In 1988, DC fans made a seminal choice in the history of DC publishing--voting to kill off Jason Todd's Robin in the Death in the Family storyline. Now, for the first time, we want to find out what would have happened if fans had voted to let him live. And it begins--with the murder of The Joker!
Looking back can be tricky, but From The DC Vault: Death in the Family Robin Lives #1 does a fantastic job of taking an infamous story and providing it new life. Read Full Review
The endgame of Jason potentially becoming an assassin (if that's what's happening) seems to indicate that something like Red Hood was always inevitable. I'm not sure if I agree with that, but this is one of the best portrayals of Jason I've seen in a while, and a brilliantly realized depiction of the Batman and Bat-family of the era. Read Full Review
J. M. DeMatteis captures the vibe and voice of the original story while the art takes a looser, less clean-lined approach which at times can be distracting and take one out of the story. Read Full Review
DC tells a fascinating story of an alternate timeline where Jason Todd survived the Joker's attack in the 'Death in the Family' tale. Read Full Review
Wow. I am very surprised. I thought this was going to feel like a soulless cash grab. What I got was a well-thought-out story that not only helps us feel empathy for our heroes but critiques them as well. We have been getting far too many "Batman is flawless stories as of late, so this took me by surprise. I am very intrigued to see if this level of quality can be sustained. Read Full Review
From the DC Vault: Death in the Family Robin Lives #1 is a journey into new old territory. And I can't wait to see what happens next! Read Full Review
The debut of Death in the Family: Robin Lives! more than justifies the series existence as a what if scenario for Jason Todd. J.M. DeMatteis writes a brilliant character exploration for Jason, Bruce and even Joker showcasing where their stories could have gone if things had ended very differently. Read Full Review
I'm pretty impressed with this so far. It's pretty much what I'd expect from DeMatteis. I'm also mostly impressed by the art, with the exception of the Joker. This doesn't resemble him as he was then, but more how they draw him now with messy hair and a painted on grin rather than an actual one (I hate when they do that almost as much as when they base it off the Ledger grin).
Back then Batman more likely would've forbidden Jason to stay Robin if this actually happened, but aside from that it's still a pretty good story. The Joker in his boat was very reminiscent of Legends of The Dark Knight #68, also be DeMatteis concluding his "Going Sane" arc, one of my favorite of his works.
I'm glad they got an actual writing legend for this more
The story is pretty solid. Some choices that felt a little dated but I also get that this is supposed to be a sequel to a single panel written in the late 80s. It's not even the Joker in Iraq aspect. It's just a certain way DeMatteis' flow works. Sometimes it's stronger. Overall though, the story was fantastic and a pretty good though surface level depiction of PTSD and trauma. It's also great how much importance is put on psychology and therapy though again, it's all pretty surface level. You can only get so much from a comic. The art is a little rough. At times it looks solid and others I have hard time deciphering what is on the page. Glad this is a mini series, hopefully it can expand more on the deeper tones and ideas it presents.
While it's an interesting premise, this is ultimately a shameless cash-grab by DC. Hardly worth paying Five dollars for Four issues. If this is something you're interested in, probably better to just trade wait.
Parts of the story did throw me through a loop and had me guessing. But again, better to just wait for the collected book.
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