Batman: Death of the Family Reading Order
| Main Story | Batman | Catwoman | Harley Quinn | ||||||
| Issues | Collection | Issues | Collection | Issues | Collection | Issues | Collection | ||
| Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) | Detective Comics Vol. 3: Emperor Penguin (Review) | Catwoman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) | Suicide Squad Vol. 3: Death is for Suckers (Review) | ||||||
| Suicide Squad #14 | |||||||||
| Batman #13 | |||||||||
| Detective Comics #15 | Catwoman #13 | Suicide Squad #15 | |||||||
| Detective Comics #16 | Catwoman #14 | ||||||||
| Batman #14 | |||||||||
| Batgirl | Nightwing | Red Hood/Teen Titans | Robin | ||||||
| Issues | Collection | Issues | Collection | Issues | Collection | Issues | Collection | ||
| Batgirl Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) | Nightwing Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) | Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) -or- Teen Titans Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) | Batman and Robin Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) | ||||||
| Batman #15 | |||||||||
| Batgirl #13 | Nightwing #15 | RHatO #15 | B&R #15 | ||||||
| Batgirl #14 | Nightwing #16 | Teen Titans #15 | B&R #16 | ||||||
| Batgirl #15 | RHatO #16 | ||||||||
| Batgirl #16 | Teen Titans #16 | ||||||||
| Batman #16 | |||||||||
| Batman #17 | |||||||||
RHatO = Red Hood and the Outlaws
B&R = Batman and Robin
Overview
Batman: Death of the Family is a crossover event that deals with the return of the Joker. This return is marked by Joker's intrusion into Batman's life and into the lives of his friends and allies.
Batman: Death of the Family starts in the Batman comic series and goes on to impact seven other comics in a major way. His main crusade is detailed in the Batman series, while his exploits with Batman’s allies are detailed in the crossover issues of that particular character’s comic series.
Tie-Ins
All readers really need to do to understand the Death of the Family event is read the issues found in the main story, Batman #13-17. The tie-in storylines simply detail the Joker’s encounter with an individual member of the Bat-family. However, the majority of these storylines only have one connection to the main storyline, a connection which is always explained in the main storyline. Therefore, readers can feel free to read as many or as few tie-in issues as they desire.
We do not recommend tackling this event by jumping around from series to series trying to read everything in chronological order. Instead, we recommend reading each tie-in series separately, but still in conjunction with the main storyline. For example, readers interested in experiencing Nightwing’s role in this event should start with Batman #13-15, then continue with Nightwing #15-16, and conclude with Batman #16-17. By experiencing each storyline in this way, readers can be sure to have the most problem free reading experience possible.
Before Reading
Joker's appearance in Batman: Death of the Family is explained by his actions in Detective Comics #1, collected in Detective Comics: Faces of Death (Review). However, his actions in this issue only barely prelude the events of Death of the Family and are not necessary in understanding the main storyline.
After Reading
Batman: Endgame (Reading Order) is essentially a sequel to the events of Batman: Death of the Family. Endgame shows what happened to Joker after this event concluded and shows his next major attack on Batman.