Batfamily Explosion!

[WonderScott]

What's your thoughts on the increasing ranks in the Batfamily? There's a lot of characters:
Batman
Dick Grayson
Batgirl
Red Robin
Red Hood
Batwoman
Hawkfire
Batwing
Huntress - Helena Wayne... If Earth 2 meets it's World's End, will she find herself back on Prime Earth?

Upcoming:
Spoiler
Robin - ?
Bluebird
Lark - ?
Julia Pennyworth - will she take a crimefighting role?

And this doesn't even cover the potential of Cassandra Cain showing up in the future or Helena Bertinelli joining Dick Grayson in some costumed crimefighting once Grayson runs its course. The ranks keep growing and I have to admit that I love it. I was never a fan of the 90s deal of cutting back on the characters so there was just Batman, Nightwing and Robin, to "make Batman seem special." I like a big cast of costumes and the soap opera drama, if they're well developed and given a chance to shine in their own way. Batman Eternal has made me appreciate the mix of different characters showing up and interacting together. Instead of repetitive, I find it intriguing as they are all a different shade of Batman thematically.

Gotham rooftops are busy, and I'm all the happier for it.

[Godlike13]

In theory i have no problem with it, but in practice ive come to develop a problem with it because the characters started to take away from one another. Nightwing became a casualty of this, it was basically bastardized.

So i guess i have no problem with it as long as the the members are distinct, and are do unique things. Unfortunately so far that hasn't really been the case. Though they are making improvements of late.

[Hilden B. Lade]

I suppose now is the best time to bring back the Batman Family book.

[Godlike13]

I suppose now is the best time to bring back the Batman Family book.

Isn't that what Eternal basically is though.

[M L A]

I do like my batfamily rather large, but tbh it just feels too SOON for all of them, you know?

Three years in the New 52 and I'm not even sure what's with the relationships between a lot of the core batfam members yet here come 3+ more.

[godisawesome]

I think we need a Gotham Knights style book so we can see the separate generations of the Batfamily interact with each other in the New 52. Let's show some of the old timers their Babs-Dick-Bruce team, then the Nightwing-Red Robin team ups, then the Red Hood vs Nightwing/Red Robin times.

I do think we should have a large Batfamily, but they need books in which to feature. Tim is in one team book and two weeklies, and I'd say that most of his fans (including myself) still think he needs a solo. Otherwise, you end up with suspiciously similar characters taking each other's stuff, like Tim suddenly evolving into a Nightwing ripoff for Teen Titans, or Harper Rowe doing the Stephanie Brown subplot form the 90s while the actual Stephanie Brown is doing her own thing.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

What's your thoughts on the increasing ranks in the Batfamily? There's a lot of characters:
Batman
Dick Grayson
Batgirl
Red Robin
Red Hood
Batwoman
Hawkfire
Batwing
Huntress - Helena Wayne... If Earth 2 meets it's World's End, will she find herself back on Prime Earth?

Upcoming:
Spoiler
Robin - ?
Bluebird
Lark - ?
Julia Pennyworth - will she take a crimefighting role?

And this doesn't even cover the potential of Cassandra Cain showing up in the future or Helena Bertinelli joining Dick Grayson in some costumed crimefighting once Grayson runs its course. The ranks keep growing and I have to admit that I love it. I was never a fan of the 90s deal of cutting back on the characters so there was just Batman, Nightwing and Robin, to "make Batman seem special." I like a big cast of costumes and the soap opera drama, if they're well developed and given a chance to shine in their own way. Batman Eternal has made me appreciate the mix of different characters showing up and interacting together. Instead of repetitive, I find it intriguing as they are all a different shade of Batman thematically.

Gotham rooftops are busy, and I'm all the happier for it.

I think that a single Robin joining half the adventures while he is training with Young Justice or whatever. I also don't mind if there is an Ace in the cave, occasionally going outside, and Jason Bard doing investigations for Batman. That should be the entire Bat team.

Now, operating as dependable outsiders with shared resources, I like Batgirl and Nightwing.

A number of characters are called "batfamily" but are actually independent vigilantes operating in the same city. They don't share resources:
Azrael
Huntress
Batmite (Who is mostly Batman's less evil Mxyzptlk).
Spoiler

And we have the Batmen of the World, who are Batman themed heroes from other places. I think Green Arrow and Speedy should be added to this crowd.

I'd prefer if Batwoman didn't exist or was retired. The original Jason was a great character, but at this point he is better off dead. I never liked Cass.

I really hate how fanfic-ish people treat them as a large cute family. It's lame. This is why they retired Batwoman the first time.

[doctormistermaster]

Batmite (Who is mostly Batman's less evil Mxyzptlk).

Less evil?
He cancelled Batman Brave and the Bold!!!

[deadboy80]

Was always a fan of a smaller bat-family.

[godisawesome]

Right now I'm only kind of worried about how much all the originally different characters kind of stealing stuff from each other. Dick and Tim had some bleed over in their #0 before that still kind of come through their revised versions in Secret Origin, especially for Tim who's still kind of screwed by being hammered repeatedly into a Nightwing archetype for Teen Titans. And right now, a lot of Harper Rowe still seems to be sheared directly off of pre-Flashpoint Stephanie Brown. She's the girl from the wrong side of the street who's hanging out with Tim in spite of his protestations and displays a strong go-getter attitude and stubbornness in spite of her lack of formal training, and her father's even the loser in Blackgate. She's Stephanie Brown in Dixon's Robin, with piercings and a brother. Meanwhile Babs is apparently headed towards Steph's Batgirl portrayal.

I'm starting to think that Chuck Dixon's skills at differentiating Batfamily character was a rare gift and a lot of newer writers are much more derivative.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

Less evil?
He cancelled Batman Brave and the Bold!!!

Yeah, I can't think of a more evil thing than that. That show was perfect.

[izaya]

It's quite obvious that damian is coming back as Robin(maybe he will look different or this event will change him). Batwoman and Hawkfire are not in the family. They do their own things and don't participate in his events f.e. night of owls or death of the family. There are no signs about Helena Wayne so she is not coming back soon. Julia will be next Alfred. So family consists of Bruce, Dick, Barbara, Jason, Tim, Damian(when he returns). Harper and Lark?(maybe Cullen Row) will join soon.I think Steph and Cass will have to wait before they join family. I think DC is trying to create 2nd generation of batfamily and let the first generation do their own things. First generation will have their own adventures and Batman will cooperate with 2nd generation and train them. I think first generation will come to help Batman in big events and 2nd generation will be with him all the time.

[SiegePerilous02]

I like all of them in small doses, but the thing is really bloated and leads to Bat-related stuff saturating the market. Which is probably a smart business decision on DC's part, but kills the diversity of content in their line. I wish we could get more experimental books like Dial H and Demon Knights, or even second books for Wonder Woman and Aquaman, instead of Bat-Vigilante #346.

While I have a more positive view of them than Red Monk, I really do agree with him that their presence takes away from Bruce and Dick at times, not to mention the Gotham cops.

[PyroSikTh]

Providing they all hold a unique place, I don't mind how many there are. That said, let's be realistic about who's actually part of the bat-family here.

- Batman is obviously the head of the family.
- Grayson, Red Robin, Red Hood, and Damian (Robin?) are his adopted (or genetic) sons, so definitely part of the family.
- Next tier below that is Batgirl and Batwing. Accepted members of the family who don't have such a strong connection to Bruce. It's safe to say Bluebird will be added here too.

After that it gets sticky.
- Batwoman is, to a layman, part of the costumed family of crime-fighters, but she's an outsider who has and wants nothing to do with the inner workings of the family. She's not even connected to someone close to Bruce; she's a copycat.
- Alfred and Gordon could definitely be considered part of the family, but with no secret identities I tend not to count them. They're not superheroes after all (well Alfred might be, with all he manages to juggle with everyone else). Bard could be placed here also.
- Spoiler's future is uncertain, but I expect she'll inhabit the same place as Batwoman - a costumed Gotham hero who's not actually part of the family.
- Huntress doesn't count because A) she's barely been in Gotham and B) she's from a completely different world (which she's also going back to). If we count her, we should probably count Earth-2 Thomas Wayne as well, which is illogical.
- Julia Pennyworth, at the moment, is nothing more than a supporting character. There's no point including her or posturing about her inclusion.
- Hawkfire is not a part of the Bat-family. Batwoman-family, yeah, but not the big, main family. Has she even met anyone else?
- Catwoman is a whole other kettle of fish - half hero, half villain. Honestly, she could go either way and I'd have no complaints.
- Then there's also that "completely new" character we were teased in Batman 28. Who knows where they'll go.

So really, the Bat-family will only be adding one new member after Eternal - Bluebird. Spoiler may or may not, but I doubt it. She's barely featured in Eternal so far. The size of the family after this consideration isn't actually that big at all. It's the four Robins, Batgirl, and Batwing (the latter of which could also be bundled up with the rest of the Batmen of Many Nations). It was bigger during the War Games period when we also had Oracle, Black Bat and Onyx.

P.S. I miss Oracle.

[TheDarkKnightReturns]

- Batwoman is, to a layman, part of the costumed family of crime-fighters, but she's an outsider who has and wants nothing to do with the inner workings of the family. She's not even connected to someone close to Bruce; she's a copycat.

I don't know if you knew that but Kate Kane aka Batwoman is Bruce Wayne cousin. So the blood connection is there to support the fact she is indeed part of the Batfamily. And she is featured in Batman Eternal.