A Death in the Family

[The Dark Knight]

The story getting there is poor, but Jason's death is appropriate as a wake up call. Death can come for them at any moment. Heading out for nights on end without incident is likely to develop complacency. O'Neil's own opinion was that Batman either retired at 40 years old or died on the job. It's fair to apply that same logic to a Robin, who should be less competent than their mentor. The cold hard reality is that the villains want them dead in every incarnation of the franchise, be it Adam West or Michael Keaton. It just takes one moment to slip up. You're left in that one deathtrap you can't escape and it's game over. Jason's demise being excessive is part of the shock factor violation. It had never happened before, so when it did it was big and ugly. The Joker, via the writers, got his money's worth. 

[The Laughing Fish]

DC is re-releasing Batman #428, only this time with alternate ending of Jason surviving. #428 was the third chapter of the entire story arc.

https://aiptcomics.com/2023/10/14/a-death-in-the-family-batman-dc-comics/

They promise to reveal material never seen before, but if it's the one alternate ending page to Batman expressing relief as Jason breathes in his arms, then it will be false advertising.

[thecolorsblend]

DC has always been very guarded about the alternate Batman #428. They've shown Batman discovering Jason's body but nothing else.

There would be differences tho. Page 15 (of the existing version) clearly shows two coffins. Plus, you'd think that if Jason survived the bombing, there would be at least one page that shows Jason recovering in the hospital.

Plus, the text that refers to Jason's death would obviously be different as well.

So, all in all, I surmise that the alternate Batman #428 will probably show a lot of differences from the existing version.

Anybody else taking bets that the yellow oval will be removed from the alternate Batman #428? No idea why DC despises the yellow oval so much. But obviously, someone hates it.

[Slash Man]

As someone who never buys floppies, like ever, the recent wave of facsimile comics has really tempted me to build up that collection. More so I feel tempted to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to the content I support versus don't support. There's a decent amount of work that goes into reproducing a classic comic, ads and all. I'm sure finishing this particular issue was no small task.

Anybody else taking bets that the yellow oval will be removed from the alternate Batman #428? No idea why DC despises the yellow oval so much. But obviously, someone hates it.

If there's historical revisionism involved then it won't authentically be the lost comic. Have there been other examples of it being edited out besides The Killing Joke?

[Slash Man]

https://www.dc.com/blog/2024/04/03/from-the-dc-vault-death-in-the-family-robin-lives-1-what-happens-after-jason-todd-survives-his-encounter-with-the-joker

We're getting a continuation of the lost comic in a four-part miniseries.

This is a great concept; some of the wrongful criticism of the alternate ending of #428 is that not enough was changed (the point was just to release the comic as it would have been). So this presents a deeper dive into that alternate timeline, which is essentially what Batman '89 set out to do as well.

Everything looks good so far; J.M. DeMatteis and Rick Leonardi are old pros that were around well before the original Death in the Family arc, with prior Batman experience to boot. 1988 doesn't seem like that long ago, but we're well past three decades.

As I'm always the skeptic, the one burning question is "where's Jim Starlin?" I'm not up to date on his personal life, but I don't believe he's retired yet. I was wondering why Mike Mignola was only on the variant cover, but that question was quickly answered.

My first choice for art probably would have been Graham Nolan after Jim Aparo sadly is not with us anymore. My reasoning is that of the many artists collaborating for Knightfall, In felt the best sense of continuity between Nolan and Aparo's art. That being said, Rick Leonardi already has some work in the examples they've provided (including an amazing cover).

Hope they have a TPB collection that includes the alternate #428. Every comic shop I went to was either sold out or didn't carry it. Wasn't about to go out of my way for a single issue.

[The Joker]

Hope they have a TPB collection that includes the alternate #428. Every comic shop I went to was either sold out or didn't carry it. Wasn't about to go out of my way for a single issue.

I had to settle for a 2nd printing, but yeah, hopefully the trade includes that alt #428 as well. It would make all the sense in the world to include it.

[thecolorsblend]

As I'm always the skeptic, the one burning question is "where's Jim Starlin?" I'm not up to date on his personal life, but I don't believe he's retired yet

My understanding is that the Batman office and Starlin parted ways on some pretty bad terms with each other shortly after ADITF. Starlin mentioned some of that stuff in an interview at some point or another.

And I got the idea that at least on Starlin's side, those wounds went DEEP. Because apparently, and among other things, he had TONS of story ideas for where Batman could go following Jason's death. But after getting chased out of the Bat office, I got the idea that something broke inside of him.

Not to speak ill of the dead. But while Denny O'Neil did a LOT of good for Batman in his time, it sure looks like he left quite a lot of damage in his wake. The people who loved him back then seem to be loyal to this very day. But others, like Starlin (plus Alan Grant and somewhat Norm Breyfogle) had grudges that were never truly resolved.

My first choice for art probably would have been Graham Nolan

Understandable. But Graham Nolan is probably persona non grata at DC these days. For that matter, you may as well add Chuck Dixon to that list too. Because anybody even remotely associated with Comicsgate (as Nolan and Dixon are) will probably never find mainstream comics work ever again.

And it's a crying shame too because creators like Dixon and Nolan don't exactly grow on trees. Bane didn't create himself, after all.

Also, at the rate things are going, it's probably just a matter of time until Kelley Jones gives up the pretense and announces that he's also Comicsgate through and through. He's been sympathetic enough to their cause that he may as well end the charade.

And anyway, Dixon and Nolan have both found plenty of lucrative Comicsgate work. Frankly, DC needs them a hell of a lot more than they need DC. I'm just describing the situation on the ground.