WHY COLLECTORS WANT IT
- Dr. Sheila Haywood (birth mother of Jason Todd) — introduction
Dates
- Cover date
- [Winter] 1988
- On sale
- September 8, 1988
- Pages
- 52
Values
Looking up values…
Editions and covers (2)
Copies of #427 are not all the same book. Here is how to tell each one apart.
- Direct edition
Direct
No UPC barcode in the corner box: direct editions show artwork, a logo or a blank box there.
Source ↗ - Newsstand edition
Newsstand
A UPC barcode in the cover's corner box.
Barcode 07098930430727
This edition’s page
Story arc: A Death in the Family
This is part 2 of 6. Reading order by cover month and on-sale date; arc records can be incomplete.
Creators
Stories
- A Death in the Family, Chapter 3 & 4 · 44 pages
Jason meets his real mother, Sheila Haywood, but she turns out to be working for the Joker and allows her son to fall into his deadly hands inside a warehouse. Joker beats Robin with a crowbar and leaves him for dead as a badly beaten Robin attempts to save his mom and himself from the dynamite left behind by the Joker as he leaves them both to a horrible fate. Batman watches in horror as the warehouse containing Jason and Sheila blows up, too late to stop the Joker.
Publisher’s description
Jason's quest for his mother. Batman's quest for the Joker. The Joker's quest for weapons of mass destruction. Three different journeys leading to the same place--a confrontation that can only end in bloodshed!
Characters
Reprinted in
Batman: A Death in the Family (1988), DC Comics Classics Library: Batman - A Death in the Family (2009), Batman: A Death in the Family (2011), The Joker: A Celebration of 75 Years (2014), Robin, The Boy Wonder: A Celebration of 75 Years (2015), Batman: A Death in the Family The Deluxe Edition (2021), From the DC Vault: Death in the Family: Robin Lives! (2025), DC Finest: Batman: A Death in the Family (2026)