Todd (in the previous issue); Batman offers Jason the job of Robin; cover-dated July 1987 | 0 |
| Batman #410 | begins six months after the previous issue; Batman, having trained Jason, takes Jason out as Robin to battle Two-Face, who briefly kidnaps Robin and escapes; Batman introduces the new Robin to Gordon | 0 |
| Batman #411 | Batman and Robin battle Two-Face | 0 |
| Batman #412 | contains the first appearance of the Mime, who Batman and Robin capture | 0 |
| Batman #413 | Batman battles a samurai in a museum | 0 |
| Batman #414 | a murderer who leaves his victims in dumpsters kills Kate Babcock, a social worker Bruce knew | 0 |
| Batman #415 | participates in DC's
Millennium crossover event; Batman battles a Gordon imposter controlled by the Manhunters; cover-dated January 1988 | 0 |
| Batman #416 | Robin meets Nightwing, who talks to Batman for the first time after being fired 18 months previously (in Batman #408) | 0 |
| Batman #417-420:
"Ten Nights of the Beast" storyline |
| Batman #417 | introduces the KGBeast | 0 |
| Batman #418 | | 0 |
| Batman #419 | | 0 |
| Batman #420 | Batman kidnaps the President, visiting Gotham, to save him; after fighting, Batman locks up the KGBeast, presumably leaving him to starve | 0 |
| Batman #421 | Batman pursues the dumpster killer (from Batman #414) | 0 |
| Batman #422 | Batman resolves the dumpster killings; Batman stops Robin from beating a pimp | 0 |
| Batman #423 | three policemen trade stories of Batman | 0 |
| Batman #424 | a killer falls to his death, leaving Batman (and us readers) to wonder if Robin pushed him | 0 |
| Batman #425 | Batman and Robin free Gordon from a junkyard | 0 |
| Batman #426-429:
"A Death in the Family" storyline |
| Batman #426 | Batman removes a reckless Jason from active duty; Gordon informs Batman of the Joker's escape; Batman and Robin track the Joker to Beirut; cover-dated December 1988 | 0 |
| Batman #427 | the Joker captures Robin, beating him savagely and planting a bomb in the building with Robin and Sheila Haywood, which explodes; no cover date | 0 |
| Batman #428 | Batman finds Jason's dead body;
Superman warns Batman not to attack the Joker, who has become Iran's ambassador to the U.N. and thus has diplomatic immunity; no cover date | 0 |
| Batman #429 | Batman battles the Joker, whose body is not recovered after his helicopter crashes;
Superman appears; cover-dated January 1989 | 0 |
Larger Version Available
| Batman: A Death in the Family | collects Batman #426-429; softcover
[REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]
| 0 |
 |
DETECTIVE COMICS
| |
|
| Detective Comics #568-570, 572-574, 579-594:
no data entered |
| Detective Comics #568 | participates in DC's Legends crossover; Batman battles the Joker | 0 |
| Detective Comics #569 | Batman battles Catwoman and the Joker | 0 |
| Detective Comics #570 | Batman battles Catwoman and the Joker | 0 |
| Detective Comics #571 | Batman and Robin battle the Scarecrow; Jason Todd's worst fear is revealed to be failing Batman, while Batman's is revealed to be Jason dying (foreshaddowing his later death); Mike W. Barr script; Alan Davis and Paul Neary art | 0 |
| Detective Comics #572 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #573 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #574 | | 0 |
|
Detective Comics #575-578 carried the "Batman: Year Two" storyline are not a part of this era |
| Detective Comics #579 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #580 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #581 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #582 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #583 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #584 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #585 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #586 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #587 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #588 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #589 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #590 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #591 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #592 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #593 | | 0 |
| Detective Comics #594 | | 0 |
|
MISCELLANEOUS
| |
|
| Batman: The Killing Joke | the Joker shoots Batgirl, paralysing her, and kidnaps James Gordon, torturing him in an abandoned amusement park before Batman captures him;
Alan Moore script; beautiful Brian Bolland art and cover; 48 pages; prestige format | 0 |
