Would you read a Bat-family book?

[William300]

Just an idea I had the other day, we seem to only see the the Bat-family come together during big Bat-events. So, I was wondering if anyone would like to see a Bat-family book featuring them working as a team. Also, who would you like to see write such a book?

[Mace Dolex]

Nah not really interested in anybody besides Batman, don't really care what happens to Nightwing, Alfred, Batgirl. I guess I should mention not a real fan of the Gotham TV show either.

[joybeans]

Eternal is pretty much the Bat family book. Would I want a monthly book? It depends on who is writing. If it's someone like Tomasi, Higgins, or Bryan Q. Miller, sure. If it's Lobdell or Tynion, no thank you.

[Raptor13]

Yea it would depend on the creative team but overall I would adore a bat family book. Give me Tim, give me Dick, Steph, Duke, Harper, I would love it

[jules]

Eternal is pretty much the Bat family book. Would I want a monthly book? It depends on who is writing. If it's someone like Tomasi, Higgins, or Bryan Q. Miller, sure. If it's Lobdell or Tynion, no thank you.

Yeah, I pretty much viewed Eternal as the family book too, and if Eternal 2.0 is going to have a Robin focus, that's likely to stay true. A weekly has more room to shift the focus to a minor Bat-associate for an issue or two, and when trying to cover a big group of characters it surely helps to have a team of writers rather than just the one, since they'll each have favourites they want to push to the forefront at some point.

[t hedge coke]

Depends on who was writing and drawing it. I love the original Batman Family. I'm a huge fan of the first few years of Gotham Knights. But, I wouldn't keep buy a comic because of, well, any character that was appearing. The comics have to be good.

[Godlike13]

Im torn on this. Part of me is like this would be cool, but at the same time it would need a good writer that could really differentiate the characters. And i mean in a proper way, not in a splitting hairs kind of way where they all get superficial boy band titles.

To me the best part of Eternal was the new characters like Julia, and not the Robins or Batgirls. Who i didn't think were handled very well.

[joybeans]

Tim was handled alright in Eternal. But I guess he might as well be a new character.

[napolid]

Yes for years

[MajorHoy]

Eternal is pretty much the Bat family book. Would I want a monthly book? It depends on who is writing.

I'm also in the "depends on who's writing it" camp, as well as which characters get the focus. I loved the old 1970s Batman Family run, especially with Babs and Dick as the "Dynamite Duo", but you need the proper writers to give features the right touch.

If it's someone like Tomasi, Higgins, or Bryan Q. Miller, sure. If it's Lobdell or Tynion, no thank you.

I'd move Tomasi into the "no thank you" category myself. I really didn't like how he handled New 52's Batman and Robin, and his Forever Evil: Arkham War / Forever Evil Aftermath: Batman vs. Bane were pretty lack-luster as well.

[JasonTodd428]

I'd be interested in this but it would really depend on the creatives involved. There are a few out there, like Tynion and Tomasi, that I wouldn't want to see on the book simply because I've not been overly impressed with some or all of their Batman work lately. Having said that though I really think that Eternal or something like it could be used as a vehicle for a Bat-Family book if they wanted to take that route with it and a weekly with a balance of done in ones and small story arcs would have more space to spotlight characters.

[Don C]

I think the best way to do something like a Batman Family comic would be to have it be a digital-first series. Make it an anthology with no set creative team, like Legends of the Dark Knight, Adventures of Superman and Sensation Comics. Also, no continuity. Just good solid storytelling.

[MajorHoy]

I think the best way to do something like a Batman Family comic would be to have it be a digital-first series. Make it an anthology with no set creative team, like Legends of the Dark Knight, Adventures of Superman and Sensation Comics. Also, no continuity. Just good solid storytelling.

Only problem is, having no set creative team and no continuity means there are many people who won't buy it. No set creative team makes it a hit-or-miss thing each issue, and if you first try the book with an outing by a creative team you didn't like, there are probably a significant number of people who won't bother to check any future issues to see if those are more to their liking. And no continuity makes it like mini-series in some people's eyes, and most mini-series from DC don't sell very well.

You sort of need continuity to get the average Bat-fan to pick up the title on a regular basis.

[Dzetoun]

Only problem is, having no set creative team and no continuity means there are many people who won't buy it. No set creative team makes it a hit-or-miss thing each issue, and if you first try the book with an outing by a creative team you didn't like, there are probably a significant number of people who won't bother to check any future issues to see if those are more to their liking. And no continuity makes it like mini-series in some people's eyes, and most mini-series from DC don't sell very well.

You sort of need continuity to get the average Bat-fan to pick up the title on a regular basis.

Yeah, that's a good point. Much as people like to say they value story and character first, crossovers and events tend to sell well. A lot of fans only follow stories they think are important, and I think the rough gauge of importance for a lot of people is whether the stories relate to what's going on in "tentpole" books like Batman and Justice League.

[MajorHoy]

Yeah, that's a good point. Much as people like to say they value story and character first, crossovers and events tend to sell well. A lot of fans only follow stories they think are important, and I think the rough gauge of importance for a lot of people is whether the stories relate to what's going on in "tentpole" books like Batman and Justice League.

That last part may especially be true when people have limited budgets for comic books and focus more on inter-connected things that may have an effect on what they regularly read rather than "miss out" on something that may turn out to be "important".