COMICS PORTAL: Here Come the Batgroups!

It makes sense that all those Bat-characters would eventually form groups! DC is unleashing the Bat-groups!

IT MAKES SENSE!

I remember way back when DC, in the 1960s, created Batgirl. At first glance, I thought they were reviving Betty Kane as the Bat-girl (the hyphen is very important, you know). Nahhhh! It was time for a NEW character, so Barbara Gordon boldly went where only few Batman characters went before—into the realm of the female!

Recently, however, DC has been busy multiplying the Bat-family given the Dark Knight’s popularity. There have been several Batmen, more than a few Robins, and multiple Batgirls. So why not give them their own titles? Hey, while the big Bat-guy is popular (and many of the other comics don’t sell all that well), let’s go for it!

So, we’re on the lookout for Robins #1, Batgirls #1, and so on. Hey, I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought Alfred back from the dead so he and Lucius Fox could be the “Alfreds.”

I wasn’t at all surprised when DC recently announced that they were bringing back Batman, Inc., which originally was an international group of heroes like Batman with a different group name until Grant Morrison got hold of them. It did work for me since Bruce Wayne was a corporate magnate, after all!

And Dan Jurgens has already introduced a whole ‘nother group of Nightwings when Dick became Rick Grayson thanks to a bullet to the head. If these other groups take off, well, Nightwings, DC?

Move over, Justice League! Here come the Bat-groups!

SO, WHO WILL BE IN THESE GROUPS?

As a big Bat-fan who’s been reading the Dark Knight for a long time, I thought I’d take a stab at figuring who’s going to populate these various teams. If I miss anyone, be sure to let me know in the space below!

Robins

There are several obvious choices here, including Damien Wayne, Jason Todd (now known as Red Hood), Tim Drake (recently known as Drake – bleh!), Stephanie Brown (otherwise known as Spoiler), and Carrie Kelley (from the future by Frank Miller).

There are less obvious choices, and my favorite would be The Toy Wonder, another future Robin. This one is from the DC One Million event published back in 1988. I always liked the idea of a robot Robin who wouldn’t outgrow the identity, so I’d pull him from the future.

Also, Talon from Earth-3 would be fun. He’s the associate of Owlman on that alternate Earth. Hey, he debuted in an issue of Teen Titans, so it could work!

Batgirls

Of course, whenever people ask the public who Batgirl is, the answer is almost always Barbara Gordon. Still, DC has reverted her back to her Oracle identity at the moment, so that leaves Cassandra Cain as a Batgirl sitting around with nothing to do currently.

Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) briefly became Batgirl back in 1999, so she could be there. However, DC seems determined to stuff Stephanie Brown (of Spoiler and Robin fame) into this book, so look for her to become a “female Batman” of sorts. There was also Charlie Gage-Radcliffe (later Misfit) briefly, but she had super-powers, so she might not work in this book.

Other than that, it would spark my interest more if they brought a NEW Betty Kane in as Batgirl. She’d be a blank slate for creators to work with.

Alfreds

I’m still kidding, of course, but you could have Alfred and Lucius Fox in this team. Then, too, given the popularity of the live-action Pennyworth and the recent conversion of this series to a comic, maybe that younger character could appear! The possibilities are endless!

You know, given the attractiveness of Scott Snyder’s Dark Multiverse in which there were several versions of Batman that seemed to blend him with other DC heroes, maybe we could have Bat-Aquaman, Bat-Wonder Woman, Bat-Flash, and such in the Bat-League.

OTHER NEW DC HERO GROUPS!

Then, too, DC has recently announced Aquamen, which will team up Arthur Curry with Jackson Hyde as “protectors of the Seven Seas.” If this team takes off, maybe Tempest (formerly Aqualad) could get in there.

Not to be outdone, the Superman team has made two Supermen, including the original and now Jonathan Kent has had a rush advancing of age. When they work together, they could be called “Supermen.”

This all has been quite a change from the “a character has to establish his (or her) own place in the DCU” attitude of recent years. Team books have always done well, given New Teen Titans and other groups. And DC is starving for hits right now, so we could see “Wonder Women” to “Green Arrows” to “The Flashes” before long.

I had really been liking the notion that an individual had to earn his or her place in the DCU. I still think Supergirl needs to find a good opposite number instead of always borrowing or attacking Superman villains sitting around with nothing better to do.

Still, the Joker recently was cloned in his book! Can The Jokers be far behind?

Apparently, just add an “s” to then end of the name of most titles and they’ll work better! Just remember, team books sell!

What do you think? Do you often find a group of characters in the same vein to be more interesting than a single one? What other teams would you like to see DC create? On the other hand, what individual heroes deserve his or her own title? Whatever your opinion, feel free to post it in the space below!

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