Batman: A Death in the Family

Batman: A Death in the Family, written in the 1980s, adds an integral part of Batman lore to the overall canon: the death of Robin.  There have been several Robins over the years- check out the backstory here, if you care- but this is the only one to have died.  His name is Jason Todd, and he was the second person (after Dick Grayson) to become Batman's partner.  Batman suffers the effects of Todd's death for years afterward, in several story arcs, so this story is an essential read for those interested in the Batman mythos.

The basic plot is simple: Jason finds out his biological mother isn't the mother who raised him, and sets out to find her.  He tracks her down in Ethiopia, where she's being blackmailed into helping the Joker.  The Joker springs upon Robin and beats him nearly to death, then locks him and his mother in a wired warehouse.  It explodes; Jason dies.  The Joker seeks refuge in Iran and becomes the Iranian ambassador to the US (yes, you read that correctly), returning with diplomatic immunity.  He attempts to wreak havoc on the UN.  He is thwarted by Batman and Superman, though he escapes in the end, leaving things (as Batman admits in the final panel) unresolved, as always.

I say an essential read- note that I didn't say a good one.  I was largely disappointed by this effort, for several reasons:
1) The plot had a number of elements I found hard to believe, even for a comic world that's full of the unbelievable.  I think the best example is Joker ending up as the Iranian ambassador the the US.  Really?  I mean, really?
2) The ending was poor- Joker gets away, and Batman admits it's unresolved.  I do grow tired of that.
3) The key story element- Robin dying- happened due to a vote from DC Comics readers.  It's not inherently bad to give fans what they want, but I think the "choose your own adventure" approach is best left to the book series of the same name.  A truly good story, in my opinion, should not be based on votes from the masses, but feature a solid plot and characters developed by one (or several) writers.  To me, this is true of all media- especially television.  When you let the consumers choose, you lose control of the story, and it becomes a cash cow, milking it as long as people will partake.  Meh.

Rating: C