A Death In The Family
Event
"A Death in the Family" begins when Batman relieves Jason Todd of his crime-fighting duties. Todd travels to the Middle East to find his biological mother, but is kidnapped and tortured by the Joker. Batman #427 ends with the Joker blowing Todd up in a warehouse. Starlin and Aparo prepared two versions of the following issue: one that would be published if readers voted to have Todd survive, and another if he was to be killed. A narrow majority voted in favor of the latter, and Batman #428 features Batman discovering Todd's lifeless body in the warehouse ruins. The storyline ends when Batman and Superman stop the Joker from killing the United Nations General Assembly.