Story/directional concepts the Bat-Family should explore

[Agent Z]

I'd like to see Steph, Harper and Cass in a book together.

Tim should retire and open a detective agency with Detective Chimp.

And this would be different from what he does how?

[Godlike13]

And this would be different from what he does how?

Yes. Honestly that would be the point even. To be as different from whatever that crap that he's doing now as it can be.

[bat_girl_cc]

I'd like to see Steph, Harper and Cass in a book together.



And this would be different from what he does how?

You will probably get your wish in the form of a new birds of prey book, hopefully not with Batgirls current art which its a no-no for me.
I think DC should do a League of Batgirls (Batwoman, Cass, Steph and Tiffany Fox) and a Birds Of Prey (Batgirl, Black Canary, Helena B. and Harper)

[Raptor13]

My idea is similar, with Tim going undercover with a group of anon style hacktivists who are moving from silly cyber pranks to actual violence, but give them a cause thats actually worth fighting for, similar to the occupy movement, fed up with income inequality.

I'd be down for this too, but with a cause that's actually worth fixing for, which I don't consider income inequality/occupy to be.

And I realize that this is comics, so I don't know how any in-continuity story could work with this, but I'd love to see Batgirl or Bluebird work with actually treating or helping out places for mental health, actual rehabilitation. But whatever, overall the New 52+ has been great to me as far as my bat family favorites go (well, except Tim outside his bat family interactions, TT has been atrocious, but he did get a snazzy outfit)

[batnbreakfast]

A villains title. Oneshots, small arcs, rotating cast. Outside of Gotham without Batinterference. What are Killer Moth, Firefly, Ratcatcher, Black Mask and Bane up to? Maybe roadmovie style.

A Batman '89 book from Jeff Parker exploring Michael Keaton's pulp heavy world.

[joybeans]

For Tim and Jason, the obvious move would be to get them under the creative control of the Bat editorial. Then from there, find a genre or creative direction that are suited for the character. Then find a creative team with the skills suited for that direction.

With Tim, you can actually revisit some of the elements that made the old Dixon run work, seeing as Damian's reign as Robin has steered him into the completely opposite direction. Tim's 16 years old, and has a nose for detective work. One way to go with him is put in a "young Sherlock Holmes" book targeted at a teenage demographic. And I mean actual detective work that includes taking cases, examining clues, and chasing after suspects, not just computer hacking skills. It would generally stray away from the darker elements of Batman stories, add in some light comedy, and sprinkle in a few contemporary social issues for a modern touch. Partner him with a Watson-type character, an audience surrogate and an extroverted personality for Tim to bounce off of. Harper Row could make a nice fit here, given her previous history with Tim, and their platonic chemistry.

With Jason, the current action-comedy team-up route isn't a bad idea, but creative teams over the past few years have botched the execution rather badly. For one, it would need an artist who can draw dynamic action sequences, and perhaps have a little creativity with layouts. And more importantly, it would need a writer who can create distinct voices and organic arcs for the characters. The writer would also need to be able to write a script that syncs up in tune with the artists' sequential art, and not clutter panels with monotonous expository narration boxes that halt the momentum of the action.

I would also love to see the Batwoman title revived with a direction similar to what JH Williams III was doing: a creator-driven title with an unconventional art style that explored the weirder side of Gotham. I don't DC is very interested in more experimental titles at this point, but it would be great to see someone like Genevieve Valentine tackle this.

[nepenthes]

Bruce and Aquaman are swimming around in the mid-Pacific and Aquaman thinks "enough is enough, I've been polite to my friend for too long". King Orin lays out to Brucey that's it's time to stop playing around and get real - just take Gotham and fix it.

Bruce embarks on a study tour of civics, diplomacy and statecraft in Atlantis, Themyscira and Santa Prisca. Those greased-up bankers and mobsters and lawyers that think they're running the show back in Gotham? They will crushed by the wise and furious heel of the Governor Bat.

[Aahz]

For Tim and Jason, the obvious move would be to get them under the creative control of the Bat editorial.

At least in Jasons case I actually still prefer how he is written in the titles of the superman editorial over his appearances in the Batman books. Maybe he would get a better treatment by the Bat writers if they were in charge of his character, but who knows ...

[Kingcrimsonprog]

A new DA white-kinght type like Dent was in the Nolan film shows up, becomes Batman's best friend and they roundly crush crime together... and everything is awesome but Bruce and the audience are super uneasy the whole time thinking... "well, he's obviously going to turn evil" but then he never does.

Then after about 15 years real time, Two Face kills him because comics.

[joybeans]

At least in Jasons case I actually still prefer how he is written in the titles of the superman editorial over his appearances in the Batman books. Maybe he would get a better treatment by the Bat writers if they were in charge of his character, but who knows ...

I'd say that the Bat writers have done more with less in Jason's case. Lobdell's Jason is rather insufferable, with all of his inner monologuing hitting the same two character beats over and over again.

[darkseidpwns]

I'd say that the Bat writers have done more with less in Jason's case. Lobdell's Jason is rather insufferable, with all of his inner monologuing hitting the same two character beats over and over again.

Not that I'm a fan of RH/A but Lobdell offers consistency in characterization which I think Jason fans are grateful for. They dont have to worry about Jason randomly developing a crush on Barbara or something.

[joybeans]

Not that I'm a fan of RH/A but Lobdell offers consistency in characterization which I think Jason fans are grateful for. They dont have to worry about Jason randomly developing a crush on Barbara or something.

It varies from writer to writer (as is the nature of guest spots), but writers like Valentine, Bermejo, and King have been able to convey Jason's characterization clearly without beating the reader over the head with it, and without all the "black sheep of the Batfamily" baggage that Lobdell's Jason tends to fall back on.

[Aahz]

It varies from writer to writer (as is the nature of guest spots), but writers like Valentine, Bermejo, and King have been able to convey Jason's characterization clearly without beating the reader over the head with it, and without all the "black sheep of the Batfamily" baggage that Lobdell's Jason tends to fall back on.

Robin Wars looked OK sofar, but appart from this.

In Batman&Robin he got beaten up by Damian quite easily.

In Batman Eternal he was used as punching bag (even by Barbara who shouldn't be on his level), needed to be rescued several times, had this strange crush/inferiority complex towards Barbara and didn't had one good showing or won one fight and his involvement with in "the Cult"-story was again ignored (which was the biggest event from his time as Robin).

In Grayson #12 he felt suddenly betrayed by Dick not trusting him (which somehow did came out of nowhere), he got put in a sceene together with Tim and they didn't reveal anything about their past relation with Dick, and in the master plan in the end he was basically just Tims assistant.

In Batman&Robin Eternal there was at least the fight against Cass, but his obsessions with beer and love for bar-fights felt off (its more like he is written in fanfics than in his actual comics), he talks and smiles far to much, they really like to write him as the guy how always screws up and the fight with Bane was also kind of embarrassing.

[jules]

In Batman Eternal he was used as punching bag (even by Barbara who shouldn't be on his level), needed to be rescued several times, had this strange crush/inferiority complex towards Barbara and didn't had one good showing or won one fight

Well, Barbara had gone a bit crazy at the time. She was probably manic enough in her attack on Joker-Jason that she was exceeding her normal capabilities. Plus, he was obviously holding back and fighting for a draw since he knew what had happened to her. I don't think that particular fight counts as a notch over anyone's headboard.

[joybeans]

There are also a lot more important things to characterization than arbitrary power levels.