Originally Posted by
the1&onlyE.
Damian’s relevance comes from him being son of Talia and Bruce? Yes and no. Yes, I would say in terms of first impression and marketing. “Son of X” nowadays is a very famous trope and he feeds of that, I totally agree. But just being son of someone is not a guarantee of a character’s popularity. In fact, Grant Morrison said in the past that their initial plan was to introduce Damian and kill him at the end of the arc; if that had in fact happened, Damian wouldn’t be a popular character, he would just be a quick arc that happened once. And since we are talking about sons of Batman, there are a lot of other characters who are bio kids of Bruce that are not as popular. Granted, a big part of them weren’t given the same push as Damian, but they exist, they are there, they have their stories, but you don’t see them everywhere anyway. In fact, the original Super Son of Batman was Bruce Jr. and he doesn’t exist anymore.
That being said, just gaining a title is not enough to keep a character relevant. Damian is popular because, besides Batman’s son, he is Robin, he has a past, good stories, made connections with other characters, etc. If you personally don’t like him, that’s okay, but don’t pretend he is just known for being son of Batman.
And if you think that the batfamily is somehow bad for Batman, tbh you’re just wrong. lol You talk as if that Batman’s popularity has always been the same as 2021's, when that can’t be farther from the truth. I remember Tom King even talked about this in a podcast during his run: Batman was not always DC’s number one. What made him famous with time were stories like Killing Joke, Death in the Family, and others, which are, surprise surprise, tied with the batfamily. I’ll add to this fact that, in the past, Batman had horrible sales and what saved him was the introduction of Robin.
So, Batman isn’t enriched by any of them? Not correct at all, because they allow new stories and directions that wouldn’t be possible if he was alone, and that’s what makes a character famous: having good stories, yes, but also new stories that add to the mythos. But you’re crying because editorial chose to portray him as a bad father nowadays? Boo-hoo.
And I want to note that I’m not saying necessarily that Batman needs the batfamily, because he can obviously have good stories by himself, but they are important today and they were important in the past to make him the big name he is today. The batfamily's presence doesn't need to be a rule, but should be embraced for certain tales, because they help expand them.
Finally, I’ll also add that your complain that other characters use Batman’s name to gain attention is just irrational. Batman is a brand, DC is a business, why wouldn’t they use his popularity to create more characters and titles that they can profit over? Like you said, Batman still comes out on top anyway, so why not use this fact for their advantage? lol
That’s all.