Superhero Families - When does a 'family' become to big?

[Primal Slayer]

Like the title asks - when it comes to Superhero families...when does a Super Fam just get to big?

Is there a limit? A perfect number of members? Does it dilute the brand?

If a Super Fam does become to big how should they go about downsizing it?

[Frontier]

When you have too many characters to adequately cover or focus on across books or in your family of titles.

[James Cameron]

Too many characters to cover is one problem. Another is disrespecting a character's development and history for the sake of a story. When the story just requires a sidekick for the main hero, members of the family become interchangeable, and that shouldn't happen.

[Frontier]

I feel like 8 characters for a core family should be a limit for a family. Anything past that and it gets too unwieldy.

[Rac7d*]

When you have too many characters to adequately cover or focus on across books or in your family of titles.

So they are all too big lol

[Primal Slayer]

The Super family
Bat family
and Flash Family

Are all way toooo big and need to be reduced.

How many speedsters does one family need?

Twins could go from Super fam and probably 1-2 more characters.

Batfam needs no more new Robins and could kill off some of the fam

[Jim Kelly]

Modern comics don't have enough regular people in their cast of characters. It's just a lot of costumed people hanging out together--which makes the lead character not that special. The classic Superman family was just Superman, Supergirl and Krypto--and the rest were people in street clothes. As long as the cast is filled out with other regular people, it makes the world feel lived in, but if it's only costumes it feels bloated.

[Jon Clark]

When the characters are stepping on each other's feet.

If you can't tell who a character is without them being in costume- there is an issue. There needs to be distinct things each family member brings to the group. And more than skin color or sexual identity- Jon Kent has to be more than Clark except lbi-sexual, Jace Fox has to be more than Batman with darker skin. Not saying that either character isn't distinct- just using them as examples of how they could become "superfluous". The family needs to have different roles and dynamics for each member so that if you swap out Wally's daughter for Bart or Ace then the story becomes different. And if you have a dozen characters that are all "just like the main hero except for race/age/gender/hair color/... then the family is too crowded to allow each character to be themselves.

Or more direct- if more than one character hs the same codename (Batgirl, Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Superman, Kara Zor-(e)L) you added too many to the family.

[Jon Clark]

Modern comics don't have enough regular people in their cast of characters. It's just a lot of costumed people hanging out together--which makes the lead character not that special. The classic Superman family was just Superman, Supergirl and Krypto--and the rest were people in street clothes. As long as the cast is filled out with other regular people, it makes the world feel lived in, but if it's only costumes it feels bloated.

That was a problem even before "families". Who was Barry's best friend who wasn't also in the JLA (or Wally/Jay)? When was the last time anyone at the Daily Planet actually reported on a non-superhero event? Is there anyone a superhero interacts with on a regular basis who isn't in the top 1% of something (skill, career)?

And I actually miss Lois and Clark being just reporters- not Pulitzer winning reporters whose names/bylines are known nationally- just regualr beat reporters whose bylines (but not faces) might (just might) be familiar to your average man on the Metropolis street, I miss Jefferson Pierce being just a teacher, rather than someone who was Secretary of Education. Or the idea that the main roster of the JLA could stop at a neighborhood bar and no one would give any of them a second glance.

[HsssH]

I feel like 8 characters for a core family should be a limit for a family. Anything past that and it gets too unwieldy.

Was thinking about what I'd include in "my" Batman: Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Gordon, Selina, Damian, Barbara. Thats 7, close enough.

[Rac7d*]

The Super family
Bat family
and Flash Family

Are all way toooo big and need to be reduced.

How many speedsters does one family need?

Twins could go from Super fam and probably 1-2 more characters.

Batfam needs no more new Robins and could kill off some of the fam

One day I do expect a new Robin. It’s gonna take one more for Bruce to give up the cowl. That and when he eventually becomes public domain and Warner is forced to adjust

[Rac7d*]

Was thinking about what I'd include in "my" Batman: Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Gordon, Selina, Damian, Barbara. Thats 7, close enough.

The new 52 size/what is the inner circle today is the best size for them.

[Godlike13]

When it oversaturates your market.

[Stanlos]

I don't think it can be too big going by the decisions leadership has made. I mean all the deaths of the various Crises were reversed and they applied CareBears formula to the Lanterns and the Flash. Lantern has the largest family with literally thousands of other personnel with rings. And that is just the Green--there's a Corps for every color donchaknow?

[9AlphaOmega1]

No such thing of having a big family, is up to the creators on how and/or to use them. Each members have their own lives and problem to do deal with, they each other support system.