"A Death in the Family! - Chapter 6": Ralph Bundy explains the situation to Batman. As the Joker has become the new ambassador for Iran to the U.N., he now has diplomatic immunity and no one is allowed to touch him, an

That's the way things always end with the Joker and me. Unresolved. — Batman

Batman #429 is an issue of the series Batman (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1989.





Contents show]

Appearing in "A Death in the Family! - Chapter 6"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

United Nations General Assembly

Yassar (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for "A Death in the Family! - Chapter 6"

Ralph Bundy explains the situation to Batman. As the Joker has become the new ambassador for Iran to the U.N., he now has diplomatic immunity and no one is allowed to touch him, and to make sure that Batman doesn't create an international event, the U.S. Government has called in Superman to make sure that Batman is under control. Batman doesn't like the situation and leaves the place, hoping that his actions don't put him against Superman.

At his hotel, Bruce thinks about the situation and contemplates the few options he has left. Batman thinks about letting the Joker be free for once, but then he remembers that he killed Jason, and decides to investigate what is Joker's real plan.

At the Iranian Embassy, the Joker prepares himself for his speech the next day and he mentions something about large dead crowds. Batman surprises the Joker from behind and tells him to give up his plan and return to Arkham Asylum. The Joker tells him that he won't and starts teasing Batman, confessing that he killed Robin and he enjoyed it; which confirms all of Batman's suspicions. Before leaving, Batman thanks the Joker for confirming the information on Robin's death and for making his decision much easier. As Batman leaves, the Joker pulls a gun and tries to shoot Batman, but he has already gone and the Joker is left alone, excited about his plan for the next day.

As it is planned, people start to arrive at the United Nations Building and among the crowd is Bruce Wayne. The Joker, dressed in Arab robes, makes his way into the room and for a moment, he stops and stares at Bruce, long enough for Wayne to wonder if the clown has recognized him beyond the mask. However, seconds later, the Joker continues to the dais, laughing all his way up. The Joker starts speaking in the name of Iran and after a vehement speech, he reveals his true motives and sprays the room with his laughing gas and Bruce quickly changes into Batman, before one of the guards destroys Joker's gun and stops the gas from spreading. However, the Joker tells the guard that the gas is already in the air and it's too late to stop it. The guard then starts inhaling all the gas from the room and it is revealed that the guard is in fact Superman in disguise.

The Man of Steel tells Batman to finish the Joker while he finds an empty space to release all that toxic gas. The Joker detonates a bomb to open a hole in a wall and tries to escape, while Batman follows him outside, where a helicopter is ready to take the Joker away. Batman manages to jump and reaches the chopper before it lifts completely. Climbing inside the cabin of the helicopter, Batman tries to grab the Joker, but his henchmen start shooting at them before realizing that one of the bullets killed the pilot. The Joker and Batman are wounded as well and, before the helicopter crashes into the river, Batman jumps and dives into the water. Moments later, Superman arrives to pull Batman out of the water. Batman tells Superman to find the Joker's body. However, nobody is able to do so and Batman realizes that things between him and Joker always end up one way: unresolved.







Notes

This issue is reprinted in the Batman: A Death in the Family trade paperback.

trade paperback. Batman appears next in Detective Comics #594.

#594. Superman appears next in Adventures of Superman #448.

#448. The Joker makes several behind-the-scenes appearances throughout the upcoming "Year: Three" storyline, as a voice speaking to Two-Face through a radio. His next actual appearance however, is in Batman #440.

#440. In this issue, there is a reference to Batman's encounter with Deacon Blackfire. These events took place in the storyline Batman: The Cult, from a few months prior.

At the end of this issue, editor Dennis O'Neil writes a long message in the letter column explaining what the death of Jason meant to all the team on the Batman titles. He also gives the final results of the votes for the decision of Robin's outcome in the story. He explains how nobody in the crew but him expected fans to kill Jason but in the end, the votes for Robin dying exceeded the ones for keeping him alive by 72. Surprisingly, only 15 minutes before the survey ended, Jason's votes for him living were up by 38 votes. This might confirm the rumors about a single person that voted for Jason to die more than 100 times by programming his home computer to dial the Joker succeeds number every 90 seconds for eight hours.

Trivia

Batman and the Joker's interaction in this issue, heavily hints the possibility that the Joker knows Batman's secret identity. The Joker says "even a madman can add 2 plus 2", referring to the killing of Jason. During that same conversation, Batman even says Jason's name, disregarding the fact that it was well-known that Jason was Bruce Wayne's ward. Finally, the Joker and Bruce Wayne stare at each other for a long time prior to the Joker's speech at the U.N. Building, and Bruce suspects Joker might know the truth. However, we never do find out if the Joker does know Batman's true identity.









See Also

Recommended Reading









[[Category:Batman: A Death in the Family|Batman Vol 1 0429]]