Currently, Batman has 6 on-going titles: Batman, Detective Comics, Batman and Robin, Batman: Streets of Gotham, Superman Batman, and Batman Confidential. That's more comics starring the same character than any other hero at any publisher. Aside from that, he always has at least two mini-series going on at the same time. Does he really need this many books though? In the defense of Batman, I think he does.
== TEASER ==
Each comic focuses on aspects within the Dark Knight's life. Take Batman and Robin for instance. As much as this is a super-hero book, it's also a book about father and son relationships. Now, Dick isn't Damien's actual father (Bruce Wayne is), but Dick has grown up a lot in the past year, stepped up, and become that father figure that Damien truly needs. Along the same lines, Superman Batman is much like that. Instead of a father son relationship, we see more of a "brotherly love" relationship. A man who has all the powers in the world, but is emotionally weak teams up with a man with no powers, but emotionally strong. Think of it as a modern day Odd Couple.
There's two other on-going titles that many people seem confused why they exist: Batman: Streets of Gotham and Batman Confidential. Batman: Streets of Gotham, to me, is essentially, "What if Batman The Animated Series kept going, but got darker and more adult?" Paul Dini, who was also a part of Batman: The Animated series, has done an amazing job at keeping this book fresh and a lot of fun to read. The other book that doesn't get enough praise is Batman Confidential. This book does what other Batman books can't do, it tells stories that don't take place in main continuity. Many can argue that Superman Batman does the same thing, but one of the great things Confidential does is retell stories without messing with continuity, like the first time Batman met the Joker, or the first time Bad Cop (terrible name for a character, but a great character none-the-less) was introduced. Be weary though, sometimes the stories can be less than stellar. It all depends on what creative team is on the book.
That leaves us with the two big ones, Batman and Detective Comics. As weak as this argument may be, why get rid of them? It usually has the best, most innovative creative teams and the most interesting stories. Both books have been around for more than 70 years, and the majority of Batman stories you remembered, came from one of those two books.
There you have it. Batman may have six ongoing comics currently, but each of them has their own place in the world of Gotham and Batman. What do you think? Is there one of these books that doesn't deserve to be a part of the Batman world? Tell us why!
~Mat "InferiorEgo" Elfring is a comedian, teacher, comic book writer, and comic store employee.~
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