Originally published in 1988 as Batman #426-429, Batman: A Death in the Family is a serialized comic-book storyline written by American writer Jim Starlin and penciled by American interior artist Jim Amparo. The storyline was written in response to the unpopularity of the character Jason Todd—the second person to assume the superhero mantle of Robin, Batman’s sidekick, first introduced in 1983. To promote the storyline, DC Comics famously executed a telephone campaign in which readers could call in to indicate whether Jason would survive or die during the story’s latter issues. Though the story initially sparked controversy over Jason’s potential death, it has since been considered one of the most iconic Batman storylines. It was adapted as an interactive animated film in 2020, featuring the voices of Bruce Greenwood, Vincent Martella, and John DiMaggio as the characters Batman, Robin, and the Joker, respectively.

A Death in the Family begins with Batman (Bruce Wayne) putting his increasingly reckless sidekick, Robin (Jason Todd), on inactive duty. When Jason discovers clues to the identity of his birth mother, he leaves Gotham City for the Middle East on a quest to find her. Unbeknownst to Jason, Batman’s archrival, the Joker, is headed in the same direction, plotting an arms deal that will inevitably bring villain and sidekick face-to-face. It falls on Batman to stop the deal and save Robin before it’s too late. Thematically, Starlin explores The Dangers of Impulsive Thinking as a fatal flaw, Seeing People as a Means Rather Than an End, and The Impact of the Past and Present on Personal Identity.

This guide refers to the version of the storyline contained in the collected paperback edition of Batman: A Death in the Family, published by DC Comics in 2011.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of graphic violence, illness, death, child death, child sexual abuse, and pregnancy termination. 

Plot Summary

The storyline begins with caped crimefighters Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Robin (Jason Todd) raiding a criminal warehouse in Gotham City. Batman is displeased with Robin’s impulsive and reckless behavior, which puts him increasingly in harm’s way and in violent moods. Batman decides to put Jason off duty as Robin, which sends Jason off on self-reflective wanderings through the city. Near his old neighborhood, Jason meets a neighbor who passes along his late parents’ belongings. Among them is Jason’s birth certificate, which reveals that the woman who raised him, Catherine Todd, was actually his adoptive mother. After reviewing his father’s files, Jason identifies three women who may potentially be his birth mother: Israeli secret-service agent Sharmin Rosen, mercenary Shiva Woosan, and humanitarian worker Dr. Sheila Haywood. All three women are based in the Middle East and East Africa, prompting Jason to leave Gotham City on a quest to find them.

Meanwhile, Batman learns that his archrival, the Joker, has escaped from Arkham Asylum and is plotting to sell a cruise missile to the highest bidder in Lebanon. Batman pursues the Joker and tries to find him in Beirut through one of his known associates, Peter Brando. Bruce bumps into Jason in Beirut, and they confess their respective purposes for being in the city. They spot Brando and Sharmin Rosen together. As Batman and Robin, the duo follows Brando and Sharmin to a camp on the Israeli border, where the Joker’s buyer, a man named Jamal, is planning to fire the cruise missile at Tel Aviv. The superheroes dispatch the Joker and Jamal’s henchmen to stop the launch, but the missile explodes prematurely, killing Jamal and destroying his camp. The Joker is forced to retreat to Ethiopia to recoup his financial losses.

After ruling out Sharmin as Jason’s birth mother, Batman and Robin proceed into the Beqaa Valley to seek out Shiva Woosan. There, they uncover her secret identity as supervillain Lady Shiva, who has been hired to train a group of terrorists that maintain a camp and weapons cache in the valley. After destroying the cache and defeating Lady Shiva, Robin is crestfallen to realize that she is not his birth mother. He resolves to travel to Ethiopia to find Dr. Sheila Haywood next. Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, the Joker arrives at Sheila’s camp and blackmails her into helping him steal and traffic supplies from her humanitarian-relief camp.

When Bruce and Jason arrive at Sheila’s camp, Jason and Sheila realize at once that they are mother and son. Bruce gives them time to catch up, during which Jason learns that the Joker has coerced Sheila into helping him with his latest plan. Bruce suits up as Batman, but he asks Jason to wait for him while he goes to stop a shipment of the Joker’s lethal laughing gas from killing Sheila’s associates at the humanitarian mission. Jason disobeys and confronts Sheila, who leads him into the Joker’s trap. The Joker and his henchmen take turns brutalizing Robin before leaving him and Sheila inside a locked warehouse with a timed explosive device. Robin uses the last of his strength to liberate Sheila from bondage and shield her from the blast when the explosives detonate. Batman arrives at the warehouse just as it explodes.

Batman searches through the rubble, regretting his decision to take on Jason as a replacement for his former protégé, Dick Grayson. He finds a critically injured Sheila, who attests to Jason’s heroism before she dies. Finally, Batman finds Jason dead and prepares to bring him and Sheila back to the United States for burial.

Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei offers to make the Joker the new Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. The Joker accepts, knowing the appointment will grant him diplomatic immunity. When Batman chases the Joker to the United Nations, he is prevented from acting against the villain by Superman, who wants to enforce the State Department’s observance of the Joker’s immunity. Batman tries to convince Superman that the Joker has ulterior motives for speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, but Superman remains skeptical until Batman can confirm that the Joker murdered Jason.

As predicted, the Joker attempts to kill the General Assembly with his laughing gas. Superman and Batman work together to stop him, which leads to a struggle in the Joker’s escape helicopter. Determined to end their rivalry once and for all in honor of Jason’s memory, Batman leaves the Joker in the crashing helicopter. He speculates, however, that the Joker has survived.