''Batman Family'' is an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring

supporting characters Support may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Supporting character * Support (art), a solid surface upon which a painting is executed Business and finance * Support (technical analysis) * Child support * Customer support * Income Su ...

to the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. An eight-issue miniseries called ''Batman: Family'' was published from December 2002 to February 2003. The term "Batman Family" is most commonly used as the informal name for Batman's closest allies, generally masked vigilantes operating in

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

or simply "Gotham".

Publication history

The ''Batman Family'' comic book series ran for 20 issues from September–October 1975 to October–November 1978 and featured solo and team-up stories starring

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. The character Bette Kane, Betty Kane was introduced into publica ...

and Robin. The lead story in the first issue teaming Batgirl and Robin was originally intended for publication in an issue of '' 1st Issue Special''. The series additionally featured reprints of

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

and

Silver Age The Ages of Man are the historical stages of human existence according to Greek mythology and its subsequent interpretatio romana, Roman interpretation. Both Hesiod and Ovid offered accounts of the successive ages of humanity, which tend to pr ...

stories. Many issues of ''Batman Family'' featured Batman supporting characters such as

Alfred Pennyworth Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, originally Alfred Beagle and commonly known simply as Alfred, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Alfred is ...

Vicki Vale Victoria Vale (usually called "Vicki") is a fictional journalist appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Her character often serves as a potential love interest, character in pe ...

, the

Elongated Man Elongated Man (Randolph William "Ralph" Dibny) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''The Flash'' #112 (February 25, 1960). The character made his live-action debut on The CW's live-actio ...

, the Huntress, and Ace the Bat-Hound. Writer

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of '' 'Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis ...

introduced the Duela Dent character in issue #6 (July–August 1976) and revived the original

Batwoman Batwoman is a name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies of Batman similarly to Batgirl. The original version of the character, Kathy Kane (eventually given t ...

in issue #10 (March–April 1977). The series began featuring only new material as of issue #11 (May–June 1977) and the

Man-Bat Man-Bat (Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Introduced in ''Detective Comics'' #400 (June 1970) as an enemy of the superhero Batman, the character belongs to t ...

began appearing as a regular feature. ''Batman Family'' converted to the Dollar Comics format with issue #17 (April–May 1978). DC published several other ''... Family'' titles concurrent with ''Batman Family''. These included '' The Superman Family'' (1974–82), '' Super-Team Family'' (1975–1978) and '' Tarzan Family'' (1975–76). As a rule, DC's ''... Family'' titles contained mostly reprints, and featured a higher page count (and higher price) than DC's normal books. Its final issue, #20 (Oct.–Nov. 1978), was published without any advertisements.

Merger with ''Detective Comics''

In 1978, after the

DC Implosion The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which American comics company DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cu ...

, it was decided that DC Comics' long-running flagship title ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' was to be terminated with #480. The decision was overturned, following strenuous arguments on behalf of saving the title within the DC office. Despite being the better-selling title, ''Batman Family'' was instead merged with ''Detective'', converting that series into a $1.00 68-page giant as of ''Detective Comics'' #481 (Dec. 1978-Jan. 1979). This arrangement lasted 15 issues. With issue #496 (Nov. 1980) ''Detective Comics'' reverted to its traditional size and price — thus effectively cancelling ''Batman Family'' for good.

2002–2003 series

''Batman: Family'' was an eight-issue miniseries published from December 2002 to February 2003 and written by John Francis Moore. Issues #1-6 were illustrated by Stefano Gaudiano and

Rick Hoberg Richard Renick Hoberg (; born June 7, 1952) is an American comics artist and animator. Newspaper strips Hoberg began his career in comic books in the mid-1970s, working for Russ Manning on ''Tarzan'' comic books for overseas distribution (1975� ...

Steve Lieber Steve Lieber (born May 19, 1967) is an American comic book illustrator known for his work on books such as ''Detective Comics'' and ''Hawkman'', and the critically acclaimed miniseries ''Whiteout (Oni Press), Whiteout'', which was adapted into a W ...

replaced Hoberg on issues #7 and 8.

Collected editions

* ''Batgirl: The Greatest Stories Ever Told'' includes Batgirl stories from ''Batman Family'' #1 and 9, 160 pages, December 2010, * ''Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter'' includes the Huntress stories from ''Batman Family'' #18–20, 224 pages, December 2006, * ''Batgirl : The Bronze Age Omnibus Volume 1'' includes stories from Batman Family #1, 3-7 and 10-11, 504 pages, December 2017, * ''Batgirl : The Bronze Age Omnibus Volume 2'' includes stories from Batman Family #12-20, 576 pages, April 2019, * ''Robin : The Bronze Age Omnibus'' includes stories from Batman Family #1, 3, 4-9 and 11-20, 912 pages, March 2020,

References

External links