The Joker: Through the years

"A Death in the Family" (1988)

[Published in Batman #426-429]

The Setup: While searching for his lost mother, Robin is beaten senseless with a crowbar by the Joker and left for dead in a Middle East warehouse filled with explosives. Batman finds his partner dead in the rubble and pursues the Joker to a standoff at the United Nations, where the Clown Prince of Crime claims diplomatic immunity as the new Iranian ambassador.

The Punch Line: For the first time, it was comic book fans and not the Joker who had the homicidal urges, as DC Comics let fans vote by phone on whether the controversial Jason Todd incarnation of Robin would live or die. The fans voted by a slim margin to deep-six the character, making this blockbuster into a controversy topped only by the oddity of the Joker wearing a keffiyeh.