Death in the Family: Robin Lives Number 3

The next to last issue of Death in the Family: Robin Lives, has Bruce Wayne standing on the edge of a moral precipice. In the previous edition of this creative reimagining of the Jason Todd story — had he not been killed off by the Joker in 1988 (see Jason Todd's Empty Grave) — Bruce is still reeling from Dick Grayson (the original Robin and later Nightwing) having admitted that he sometimes wishes he'd never been inducted into Batman's world. Like Bruce, Dick saw his parents die violently in front of him. Was becoming a vigilante the best way of dealing with that? (See Nightwing, Batman and Adoption Problems for more about this question.)

When questioned about it, even Alfred Pennyworth admits that he's frequently had qualms about what they did to the two boys.

"There were days I was sure it was [the right thing to do]," says Alfred. "When I saw those young men growing into their full potential, but I must admit — there were nights I thought you were a reckless fool — and I was just as reckless for going along with you..."

Were they helping the boys by giving them a way to face tragedy through strength? Or was Bruce trying to re-create the family he lost — by making it a family of vigilantes?

The question becomes even more troubling when Batman is faces off against Mother Grimm, a psychopath so desperate to nurture children that she kidnaps and brainwashes them into loving her. When Bruce rescues Mother Grimm's current brood from her mind control devices, he's startled to find that they love her anyway — and he realizes that children can bond even with the adults who abuse them.

Bruce wonders... is he one of those adults?

Yet Bruce's introspection must wait while he and Nightwing track down Jason, who's out hunting The Joker. If you recall from the original story, it was Batman's unwillingness to avenge Jason's murder by killing The Joker that prompted the young man to become Red Hood and seek vengeance on his adoptive father.

In this reimagined version of the story, Jason takes matters into his own hands. But when he comes face-to-face with the Clown Prince of Crime, his deep trauma leaves him immobilized. And, of course, The Joker has another sick and twisted humiliation for Jason — turning him into his sidekick called "Jokey, The Boy Lackey."

Once again, I'm impressed with this storyline. Both the storyline and the artwork were beautiful homages to the original 1988 Death in the Family comic by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo.  Additionally, the series tackles the important but lingering question as to why Bruce Wayne adopted his children to begin with...

RELATED: Batman Collection  |  Nightwing Collection  |  Jason Todd / Red Hood Fans Booklist