Originally Posted by
Jim Kelly
The Superman family that was popular in the past were his supporting cast of players. Granted Jimmy and Lois had bizarre adventures and sometimes got super-powers--but they were just reporters in the main, not super-heroes. Supergirl got her own series in ACTION and then ADVENTURE and then a short-lived title of her own, before being folded into SUPERMAN FAMILY, but she didn't have the success of Jimmy and Lois. And the character kept going through changes (jobs, cities, creative directions) which is the sure sign a character is in trouble sales-wise.
It's right to say that Batman was more of a family man than Superman. He had his own son, really, in Robin. Although Robin was the only other costumed hero in Gotham City for about fifteen years. And then when other Batman family characters were introduced, they all existed within Batman's own adventures.
But this is because Batman was not as popular as Superman. The popular character is the one that they try to spin off more titles from, so they can make more money. Once Batman gained in popularity, then they tried to spin off more books from the character.
The reason there are more titles featuring the Batman family now is because Batman became the most popular character that the publisher had. And this coincided with a change in how comic books are marketed. The modern strategy is to flood comic book shops with lots and lots of titles, so consumers will be compelled to buy some of those books--rather than concentrating on just one really good title. So the sales might not be high on any, but cumulatively they will sell enough to make a marginal profit. And rather than putting out a variety of titles that appeal to different demographics, putting out all the same titles that appeal to the same demographic.