Summary
WARNING: Contains Potential Spoilers for From the DC Vault: Death in the Family - Robin Lives #1!DC’s new miniseries,From the DC Vault: Death in the Family - Robin Lives, explores an alternate storyline of what would have happened if fans had voted forBatman’ssecondRobinto survive his encounter with theJokerin theA Death in the Family(1988) storyline. This alternate story includes the shocking development of Batman being willing to kill not only the Joker but also another surprising A-List Gotham Rogue.
This raises the intriguing question of whether Robin’s survival inA Death in the Familypushed Batman closer to crossing his ‘No Killing’ line than his death did in the original storyline.
A Death in the Familywas an iconic Batman storyline where DC asked fans to vote on whether Jason Todd should live or die at the hands of the Joker. Fans ultimately voted for the second Robin to die.
J. M. DeMatteis, Rick Leonardi, and Rico Renzi’sFrom the DC Vault: Death in the Family - Robin Lives#1explores what would have happened if fans had voted to let the Boy Wonder live. Halfway through the issue, fans witness Jason trying to push through his trauma by donning his Robin suit once more and confronting Scarecrow on his own, an attempt to prove to himself and Bruce that he is still worthy of the mantle. However, the rogue soon gets the better of Jason, leading to a confrontation that almost ends with Batman killing Scarecrow.
Batman Almost Kills Scarecrow After the Rogue Tortures Jason Todd With Fear Gas Following the Events ofA Death in the Family
During his fight with Scarecrow, Robin gets dosed with fear toxin, causing him to relive his recent trauma of the Joker brutalizing him with a crowbar. These hallucinations leave him at Scarecrow’s mercy, who reveals that he plans to take Jason and conduct more fear toxin experiments on him. Before Crane can spirit Jason away, Batman arrives and begins to brutally assault Scarecrow, continuing to pummel the rogue well after he is incapacitated. It isn’t until the Gotham City Police Department intervenes that Batman stops, making it clear thathe would have likely killed Scarecrow if no one had stopped him.
This incident is particularly intriguing for two reasons. Firstly, Scarecrow now has the privilege of joining Joker on the very short list of villains Batman has almost killed. Secondly, fans now have confirmation that at least one aspect of the original timeline fromA Death in the Familyremains unchanged. In the original timeline, where Jason dies, Batman becomes increasingly violent, prompting Tim Drake,the third Robin, to take up the mission of saving Batman from himself. Thus,Jason’s survival didn’t alter this aspect of Batman’s character development, as Bruce once again spirals into a cycle of violence by almost killing Scarecrow.
Did Jason Todd SurvivingA Death in the FamilyMake Batman More Willing to Kill?
It’s also important to note that earlier in the issue, Batman almost kills the Joker as well.In this case, Batman pursues the Joker by boat after the clown’s brutal assault on Jason. The chase ends when Bruce rams his boat into the Joker’s, causing the clown to hurtle into the water and begin to drown. Batman watches impassively until Superman eventually swoops in and saves the Joker. Clark then asks Bruce if he knew Superman had been trailing him and was counting on him to save the clown. Bruce responds, “If that’s what you’d like to believe, Superman–who am I to contradict you?”
To say the least, this isn’t a reassuring response from the Dark Knight. The subtext even suggests he intended to let the clown drown. Thus, Batman nearly killed two A-list villains in this issue, an alarmingly high number for Bruce. Notably, in both cases, it wasn’t Batman who restrained himself but the intervention of others that prevented him from killing the Joker and Scarecrow. This raises the intriguing question of whetherRobin’ssurvival inA Death in the FamilypushedBatmancloser to crossing his ‘No Killing’ line than his death did in the original timeline–the answer seems to be yes.
All 10 Times Jason Todd Was Killed in DC Comics, From Robin to Red Hood
Jason Todd is a character who has been through a lot of trauma and hardship, he’s been defined by his death and unfortunately can’t escape it.
From the DC Vault: Death in the Family - Robin Lives #1is available now from DC Comics!
FROM THE DC VAULT: DEATH IN THE FAMILY - ROBIN LIVES #1 (2024)
The Scarecrow
Batman
One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
