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The Batman Family or Bat-Family is the common name of a superhero team within DC Comics who has evolved throughout their years.

The Dynamic Duo

Originally Batman was a lone superhero from his first appearance in Detective Comics 27. That all changed in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) with the introduction of Robin, Batman's junior counterpart. [1] Robin (named Dick Grayson) was introduced, based on Finger's suggestion, because Batman needed a " Watson" with whom Batman could talk. [2] Sales nearly doubled, despite Kane's preference for a solo Batman, and it sparked a proliferation of "kid sidekicks". The "dynamic duo" would remain throughout the Golden Age of Comic Books. Even Robin would star in his own stories. [3]

The original Bat-family

During the Silver Age of Comic Books, comics were made lighter due to claims made by Fredric Wertham in his novel called Seduction of the Innocent. One of the complaints made was Batman was homosexual. Also thanks to the success that the Superman had his own superhero family, Superman editor Jack Schiff suggested to Batman co-creator, Bob Kane, that he create a family for Batman. A female was chosen first, to offset the charges made by Wertham that Batman and Robin were homosexual.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). She along with the character Bat-Girl aka Bette Kane (introduced in 'Batman #139 in April 1961) were depicted as a romantic interest for each of the dynamic duo. [4] [5]

Batman was also commonly assisted with the pet dog Ace the Bat-Hound and Bat-Mite and occasionally supporting characters like James Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth were an essential part of the family which according to later editors like Julius Schwartz took a wrong turn and was deemed too silly and inappropriate for Batman. [6]

The Dynamic Trio

Schwartz stated that he had been asked to develop a new female character in order to attract a female viewership to the Batman television series of the 1960s. [7]Executive producer William Dozier suggested that the new character would be the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon, and that she would adopt the identity of Batgirl. [8] When Dozier and producer Howie Horowitz saw rough concept artwork of the new Batgirl by artist Carmine Infantino during a visit to DC offices, they optioned the character in a bid to help sell a third season to the ABC television network. Infantino reflected on the creation of Batgirl, stating "Bob Kane had had a Bat-Girl for about three stories in the ’50s but she had nothing to do with a bat. She was like a pesky girl version of Robin. I knew we could do a lot better, so Julie and I came up with the real Batgirl, who was so popular she almost got her own TV show." [9] Yvonne Craig portrayed the character in the show's third season. [10] The Batman Family would then get their own comic book series starring themselves entitled Batman Family. [11] It would later be merged with Detective Comics until cancelled. [12] [13]

Second Robin

At the time Len Wein took over as editor of DC Comics' Batman titles in 1982 during the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Dick Grayson had largely moved on to starring as the leader of the young superhero team the Teen Titans in DC's New Teen Titans title. However, with the character no longer featured in Batman comics, the disadvantages of telling Batman stories without the character to act as a sounding board for the protagonist became apparent. [14] Jason Todd as the new Robin and new member of the Batman Family first appeared in Batman #357 (March 1983). [15] [16] Until later being depicted as being killed off in comics by the Joker around 1988 during the Modern Age of Comic Books. [17]

Modern Bat-family

With Jason Todd Robin dead and Barbara Gordon crippled by the Joker. The family would take a huge toll. [18] A new family would eventually debut with a new Huntress named Helena Bertinelli that debuted in The Huntress #1 (April 1989). [19] Bruce Wayne would actually be convinced to train Tim Drake as the new Robin extensively so what happened to Todd would never happen again. [20] [21]

References

  1. ^ Wright, p. 17.
  2. ^ Daniels (1999), p. 38
  3. ^ Daniels (2003), p. 36
  4. ^ Fleisher, Michael L. (1976). The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume 1: Batman. Macmillan Publishing Co. pp. 134–140. ISBN  0-02-538700-6. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. ^ Daniels (2004), p. 93
  6. ^ Daniels (2004), p. 93
  7. ^ Daniels (2004), p. 113, 115
  8. ^ Cassell, Dewey (February 2010). "Growing Up Gordon: The Early Years of Batgirl". Back Issue! (38). TwoMorrows Publishing: 65–70.
  9. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael (2007). "Carmine infantino: Decades at DC and Beyond". Archived from the original on November 24, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  10. ^ Daniels, Les (1995). DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. Bulfinch. p. 141. ISBN  0-8212-2076-4.
  11. ^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 164. ISBN  978-0-7566-6742-9. DC launched Batman Family with its memorable debut of the Batgirl-Robin team. Scribe Elliot S! Maggin and artist Mike Grell unleashed 'The Invader From Hell'. {{ cite book}}: |first2= has generic name ( help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  12. ^ Wells, John (October 24, 1997), "'Lost' DC: The DC Implosion", Comics Buyer's Guide, no. #1249, Iola, Wisconsin, p. 132
  13. ^ Manning "1970s" in Dougall, p. 130: "With this issue, [Detective Comics] adopted the popular multi-story format of Batman Family, spotlighting many of Batman's supporting cast."
  14. ^ Daniels (2004), p. 147
  15. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 201. ISBN  978-0-7566-6742-9. Jason Todd first appeared in a circus scene in the pages of Batman #357, written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Don Newton. {{ cite book}}: |first2= has generic name ( help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  16. ^ Gustines, George Gene (5 March 2020). "Batman and His Many Robins". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  17. ^ Polo, Susana. "The most tragic moment in Batman's history almost looked like this". Polygon. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  18. ^ "The Reinvention of BARBARA GORDON as BATGIRL, ORACLE, BATGIRL". Newsarama. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  19. ^ Callahan, Timothy (February 2010). "The Huntress: The Daughter of the Bat and the Cat". Back Issue! (38). TwoMorrows Publishing: 71–78.
  20. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 241. ISBN  978-0-7566-6742-9. With the pencils of [George] Pérez, Jim Aparo, and Tom Grummett, [Marv] Wolfman concocted the five-issue 'A Lonely Place of Dying'...In it, Tim Drake...earned his place as the new Robin. {{ cite book}}: |first2= has generic name ( help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  21. ^ Mullins, Mike (2009-04-26). "Reminiscing About Robin: A Look Back in Wonder". Newsarama. Retrieved 2010-08-14.

Further reading

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