Batman Family


Batman Family is an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring supporting characters to the superhero Batman. 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 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 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 and Silver Age stories. Many issues of Batman Family featured Batman supporting characters such as Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale, the Elongated Man, the Huntress, and Ace the Bat-Hound. Writer Bob Rozakis introduced the Duela Dent character in issue #6 and revived the original Batwoman in issue #10. The series began featuring only new material as of issue #11 and the Man-Bat began appearing as a regular feature. Batman Family converted to the Dollar Comics format with issue #17.
DC published several other ... Family titles concurrent with Batman Family. These included The Superman Family, Super-Team Family and Tarzan Family. As a rule, DC's ... Family titles contained mostly reprints, and featured a higher page count than DC's normal books. Its final issue, #20, was published without any advertisements.

Merger with ''Detective Comics''

In 1978, after the DC Implosion, it was decided that DC Comics' long-running flagship title Detective Comics 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. This arrangement lasted 15 issues. With issue #496 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. The first six issues were illustrated by Stefano Gaudiano and Rick Hoberg. Steve Lieber replaced Hoberg on issues seven and eight.

Collected editions