Does DC only care about Batman?

[CTTT]

First off, I'm a Bat-fan, I think he's a great character. Seems like the solicits that I'm reading here and for DC have a few keywords: Gotham, Batman, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, etc. Even with other media it seems like he's front and center. Even Superman gets shoved a little bit and he was the pioneer for DC. In canon, they always have Bats outsmart Superman with his tech even though Supes can overpower him out of his mech suit, easily. Seems like with DC editorial they want to flood the market with more Bat books. Again, I love Batman, but the Justice League has other heroes that deserve good promotion and comics. It's called the Justice League not the Batman League. I'm not saying he should be cancelled but toned down a little bit. Marvel has the same problem with Wolverine and Spider-Man by comparison.

[Lee Stone]

Since 1989, yes.
Although, they did have a fascination with Lobo briefly and with Harley Quinn most recently.

[Vampire Savior]

I believe this comes down to somewhat of a chicken or the egg argument. Batman sells, so DC gives buyers what they want. Though, I guess you can argue that Batman sells because DC prioritizes him above every other character. It's somewhat of a combination of both, but I'm going to give the former an edge. Especially when I see comics fans complaining about reboots, but that's what they buy, and I see them complaining about events, but that's what they buy, and they complain about variants, but that's what they buy. They complain about Batman, but that's what they buy.

If you want to blame someone, blame the people who are buying so much Batman and so little of everything else. If they changed their ways, I have a really strong feeling DC would change its ways.

[lemonpeace]

no, they care about Superman, Harley Quinn, and (sometimes )Wonder Woman too.

[Korath]

Plus I would say that the Bat-corner is kind of sick right now. Sells are hardly what they used to be for all the Bat-titles.

The only two consistently good titles since 2016 have been Red Hood and the Outlaws and more recently Batman and the Outsiders, and both of them are largely left alone by and distanced from the main Batman series.

[Vordan]

He sells and sells consistently. He’s the only one who has had huge success in all outside media: Cartoons, TV, movies, toys, etc. His closest second is Supes who has struggled to have a film success post-Donner (although I was surprised to see Returns made more than Begins), hasn’t had a cartoon in decades, had a long running and successful TV show, but will probably never get a video game. So yes DC focuses on Batman because his fans put their money where their mouth is and buy his stuff. It’s annoying but what can you do?

[Electricmastro]

Since 1989, yes.
Although, they did have a fascination with Lobo briefly and with Harley Quinn most recently.

Yeah, obviously DC wants as much money as possible being the business that they are, so of course they'll value as much brands that bring back a lot of that. It seems to me that they looked most towards Superman in his first 50 years of existence, but after Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, and many other such acclaimed contributions to the Batman brand, I've no doubt they've made Batman their biggest bread and butter since the late 1980s. His brand not only spawned his own book lasting into this year, but also Detective Comics, Harley Quinn, Dick Grayson as Nightwing, Batgirl, Batman Beyond, Catwoman, and so on and so forth.

[Nite-Wing]

First off, I'm a Bat-fan, I think he's a great character. Seems like the solicits that I'm reading here and for DC have a few keywords: Gotham, Batman, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, etc. Even with other media it seems like he's front and center. Even Superman gets shoved a little bit and he was the pioneer for DC. In canon, they always have Bats outsmart Superman with his tech even though Supes can overpower him out of his mech suit, easily. Seems like with DC editorial they want to flood the market with more Bat books. Again, I love Batman, but the Justice League has other heroes that deserve good promotion and comics. It's called the Justice League not the Batman League. I'm not saying he should be cancelled but toned down a little bit. Marvel has the same problem with Wolverine and Spider-Man by comparison.

Marvel used to have the same problem with Wolverine and Spider-man
Now that the MCU has taken off they have begun to spread the wealth wholesale
DC in comparison has not managed to hit gold with any franchise so far besides Harley Quinn and Batman

Also welcome to 1998

[Frontier]

Marvel used to have the same problem with Wolverine and Spider-man
Now that the MCU has taken off they have begun to spread the wealth wholesale
DC in comparison has not managed to hit gold with any franchise so far besides Harley Quinn and Batman

Also welcome to 1998

Some of their properties have achieved cinematic success ala the MCU films, but that hasn't translated to much in the comics yet.

[CTTT]

It's mind boggling to me, why Superman gets thrown under the bus for Batman. He's not a buffoon. He's an investigative reporter for the Daily Planet and is more than capable of handling things on his own. In other words he's as good a detective as Batman.

[manwhohaseverything]

Marvel used to have the same problem with Wolverine and Spider-man
Now that the MCU has taken off they have begun to spread the wealth wholesale
DC in comparison has not managed to hit gold with any franchise so far besides Harley Quinn and Batman

Also welcome to 1998

What about wonder woman and aquaman?shazam did pretty well.

[PCN24454]

Marvel used to have the same problem with Wolverine and Spider-man
Now that the MCU has taken off they have begun to spread the wealth wholesale
DC in comparison has not managed to hit gold with any franchise so far besides Harley Quinn and Batman

Also welcome to 1998

Used to have?

[Electricmastro]

Used to have?

No kidding...

[manwhohaseverything]

No kidding...

Well, atleast in universe spidey doesn't feel like spideygod most of the time

[Ascended]

I don't think its accurate to say that DC "only" cares about Batman. They obviously care about other IP's too, and put effort into other characters and books and projects. But Batman was their uncontested #2 for fifty years and in the late 80's hit a goldmine of market wins across media platforms just as Superman was stumbling, and Bats clawed his way up to the #1 spot and has stayed there, uncontested, for 30 years. DC made some great product that made a popular IP more popular, and have since done nothing more than invest in that success and provide a supply to meet the demand. That's just good business.

But I do think it might be accurate to say that DC only "understands" Batman. They clearly do not have the firmest grip on many of their other big name characters and fail to understand the appeal of characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Barry Allen (which is why so many write him like Wally these days). It's not that DC doesn't *care* about these characters, its that DC can't figure out why people love them. So they put the wrong creators on the characters, green-light the wrong stories, get frustrated when fans don't respond, and ultimately they just end up leaning on Batman; either literally bringing him into the project or trying to make other characters emulate him.

I think you can actually look at Nightwing for proof of this (not "proof" proof, but it supports the argument). Of all the heroes to come from the Bat Cave, Dick Grayson is the most unusual. He's not like Bruce at all, really, or the other Bats. He doesn't work off the same troupes and themes, he's not dark, as a character he's built to be fun and bright. He's got far more in common with other heroes like Superman than he does Batman. And who's the Gotham vigilante DC can't figure out, no matter how hard they try? Who do they always seem to consider a noose around their necks? Dick Grayson (well, him and Cass, but she's a teenaged autistic Asian murder machine so no wonder those old white guys can't figure her out). Because deep down Nightwing is a Super, not a Bat, and DC doesn't really understand most things that aren't Bats.