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"Death of the Family" storyline (Batman)

Started by cgriffith,

371 posts in this topic

hulksmashdave

hulksmashdave

Posted
Posted

I think it was well worth the hype for a few reasons.

 

 

I think the joker not caring who Batman was means a lot more about the character that has ever been revealed. You've always known that everything was a game to the Joker, but not that it went that far. I also liked how Batman played with the Joker's head a little in the end. Also, I'm looking forward to hearing how he played with each of the members' heads in the future.

 

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Point Five

Point Five

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It's been a great storyline, arguably one of the all-time classics. I think #16 was probably my favorite issue; it was surreal and crazy and wildly inventive. But #17, though it had fun bits 'n' pieces along the way, did fall kinda flat for me.

 

More thoughts below...

 

Maybe I have a sick imagination, but when the Joker had the family gathered around the table with bags on their heads and silver trays with mystery objects in front of each of them, my guess was that one of them (Red Robin?) would turn out to have been decapitated by the Joker... his head would be on the tray, and there would be a head-shaped placeholder would be under the bag.

 

Not that that would be the only way to go with it, but it seemed like the kind of wild major-shock finish we were building to. In the end, there really wasn't any big plot twist, so the wind-up did feel anticlimactic to me.

 

The use of Joker toxins that drove the family members nutty also had kind of an old-school, don't-know-what-else-to-do-here-device feel to it, compared to some of the demented innovations of the previous issues.

 

(And frankly, when reading this storyline I can't help thinking that I kind of see the Joker's point. There are too many f'n Robins!)

 

 

 

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TSwift25

TSwift25

Posted
Posted
It's been a great storyline, arguably one of the all-time classics. I think #16 was probably my favorite issue; it was surreal and crazy and wildly inventive. But #17, though it had fun bits 'n' pieces along the way, did fall kinda flat for me.

 

More thoughts below...

 

Maybe I have a sick imagination, but when the Joker had the family gathered around the table with bags on their heads and silver trays with mystery objects in front of each of them, my guess was that one of them (Red Robin?) would turn out to have been decapitated by the Joker... his head would be on the tray, and there would be a head-shaped placeholder would be under the bag.

 

Not that that would be the only way to go with it, but it seemed like the kind of wild major-shock finish we were building to. In the end, there really wasn't any big plot twist, so the wind-up did feel anticlimactic to me.

 

The use of Joker toxins that drove the family members nutty also had kind of an old-school, don't-know-what-else-to-do-here-device feel to it, compared to some of the demented innovations of the previous issues.

 

(And frankly, when reading this storyline I can't help thinking that I kind of see the Joker's point. There are too many f'n Robins!)

 

 

 

I thought:

 

 

 

If it weren't for the ending to Batgirl 16 (what's under the tray?) I would have thought something truly sinister for the reveal. Going into it, I expected it to be Alfred, but then it wasn't. I didn't believe the face thing for a second because, again, Batgirl 16.

 

I was really hoping for something that will last, but if you read Batman & Robin 17, even the passive aggressive "we're mad at you, Bruce" doesn't last.

 

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Hodor

Hodor

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It was a decent end to the arc. I think what killed it was the hype. If there hadn't been so much buzz about it from DC itself it would have been alright. They kept hinting at something big but the payoff wasn't there, and when I saw Alfred the first thing that came to mind was what happened in 'Return of the Joker'

 

I was expecting the reveal to be that the Joker knew he was really Bruce Wayne and the dynamic would change between the two by the Joker now going after Bruce and toying with that side of Batman or something.

 

It wasn't a bad issue in the slightest. It satisfactorily wrapped up the arc, I was just expecting a little bit more. Which could've been my own undoing.

 

 

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TheMightyJohn

TheMightyJohn

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IGN gave it a 10/10 (first 10 i've seen from them)

CBR gave it a 5/5

Crave gave it a 9.5/10

Comic Vine gave it a 5/5

 

What the heck do I know.

 

With the exception of maybe Crave, all of those sources are known to suckle on the tit of paid advertisers. Not exactly the best source for a review. Kind of the same way Ragging Bullets won't ever give an honest review....

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Point Five

Point Five

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IGN gave it a 10/10 (first 10 i've seen from them)

CBR gave it a 5/5

Crave gave it a 9.5/10

Comic Vine gave it a 5/5

 

What the heck do I know.

 

I'd give these scores to the first third of the issue... which was scary and fun, and maintained the tone of "anything can happen". In the end, though, well... nothing did happen.

 

I also have to ask... would this kind of restraint really be in character for the psychotic Joker we've seen in this arc? Elaborate setups to kidnap each one of the Bat-family members, with the stated purpose of eliminating them...and racking up a body count of innocents approaching the triple digits on the way there. But in the end he decides just to pull a prank on Batman, and leaves them all totally unscathed?

 

And yep, I agree that DC's hype for the storyline, and the heavy use of tie-ins, built up the pressure even more. Even the title of the event seemed designed to raise expectations...

 

"Death IN the Family" = one 'family' member dies

"Death OF the Family" = everyone scampers off alive...?

 

It's still been a great ride for sure, and a storyline I'll reread, but I did believe (not unreasonably I think) that more was coming from the payoff.

 

 

 

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Point Five

Point Five

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New interview by Scott Snyder about #17... a must-read. I can't say he doesn't sound thoughtful in his reasoning...

 

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=43743

 

The upcoming storylines sound great; very much looking forward.

 

 

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Aman619

Aman619

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I came away not excited or disappointed with the ending, but more seeing it as a point where its clear that the Batman/Joker relationship is now if not meaningless, but toothless..

 

Joker either wont actually harm Batman's family any more (since the 80s with Barbara back when shock value sold comics best)- - or DC wont let him - - but either way, future clashes will end up the same way.

 

We were certainly led to expect some gruesome endings for one or more characters, and I for one believed Joker WOULD slice off all their faces (and later Alfred would sew them all back on)... or he'd serve them all pieces of Alfred's body for dinner while Batman watched helplessly. Isn't that consistent with Joker now as a Hannibal Lector level villain?

 

So, realizing that Joker really hasn't any plans to actually harm Batman's friends, why should Batman even involve himself next time Joker shows up, unless he's killing citizens? Why play the game?

 

Overall, I am glad this didnt end with another Death to main characters.. thats been done to, well death, but what we got feels like a letdown after all the expected nastiness "promised" along the way.

 

 

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Point Five

Point Five

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Posted

I came away not excited or disappointed with the ending, but more seeing it as a point where its clear that the Batman/Joker relationship is now if not meaningless, but toothless..

 

Joker either wont actually harm Batman's family any more (since the 80s with Barbara back when shock value sold comics best)- - or DC wont let him - - but either way, future clashes will end up the same way.

 

We were certainly led to expect some gruesome endings for one or more characters, and I for one believed Joker WOULD slice off all their faces (and later Alfred would sew them all back on)... or he'd serve them all pieces of Alfred's body for dinner while Batman watched helplessly. Isn't that consistent with Joker now as a Hannibal Lector level villain?

 

So, realizing that Joker really hasn't any plans to actually harm Batman's friends, why should Batman even involve himself next time Joker shows up, unless he's killing citizens? Why play the game?

 

 

I'd have to agree. If Snyder does another Joker story, I'd still be there in a heartbeat, as he's an excellent writer and it was fun along the way... but with such a big setup that didn't deliver in the end, it does kinda feel a bit like they've painted themselves into a corner.

 

 

 

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MrWeen

MrWeen

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" The Joker not only doesn't want to be killed by him [ Batman ] but at the same time, doesn't want to put Batman in a place where that is the option he goes for, as much as he says it would make him happy." -Scott Snyder

 

This statement just seems wrong. The Joker's power comes from the idea that he has no fear of death. To truly stand toe to toe with a nemesis like Batman the Joker can't just pretend he doesn't fear it. Is Snyder implying that the Joker is only feigning insanity? If that's true they he can never defeat Batman. I just don't think Snyder has a grasp on the Joker's true state of mind. I do like the idea that he loves Batman but his insanity should be what causes him to misinterpret the code that Batman stands for as a form of love.

 

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Tec38

Tec38

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Missed an excellent opportunity to "thin the herd" of redundant Robin-types.

 

Red Robin? Damian? Red Hood?

 

Pick any...hell pick any two. Please.

 

Great buildup by Snyder but if I'd known that "Death of the Family" meant that all the peripheral characters would go off and sulk for awhile I'd have used the cash to buy more Valiant stuff.

 

 

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