Auctions: comic books in 'Batman Death in the Family'

Batman (1940) 427D VF- 7.5

First printing. Direct Edition. Cover art by Mike Mignola. "A Death in the Family" part 2 of 4, script by Jim Starlin, pencils by Jim Aparo, inks by Mike DeCarlo; 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 of 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. Infamous Phone Poll on death or life for Robin (Jason Todd). The Direct Sales copies of this comic, released first, contained a 1-800 phone number to either vote "for" or "against" the death of Jason Todd on the inside back cover. The newsstand copies, released 3 weeks later did not contain the 1-800 number. NOTE: Most issues from 397-432 were reprinted in 1989 and sold in multipacks. These 2nd and 3rd prints have back cover ads dated 1989. 52 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $1.50.

Batman (1940) 428D FN+ 6.5

First printing. Direct Edition. Cover art by Mike Mignola. "A Death in the Family" part 3 of 4, script by Jim Starlin, pencils by Jim Aparo, inks by Mike DeCarlo; Death of Sheila Haywood; Burial of Sheila Haywood and Jason Todd; The Joker becomes the Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Results of Phone Poll as to whether Robin dies this issue or not. NOTE: Most issues from 397-432 were reprinted in 1989 and sold in multipacks. These 2nd and 3rd prints have back cover ads dated 1989. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.75.