Few writers have the ability to truly capture Batman's essence. But Judd Winick pulls it off with little effort.
The art work here is nothing short of great, but it's not quite as good as Jim Lee's work in "Hush." Still, if you're looking for some great art and one of the best interpretations of The Joker, this is a book you shouldn't miss.
The story picks up shortly after War Games and Identity Crisis and leads directly into Infinite Crisis, if you read both volumes.
This first volume really concentrates on where Batman is as a hero and as a person.
During War Games Stephanie Brown, The Spoiler and Robin IV, is killed. For those who didn't know, Tim Drake quit soon after Identity Crisis due to the death of his father. It was very tragic, I suggest you read it before reading this. War Games lacks as a story but it's important to understand the events of this story.
Here we get the re-introduction of a character known as The Red Hood. He's out to take over the crime in Gotham City and sees both Black Mask and Batman as problems. However, his efforts are more concentrated on taking out Black Mask.
For those who remember, The Red Hood was the original identity used by The Joker before his chemical bath. This is a clue to Red Hood's actual identity, which most people figured out long before it was revealed in volume two.
Winick deserves a lot of credit for getting inside each of the characters he chose to focus on. Here he demonstrates a deep love and understanding of what makes Batman who he is.
The only person who probably understands Batman better than Winick is Jeph Loeb. However, given where this story eventually winds up, even Loeb might not have been able to pull this piece off with as much grace and style as Winick.
The problems with this book are few but they are there.
Some people will complain that this story undoes years of history and that it violates the character of Jason Todd and Batman and that Infinite Crisis was used as a cheap way of bringing Jason Todd back to life.
Maybe, but Jason Todd has played an intricate role in Batman's life ever since his death and it stands to reason that he would eventually make another appearance. Especially given that his death was caused by a 1-900 number instead of an editorial decision. His death was a clear example of why fans should not be allowed to determine the outcome of a story arc.
Given the choice between killing someone and letting them live, fans always seem to want death. Probably because they didn't actually believe DC would go that far.
Jason Todd really has made for a great villain and, in the hands of such good writers and artists, he's really making the most of his new lease on life.
Another thing Winick does better than most other writers is working humor into his stories. The dialogue Black Mask has with Mr. Freeze and The Red Hood is simply hilarious. I never knew just how funny his character could be until this story.
This story ends with a nice cliffhanger so you'll have to get the second volume to find out what happens. I suggest you do so and ignore the unjustifiable criticism, judge it for yourself.

I loved "A Death in the Family". The Joker's massacre of Jason Todd is still a haunting moment in Batman history. When I heard Todd had been revived and was back as the Red Hood, I thought it was a ridiculous idea. Picking up the volume I was welcomely suprised by just how good it was. The artwork is superb, the dialogue engaging, and the entire atmosphere addictive. The build-up to the Red Hood's unmasking was well paced, even if I allready knew the climax. Black Mask, as always in these recent titles, is a joy to read and a fantastic villain, now in control of the Gotham underworld. He is a ruthless, sadistic buisnessman with some very memorable, often hillarious lines. I was also happy to see a villainous gem like Mr. Freeze included. Very well executed.

I still am against the idea of Jason Todd (especially), whose death added another tragic layer to the Batman mythos, returning from the grave. The impact and fear of losing one's life in a heroic act - the ultimate sacrifice one could make - is almost nil in modern comic books. Characters die and return from the grave almost constantly, an unfortunate cliche that has hurt the mainstream's view of comics-as-art and rendered death as nothing more than a temporary setback for superheroes.

Aside from the very concept itself, Jason's return is also poorly executed. The new Black Mask, who is woefully out of character, is still present. The Joker is sacrificed to Jason Todd's credibility. And how does Jason come back, you ask? What's the cool creative explanation that isn't a tired IC-related explantion that doesn't fit the Batman universe motif? *Spoilers*: Superboy-Prime punching the walls of a paradise in another dimension is the explanation. Jason wakes up in his coffin and digs his highly battered young body out of his coffin and 6ft of dirt using only his belt buckle. The coffin had sensors that could detect people getting in, but amazingly could not detect people getting out. What kind of crazy silly sensors are those? A new coffin is reburied, and the greatest, I repeat greatest, detective in the world, who forensically examines the coffin in all its minutia, neither notices the reburial or the new coffin. I couldn't make this junk up. A must not read for batfans, in my opinion.

An amazing story by someone who really GETS the character and treats the subject matter with the deference and respect it deserves.