Episode 1764
A Death in the Family (comics)
Fri, 2022-Mar-04 01:10 UTC
Length - 3:33
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Friday, 4 March 2022 is A Death in the Family (comics).
"A Death in the Family" is a 1988 storyline in the American comic book Batman, published by DC Comics. It was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Jim Aparo, with cover art by Mike Mignola. Serialized in Batman #426–429 from August to November 1988, "A Death in the Family" is considered one of the most important Batman stories for featuring the death of his sidekick Robin at the hands of his archenemy, the Joker.
Jason Todd, the second character to assume the Robin persona, was introduced in 1983 to replace Dick Grayson, who was unavailable for use at the time. Todd became unpopular among readers after 1986, as writers began to characterize him as rebellious and impulsive. Editor Dennis O'Neil was considering having Todd revamped or written out of Batman when he recalled a 1982 Saturday Night Live sketch in which Eddie Murphy encouraged viewers to call the show if they wanted him to boil a lobster on air. Inspired to orchestrate a similar stunt, DC set up a 900 number voting system to allow fans to decide Todd's fate.
"A Death in the Family" begins when Batman relieves Todd of his crime-fighting duties. Todd travels to the Middle East to find his biological mother, but is kidnapped and tortured by the Joker. Batman #427 ends with the Joker blowing Todd up in a warehouse. Starlin and Aparo prepared two versions of the following issue: one that would be published if readers voted to have Todd survive, and another if he was to be killed. A narrow majority voted in favor of the latter, and Batman #428 features Batman discovering Todd's lifeless body in the warehouse ruins. The storyline ends when Batman and Superman stop the Joker from killing the United Nations General Assembly.
The story was controversial and widely publicized; despite Todd's unpopularity, DC faced backlash for the decision to kill one of its most iconic characters. Todd's demise had a lasting effect on Batman stories, Batman's failure to save him pushing the comic book mythos in a darker direction. Tim Drake succeeded Todd as Robin in 1989, and Todd was resurrected as the Red Hood in the "Under the Hood" (2004–2006) storyline. "A Death in the Family" remains a popular story among readers and has been reprinted in trade paperback form since its initial publication. Plot elements have been incorporated into Batman films, television series, and video games. An animated interactive film adaptation, Batman: Death in the Family, was released in 2020.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:10 UTC on Friday, 4 March 2022.
For the full current version of the article, see A Death in the Family (comics) on Wikipedia.
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This has been Justin Neural. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
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