Batman and Robin #15 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I was really, really excited about this issue after the first few pages.  I liked the idea of Damian going after Alfred.  It seemed the sort of contained niche story really well suited to this title that would provide some sort of balance to the ambitious overall story driving the event.  But, then, everything goes wrong.  Rather than existing on the margins, this story is suddenly thrust into the middle of the event as Joker appears and goes after Damian.  The problem, of course, is that it immediately raises the identity problem in my mind.  This whole cross-over event is based on the question whether Joker knows the Bat-family's identities.  Well, here, he has Damian hostage, but he does nothing to remove his mask and learn his identity.  So, either Joker knows his identity or he doesn't care about it.  Either way, it seems to tacitly undermine the entire point of the event, either answering the main question or dismissing it as an irrelevant conceit.  Moreover, Tomasi really doesn't have an ear for Joker's voice, making it difficult to believe the threat that Damian was purportedly facing.  All in all, it was a weak issue not helped by the fact that I'm finding "Death of the Family" overall weak.