Thoughts on the current Batfamily line? Things you like? Things you’d change?

[scary harpy]

I’d have Tim take over for Alfred, if not him then Harper.

Good idea.

Why not both? (Alfred had a ridiculous number of duties around the manor and the cave.)

[DragonPiece]

Honestly a huge fan of Tynion on Batman and think he's slowly building up gotham city in his view. I think his run started off rough for some because he clearly he was just a fill in writer at first, but he's clearly been getting more leeway to do his own thing recently with 5G dead so I'm hopefull the book will get more exciting after joker war. And I feel Bryan Edward Hill is doing a ok job on batman and the outsiders but it needs new team members and a new artist to spice the book.

Don't care for the rest of the books and hope they all get relaunches soon/

[Factor]

My thoughts are the current line is uninspired and stale. With for the most part tired creators going through the motions with stale ideas. Most of the books feel like they are in holding patterns, buying time for something that now isn't going to come.

Exactly this. There isn't a single Batbook that I actually enjoy.
The only Bat-related book I'm still buying is Taylor's Suicide Squad, which isn't anything stellar, but it's still the best version of the book since Spurrier.

Here's what I'd want:

BATMAN needs something new and exciting. The franchise is stuck in a rut just like X-men was before Hickman arrived. I think Batman needs something similar. A fresh run that explores new ground.
DETECTIVE COMICS should be the noir crime book of the line. Think Snyder's Black Book. Bruce Wayne shouldn't be a large factor here. The focus should be on compelling mysteries.
BATWING book. Don't scrap the 5G Batman book entirely. I say they should repurpose it as Batwing and really try to build his popularity as his own hero. Having Ridley as a big name writer won't hurt.
BATWOMAN needs a relaunch and I'd love of Renee was part of the regular cast this time. It's absurd the character has a TV show and no comic to capitalize on it. I know the show is probably replacing Kate, but DC Comics should be more commited to such an important character.
BATGIRLS book starring Babs, Steph and Cass as the intel gatherers of the Batfamily. They'd all have their own unique identities back and Batgirls would be the team name.
Relaunch GOTHAM KNIGHTS as a big flagship-type book where all characters could team-up against high stake threats.
NIGHTWING returns to normal. Have him be based out of Bludhaven but focus on international missions ala Grayson. He shouldn't be always stuck in one place and that would make his solo a lot more dynamic.

I'd also want a Robin book (or Batman & Robin relaunch), an Outsiders relaunch that isn't Bat-centric and a new Birds of Prey starring Oracle, Dinah, Huntress and Starling as they hunt bad guys that are on the run.
I don't care about Harley, but a new Gotham City Sirens could also be interesting. It's weird how DC never tried that book again after Harley's surge in popularity.

[Aahz]

Castelluci isnt doing a bad job if they would let her wrote her stories and back up on the unlimited crossovers.

Scott was also OK, but these characters need really strong run once in a while, and they didn't had one in a long time.

[Aahz]

I’d have Tim take over for Alfred, if not him then Harper. All the ex-Robins having solos breeds redundancy. The ex Robins are similar characters that do similar things. Them all having solo’s doesn’t make for diverse original books.

It doesn't need to be an ongoing, but imo Tim really needs at least a maxie series to get a little bit more focus on his life out side of the costume (which was pre flashpoint a big part of the character) and some interaction with the rest of the Batfamily.
He is pretty underdeveloped in comparison to the other Robin in the current continuity.

[Godlike13]

Do we though? Pre-flashpoint Tim’s out of costume life was important in context of him being Robin. The challenge of balancing it with trying to be Robin is what made it interesting and self fulfilling. Not being Robin, and having his own autonomy, his out of costume life becomes considerably more pedestrian.

[bretmaverick2]

BATMAN - written by Gail Simone. She has a unique take on darn near every character she writes. Let her build up Bruce’s supporting cast and take him in a new direction.

DETECTIVE - have Batman appear in every issue but in a secondary role to other Batfamily characters that don’t have their own books.

NIGHTWING - Mark Waid or Tom King driven series that build Dick Grayson as his own man. Maybe using one or two of his former Titan friends in supporting roles. Maybe Donna or AMal.

BATGIRL - I really would like to see Tim Sale draw this book.

Batwoman, Robin, Red Hood, Signal, Spoiler and so forth could rotate through Detectice Comics.

[godisawesome]

Do we though? Pre-flashpoint Tim’s out of costume life was important in context of him being Robin. The challenge of balancing it with trying to be Robin is what made it interesting and self fulfilling. Not being Robin, and having his own autonomy, his out of costume life becomes considerably more pedestrian.

Red Robin got a lot of mileage out of Tim’s civilian life while he was autonomous, as had much of the Robin series before he became Red Robin. And Detective Comics Rebirth was at its most successful when it paused to have Cassandra go watch ballet, had Jean Paul and Luke exchange some dialogue on religion, or featured the characters just pausing a bit to be more human with each other... similar to the things that I know made Lobdell’s Red Hood work get much more infectious and long lasting than his abysmal Teen Titans runs. It’s not so much that a character like Tim *needs* his civilian life shown; its more that if a superhero’s civilian life is being shown, it means the character and story is getting some nuance and intelligent configuration by the writer that also pays off in pacing.

Though personally, I’d say the heart of the matter is that *everyone* knows how good a decent maxi-series or mini-series would be for their preferred characters if given the time and effort of a good writer; all these spin-off characters, especially the ones from before the New 52, have at minimum highly successful cult runs that sold well in TPB, remain a benchmark book for representation, or just plain raked in cash for years. The main issue is that, in spite of the Batfamily being DC’s most reliable cash cow, DC feels like its not properly exploiting all the various characters.

To put it another way... a good Tim book would be better than a mediocre Jason book, but a good Jason book would be better than a mediocre Babs book, but a good Babs book would be better than a mediocre Steph book, but a good Steph book would be better than a mediocre Dick book, but a good Dick book would be better than a mediocre Cass book, but a good Cass book would be better than a mediocre Tim book...

They really should juts consider doing maxi series spread out for everyone. Save maybe Nightwing, none of the “kids” really can claim enough superiority in concept or fanbase to justify limiting the others

[Godlike13]

Red Robin has barely got any mileage out of his civilian life. The Red Robin book used a poorly conceived search for Bruce to drive it. Detective comics was the first time in a long time we saw semblances of him maybe having a civilian life again, but it ultimately went nowhere. Tim Drake going to school, free of being Robin and not having to answer to anyone, just isn’t a particularly interesting situation any more.
Tim is not very original of a character. Much of what they can do with him, they can do with others and quite frankly are doing with others. And it’s not just Tim. There is redundancy within the Batfamily and so they often step on each other toes. Series for every one just spreads this problem out. Every one thinks that if they just bring back books that had cult runs with good writers, and they could maybe recapture what use to be. Though as we are seeing with Young Justice that isn’t necessarily the case.

[CPSparkles]

Why does anyone need a glimpse at Tim's daily life? It was interesting back when he was Robin and he was juggling Normal life and heroics. He hasn't done that in for ever so what's the argument for seeing Tim's life over Damian, Cass, Dick or anyone else.

Actually Duke. Show me Duke's daily. Duke and Damian are the two who have lives outside of heroics. We got a little of Duke's daily life in Batman and the signal which got me curious. I'd like to see more of the youth centre and Duke's uncle

[Restingvoice]

Under normal condition, this is usually the Bat-family sales tier looks like
High seller - Batman
Medium - Nightwing, Batgirl (Barbara)
Low - Red Hood

I don't know what position Young Justice, Catwoman, and Outsiders take on average since I stopped paying attention and I don't remember how Batman and Robin or Robin Son of Batman did, also how Birds of Prey and Batwoman did before eventually got canceled.

So my idea is to put canceled characters in Detective, either as rotating assistant, guest star, or teammate, because the Gotham Knights era sold high.

The medium seller can stay where they are but can be combined with lower selling characters.

Damian especially works really well with Nightwing not just in character interaction but in numbers. Damian fans will read Nightwing book, there are a lot of people who enjoy their interaction, and his gradual decline in sales actually stops when Damian guest stars.

I don't know how to increase Red Hood sales because the fanbase is divided on how he's portrayed. There's still a lot of people who prefer him to be a villain or at least a dark anti-hero who disagrees with the Bat-family in general instead of being one of the brothers. I don't know which one is the higher number though, people who prefer the more peaceful healthy Jason and angry/angsty violent Jason. I only know the buyers who prefer the current Jason is in the 20,000 or lower.

Tim's Robin title sold high in the 90s but starting to lower to 30-20,000 in the 2000s so just because he's a high seller then doesn't mean he's going to be now, especially with his solo being absent for almost a decade. Same with Cass. She's a high seller in the 2000s but who knows now.

Oh and ideally I want Travis Moore on Nightwing, Dexter Soy on Red Hood, Marcus To on Tim, Patrick Gleason on Damian, and J.H. Williams III on Batwoman.

As for the story themselves, I need to track down where they left off logically

[Restingvoice]

I'm listing all the Batfamily members again and where the last time I saw them, you can correct me with where the last time they exist currently

First the big guy

Batman - Bruce - Lost Alfred - Lucius and Gordon supporting - Partnered with Catwoman - Dealing with Mastermind and Joker - Harley supporting for this arc.

Personally he can just carry on however he likes since he's always a high seller. There will be a Return of Alfred story in the future and if the title sales low that's where it's going to get higher.

Story-wise he needs to reconcile with Damian, especially after Pennyworth RIP where he just left him ran away feeling guilty for Alfred's death. Bruce was hands-on in Batman and Robin, there's no reason why he shouldn't hands on now.

Speaking of kids' treatment, I want the whole Punching As Code thing he did to Tim erased from reality. Both the deed and the idea that they communicated through punches.

If Duke and Cass are still living in the Manor I want them to also make a regular guest appearance, even if it's just in the background or the Batcave. Make me believe they're living in the same world.

I don't know what to do with Thomas Wayne. Peeps have been telling me he's out of character anyway, so maybe it's good if he's never mentioned again, or turn good, I don't care.

Gotham Girl, I don't know how much of her involvement in Bane's plan is voluntary, does she deserve redemption or not. Where is she now? Do I care?

Holly Robinson was awful, I also don't know. Do we continue where she left off or do we forget everything that happened and continue where Post Crisis left off?

Is Catwoman staying at the Manor? She's his main partner right now right? With Harley as a backup?

Does Lucius know Luke is Batwing?

Has Gordon forgiven Batman for punching him in order to get to Bane? Was everything cleared up? Was it a hallucination?

[Frontier]

Why does anyone need a glimpse at Tim's daily life? It was interesting back when he was Robin and he was juggling Normal life and heroics. He hasn't done that in for ever so what's the argument for seeing Tim's life over Damian, Cass, Dick or anyone else.

Actually Duke. Show me Duke's daily. Duke and Damian are the two who have lives outside of heroics. We got a little of Duke's daily life in Batman and the signal which got me curious. I'd like to see more of the youth centre and Duke's uncle

Doesn't seem like many heroes have a life outside of being a hero these days.

[The tall man]

Why should Bruce lose his Detective book to other family members? They can't sustain their own books so Bruce has to give up his spot or move aside to make room for them? This is what I always notice, family fans hating/criticizing Batman for any and everything while also wanting the family to benefit from Batman's popularity. Let the family have their own books and let them sink or swim on their own merits. Don't look to Batman to prop them up especially when he's being criticized for all the family's problems. Detective is Bruce's book, not a dumping ground for others who cannot carry their own.

[Restingvoice]

Why should Bruce lose his Detective book to other family members? They can't sustain their own books so Bruce has to give up his spot or move aside to make room for them? This is what I always notice, family fans hating/criticizing Batman for any and everything while also wanting the family to benefit from Batman's popularity. Let the family have their own books and let them sink or swim on their own merits. Don't look to Batman to prop them up especially when he's being criticized for all the family's problems. Detective is Bruce's book, not a dumping ground for others who cannot carry their own.

Because one character doesn't need multiple solos. One is enough, and as I said, I'm less inclined to buy Detective if it just stars Batman because there's already a solo for Batman, and if the main story is in Batman, why should I buy Detective if most of the time it doesn't affect the main story and starring the same character? Unnecessary. If we have different characters in the title, then I'm more interested in buying it because it will have different stories and dynamics.

This has nothing to do with blaming Batman and more about being as effective as possible. Also, nobody's asking the writers to write a jerk Batman or a family that blames Batman. They can choose to write a more functional team and family, they just chose not to.