The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing contains a major connection with the classic Batman story "A Death in the Family," as Jason Todd -- the only Robin killed by Joker -- decides to hunt down the clown that beat him senseless with a crowbar in 1988.
A preview for The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #3 hints that Jason will appear in the issue with a new drive for vengeance. Meanwhile, the Joker is already on the verge of dying for unexplained reasons and is forced to seek medical help -- but finding a doctor or hospital willing to treat one of the most notorious killers in the DC universe is a tough task.
Red Hood's reasons for hunting the Joker still remain a mystery, especially since the former Robin has recently seemed to move on from the traumatic events that temporarily ended his life. The story "Cheer," which ran in Batman: Urban Legends Issues #1-6, saw Jason making his peace with Bruce Wayne and considering a new place for himself in the Bat Family, while the recent Task Force Z series features Jason dealing with a new set of problems as the leader of a Suicide Squad-esque team of reanimated zombie villains.
What Happened in A Death in the Family?
Despite these developments, Jason Todd is still best remembered for his role in "A Death in the Family," which was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Jim Aparo. Notorious for featuring a dial-in vote where fans could call DC Comics to determine whether they wanted Jason to live or die, "A Death in the Family" was designed to rectify the second Robin's then-status as an unpopular character. The story showed the Dynamic Duo chasing the Joker across the world and Jason searching for his birth mother. It ended with Jason dying in an explosion after the Joker brutalized him with a crowbar.
Jason returned to life via Lazarus Pit and the reality-altering shenanigans of Superboy Prime in DC's Infinite Crisis 2005 series. Writer Judd Winick's "Under The Hood" story arc explored his return to Gotham and ended with Jason holding the Joker hostage and demanding that Batman either kill the clown or kill him. Batman managed to get out of the situation without resorting to either choice, and Red Hood's anger toward his old mentor has never completely gone away.
The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #3 is written by Matthew Rosenberg, penciled by Carmine Di Giandomenico and Francesco Francavilla, and colored by Arif Prianto. The issue features variant covers by Lee Bermejo, Felipe Massafera, Ludo Lullabi, and Rafael Sarmento and goes on sale Dec. 6.
Source: DC