The Death Comic Book Fans Made Happen

22 years ago, comic book history was made. Sick of the direction the Batman series was headed in and the lukewarm reception of the second Robin, Jason Todd, DC comics Editor Denny O’Neil decided to leave his fate to the fans, either signaling the beginning of a new era in the series, as the “Caped Crusader” would have no sidekick, or affirming that the second “Boy Wonder” had a place in the DC universe after all.

On September 16, 10, 614 fans called a number provided by DC to determine Todd’s fate. 5, 343 readers called in for a change back to the Batman of old.

The one, without a sidekick.

In the words of O’Neil, “Hail and farewell Jason Todd.”

Chronicled in the “Batman: A Death in the Family” trade paperback, this four-issue mini-series is a must own, not because of Todd’s death alone, but for the way it occurred.

Still adhering to the Comic Code, DC nevertheless managed to kill off Todd in one of the most emotionally gripping and bloody scenes in the medium’s history. While most of the writing by Jim Starlin [known more for his epic space operas than his work on Batman] is hokey and takes away from the monumental moment in the series, there are still several moments that either make you feel like you’re witnessing history or other times where Starlin isn’t scared to exhibit some great use of wit [Batman punching Superman in the face and nearly breaking his hand is perhaps one of the coolest moments in the series.], making it a trade that in spite of not aging particularly well, is still entertaining.

And how could it not be? Seeing Joker alone as a UN Ambassador is one of the weirdest moments in comics…period.

The same thing goes for the art work of Jim Aparo, Mike DeCarlo and Adrienne Roy. In his old school blue and gray suit, Batman is cool and without a doubt tough, but he’s still pretty damn corny. Make no mistake about it, this is no where near as menacing a Gotham Knight as you’d expect, but it’s still a nice old-school treat. Between Starlin’s writing and the softer visuals of everything except the scene where Robin meets his demise, you can see how far the medium has come over the past two decades and as a result, you get a front-row seat to witness what the industry would eventually become, is a rare gem.

However, in spite of the glimpse into the future this mini-series provides, the series is a special one for another reason.

For as long as their have been comic books, characters have died. As long as there is such a thing as comic books, characters will continue to die. Nonetheless, the fact that DC listened to its fans, despite such a small majority, and delivered the goods in such grand fashion, shows that comic books are not just about good guys taking down bad guys. Their stories will always mirror reality, regardless of the powers the main characters and villains have and amazing situations and places they encounter.

Regardless of that, there’s nothing you can do when tragedy strikes.

Batman and thousands of fans learned that the hard way.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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