Absolute Batman Puts A Dark Twist On One Of Dc's Most Controversial Stories

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This article contains spoilers for "Absolute Batman" #23.

"Absolute Batman" superstar writer Scott Snyder has said that the book's current arc, "The Straw Man," is the "meanest" he and his artist partner Nick Dragotta have been to Bruce Wayne. We're over halfway through "The Straw Man," and Snyder wasn't kidding!

Jack Grimm/the Joker has called in the secretive Scarecrow to destroy Batman, and they're attacking on two fronts. For one, they've convinced Bruce with half-truths that they orchestrated his entire life, including his father's murder in a mass shooting at the Gotham City Zoo. Second, they've turned Gotham City against Batman.

Back in issue #19, Scarecrow murdered former mayor Jim Gordon and framed Batman for it. Grimm then rolled out a five-person anti-Batman team. Their names? The Robins, all equipped with mech armor to give them the advantage over Batman. The "Absolute" Joker has absorbed many of Bruce Wayne's classic attributes, including having Batman's traditional sidekicks under his wing instead.

The Robins have been hunting Batman for issues now, with little luck, but that hasn't soured the public on them. Early on in issue #23, the Robins are discussing a poll ranking their popularity. In first place is Tim Drake, for being "smart, sweet, and stylish." But they're going to have to redo that poll.

Tim and a fellow Robin, the headstrong Jason Todd, go out on patrol and manage to capture Batman. As they're celebrating their victory, Clayface (one of Joker's experiments from Ark M) slinks up behind them, shapeshifts into Batman, and stabs Tim to death with a replica of Batman's retractable shoulder spikes.

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This brutal murder and the Robin popularity poll call to mind the controversial 1988 comic "Batman: A Death in the Family," where the Joker murdered Jason Todd.

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Tim's murder looks like Scarecrow repeating what he did to Jim Gordon: kill one of Gotham's heroes and leave Batman with the body. Indeed, a panel of Batman cradling Tim's corpse is drawn almost exactly like the famous image of Batman carrying the dead Jason in "A Death in the Family." (Itself a homage to the cover for "Batman" #156, "Robin Dies At Dawn.")

Written by Jim Starlin and drawn by Jim Aparo (with covers by future "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola), "A Death in the Family" is an infamous comic. DC stained its own readership's hands with Robin's blood. 

Jason Todd (who was the second Robin), was created by the late Gerry Conway and Don Newton as basically a carbon copy of the original, Dick Grayson. When DC's continuity was relaunched after 1986's "Crisis on Infinite Earths," Starlin revamped Jason into a darker, more rebellious character with all-new history. The "Post-Crisis" Jason Todd grew up on the streets and had met Batman when he tried to jack the Batmobile's tires.

Readers didn't respond well to this new Robin. Starlin, who thought Batman was better without Robin to begin with, pushed for Jason to be killed. Editor Dennis O'Neil then came up with what's become the most notorious publicity stunt in superhero comics history. Inspired by a 1982 "Saturday Night Live" sketch where viewers could vote on the fate of a lobster, DC set up a call-in phone line. 

Calling 1-900-720-2660 was a vote for Robin to live, calling 1-900-720-2666 was a vote for Robin to die, and the latter narrowly won. Considering the New York Times wound up covering Robin's murder, the stunt definitely attracted public interest, but at what cost?

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The wider public began to accept Batman as the "dark superhero" in the late 1980s. Frank Miller's back-to-back comics "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Batman: Year One" (the latter drawn by David Mazzucchelli) set that trend, and "A Death in the Family" followed it.

Not for nothing, "The Dark Knight Returns" (set in a dark future) was the first book to suggest the Joker had murdered Robin. Yet Miller had only disgust for the poll deciding Jason's fate, describing it in disbelief as: "An actual toll-free number where fans can call in to put the axe to a little boy's head."

While "A Death in the Family" is a highly impactful Batman story, it's harder to argue it's one of the best. Jason's death is downright unpleasant, and the story spirals into nonsense after that, like the Joker becoming the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. (No, I'm not kidding.)

But Scott Snyder was 12 years old in 1988, and you can see that in how "A Death in the Family" thus hangs over his Batman writing. During Snyder's initial 2011-2016 run on "Batman," he wrote a storyline titled "Death of the Family" about the Joker trying to convince Batman to discard all his sidekicks so they could be alone, together, again.

"Absolute Batman" #23 has also now made the poll controversy around "A Death in the Family" into actual text. Rather than DC killing off an unpopular Robin, Joker and Scarecrow seemingly decided to sacrifice the most beloved Robin to ruin Batman's image and burden Bruce with new guilt. There's also the obvious bait-and-switch that Jason is there when Tim dies, but for now, he's been spared.

"Absolute Batman" #23 is now available.