I've been thinking about this. The Dark Knight trilogy is critically acclaimed (the latter two being more) and received numerous awards and were ranked as some of the greatest films in contemporary years. Batman's popularity has sky-rocketed, his story-telling has been fantastic with the likes of Morrison in recent years, he retained much of his pre-Flashpoint solo titles canon, the Arkham Games have achieved amazing levels of critical success/popularity and he has stole much of the limelight from the Batman vs Superman film.

Can it get any better?

A lot of that stuff happened in the past and I have to wait to see how batman is in the movie. But yes these last few years have been great to Batman and this year looks promising with Batman eternal and new team on detective comics and zero year still going on as well as the Arkham games.

Yes

His popularity is at all time high, we still need a good batman animated show like the one in the 90s though

More like have a pretty steady popularity since the mid 80's.

@frozen:

I agree with you 100% I think the Nolan films together with some stellar comics have made the past decade the best ever for Batman. I think it all started with the Miller comics, then the 1989 Batman film...but the 2000s and 10s have been mega. I think Batman fans should enjoy it because I grew up in the 70s when Batman was a bit of a laughing stock due to the campy TV series re-runs we had back then!

Ask in 20 years or so how much of this is actually remembered.

@outside_85: Batman is not going to disappear in 20 years if that's what you're thinking.

@jonez120: It is my firm belief that Batman and Superman go into categories with the likes of Sherlock Holmes or Scrooge. Basically they're going to be part of our culture for a long time coming. Your Grandchildren will probably be at least familiar with them.

@joshmightbe: Agreed.

Do you think it will be the same for Marvel characters such as Spiderman or even Wolverine?

@farkam: Spider-Man maybe but I'm not sure Wolverine can really enter the "Timeless" category.

I was thinking more in the sense of, will anyone remember Snyder along with Morrison, or will one of them be virtually forgotten the same way the main Bat-writer appears to have vanished from the time Moore wrote Killing Joke.

There are some things about both of those writers I'm hoping to forget.

There will with time get less buzz and be remembered more in the vein of Chuck Dixon or Doug Moench. They are popular in their time they will be so in ten or twenty years. However they will be less popular than there are now. Killing Joke will still be remembered as a classic higher than anything Scott Snyder and Grant Morrison did with Batman.

Yeah I think it is. People act like Batman should take a break and let other DC characters come through and shine. But I don't think so. Batman is versatile since his creation. Sure you have all those Marvel characters out everywhere but they're not on the same level as Batman. Batman is still the biggest seller in comics and is still big in movies, animation and video games. So yes this is Batman's best years and I can't wait to see what comes next.

To break one of the few things that works (Batman) to let the universe work is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever heard (I know it wasn't yours). If it ain't broke then don't fix it.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb!

ha

Actually I should have went with a

@wolverine08: Not saying he definitely can't, just don't know. And I'm not saying he's a bad character, there are lots of characters I love that I really doubt will still be remembered 20 or 30 years from now. I love Invincible but even now you'd be hard pressed to find more than 10 non comic fans that know anything about him. Cable is one of my favorite Marvel characters but he's had more trouble than most characters being pulled out of the 90s "Extreme" stereotype.

Naw, I was just playing with you man. I knew what you meant. IMO, whether or not Wolverine can become a timeless character depends on how Marvel treats him for the time being. For a character whom in terms of popularity can slap fistcuffs with guys like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, etc. Marvel has a pretty good habit of giving him craptastic treatment with things like Paul Cornell's current Wolverine run, etc. If Marvel keeps treating him like that a majority of the time with good treatment coming only in sparse sprinkles, a decade or two from now, Wolverine might just end up being a forgotten anti hero. For him to end up a permanent big name, Marvel needs to make it a priority to give him consistently good treatment.

@wolverine08: Punisher is starting to fade a bit, which is sad but he really was a product of his time and has never really copied the success the character had in the 80s and 90s. I hate to say it but he really peeked back in the 90s with Suicide Run, he has bright spots here and there but he's basically B-list now.

This latest cinematic iteration may have something to do with his popularity down the line. I hope Ben murders it and exceeds beyond all expectations, but if something else in the production doesn't work out - Superman & Batman will crash and burn for a long time.

It's not so much that we want Batman to suddenly vanish from the pop-cultural landscape, it's more that we would like for some of all the chances, games, tv series and so on that Batman gets to be afforded the other corners of the DCU as well.

Like we have the Arkham games, and they are great and prove that comicbook based games really can be great. So, why not try will other characters like Superman, Wonder Woman or someone else from the vast DC library? (that said, I know games are a business, and business' don't like to take risks, which only gets larger the further away from Gotham you get.)

So, I guess I'm the only one here who thinks Nolan movies are mediocre and overrated...

@masterdetective: No, you're not.

Good to see some other people have some taste as well

@wolverine08: need his thoughts on this topic.

The Nolan films are really, why he's had a major popularity boost. Not to mention they're critically acclaimed with fans and critics alike...

Sad to see some people are too stupid to appreciate great movies...

See, I can be a d**k to people who don't share my opinions too.

@i3io_hazard: I agree. I think his popularity was higher in the the 90's. the success of Burton's first film and then BTAS, and Knightfall in the books... Batman was everywhere.

I could see how this age Batman is arguably at his best with top selling movies, and a comic that has been a top seller for the past 3 years straight (thats impressive). But I would argue that the late 80's was also Batman at his finest. Getting award winning tales of The Dark Knight Returns, and Year One, alongside with Batman (89), you have a character that just wasn't popular, but was rewriting the superhero genre.

I don't think Morrison's run will be forgotten so easily, its always on the top ten of every list. And Arkham Asylum ASHOSE is almost as popular as TKJ.

Yeah, I mean there's always the unknown, but I can't really see Batman getting any better than where he is right now. He's the face of DC, and dominates every form of media besides live action TV.

@wolverine08:

Yep, I agree with that and also the Nolan films are far from mediocre and over-rated!

..off topic, I love Batman and Wolverine and like you think the current Wolverine run sucks. Do you think Wolverine's current popularity with the public is a lot to do with Hugh Jackman, a bit like RDJ boosting Iron Man from relative obscurity to big star? In other words, once Jackman has gone, do you think he can continue to be popular?

Yeah, Paul Cornell's Wolverine run has been a roller coaster ride, and not in a good way. It's kind of getting better though. It's been revealed that Wolverine is working as a Shield Agent to bring down Sabretooth's criminal organization which is why he's been acting weird, so maybe things could get better from here on out.

As for your other question, I think Wolverine will be just fine after Hugh Jackman. I think while the RDJ comparison is good on the outiside, I think the effect those two had on their respective characters was to different degrees. Before RDJ, Iron Man was a B list or maybe low end A lister whom some people knew, after RDJ, Iron Man has been catapulted into a position where he's one of comic's top 5 biggest guys at this point. Hugh Jackman did help boost Wolverine's popularity, but it wasn't to the extreme which RDJ did to Iron Man. Pre Jackman, Wolverinr was already Marvel's second most popular hero after Spider-Man, and he's been there since. I think he'll continue to be a success after Jackman so as long as Marvel treats him right.

The Gotham show will remedy this crack in reality.

Tis' be true.

Well the Adam West TV series is still one of the most popular Comic book TV series.

..yeah, don't knock Adam West's Batman! Campy it may be, but it got a lot of people my age into the super-hero genre! All we had on TV in the UK in the mid 70s was re-runs of Adam West's Batman!

True, but Arkham Asylum (1989) is actually only 1 year younger than Killing Joke (1988) :)