Batman is one of the most popular superheroes of all time, so it makes sense that the Caped Crusader has starred in countless comic books over the years. And right alongside him is the extended Batman Family, his closest allies and partners who have each starred in their own series from time to time. Of course, with as many comics as these beloved characters have headlined, there are always going to be some that fall through the cracks. Still, just because these comics are lesser known doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve to be read just as much as any other story. So here are seven Batman Family comics that you’ve probably never read, but definitely need to.
1) Batman Family
While the modern rendition of the Batman Family first formed in the midst of the “No Man’s Land” storyline, the name was first used to describe the team of Batman and his closest allies way back in 1975 with this title. It focused on stories pairing up different members of the main Batman family, which was then Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Huntress, and Ace the Bat-Hound. Ah, the days of when the Family was so tiny even Ace was a headliner. Regardless, the series was a larger-than-average title that was a mix of team-up stories between the Batman Family and their various allies such as Elongated Man and Vicki Vale, alongside Gold and Silver Age reprints. It was the series that brought back the original Batwoman and sold quite well, but was merged with the then ailing Detective Comics after only twenty issues, with it fading out of the picture after just another fifteen. A shame, because I’d love to see another title focused solely on the Batman Family in the future.
2) Batman Confidential
When people think of Batman series that focus on him in his early career but with a modern understanding of the character, they usually think of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. However, Batman Confidential was actually another series that did just that, running from 2006 until 2011. It shows the first conflict between Batman and Lex Luthor independent of Superman, and gives a potential origin for the Joker in the same story where Batman builds his Batcomputer. Unlike Legends of the Dark Knight, this series was just as supernatural and over-the-top as it was grounded and serious. Heck, it featured a story where Batman fought an army of the undead, which was a sequel to the story Superman and Batman vs. Vampires and Werewolves. Definitely a different take on Batman’s early years, but one worth checking out.
3) Azrael: Agent of the Bat
Originally titled just Azrael, it was renamed starting with issue #47 to indicate that Azrael had fully become a member of the Batman Family following how he fought beside its other members during the “No Man’s Land” event. As you’d expect, this story follows Jean-Paul Valley as Azrael directly after his disastrous stint as Batman with the “Knightfall” storyline. This one hundred issue epic saw Azrael build his own cast of supporting characters, his own identity as a hero outside of and beside Batman, and delved into his origins as a weapon genetically engineered for the Order of St. Dumas. It all ends with what many thought was and should have been Jean-Paul’s final donning of his cowl. Although today he is pushed off to the side and often forgotten, Azrael was once a main member of the Batman Family, and these hundred issues show exactly why.
4) Batman: Holy Terror
Unlike the other entries on this list, this is a single issue Elseworlds tale, actually being the very first graphic novel to bear the Elseworlds mark. Beyond launching DC’s incredible alternate universe storytelling, this comic is so unbelievably weird that it deserves to be read by everyone. It takes place in an alternate reality where historical figure Oliver Cromwell didn’t die until 1668, allowing him to stabilize the Protectorate of England and convert what should have been the United States into a commonwealth under the corrupt theocracy. In then modern-day 1991, Bruce Wayne is about to join the clergy when his friend, Inquisitor James Gordon, informs Bruce that his parent’s murder wasn’t a random mugging, but a targeted assassination because they stood up against the corruption of their religion that was used to politically control people. Donning a bat-shaped devil costume his father once wore in a morality play, Bruce set about discovering who killed his parents, and how it’s all connected to the government secret Green Man. The new Batman discovers the government conducting secret human experiments to create metahumans, all spawned from studying Superman, the Green Man who was turned over to the government as a child, and subsequently killed with Kryptonite when he grew too hard to control. In the end, Batman decides to fight the corrupt institutions that allow such horrors to exist, a crusade spurred on by the evils he saw and his faith in God. Batman being a member of the Church while fighting against this level of strange corruption isn’t something I thought I’d see, but man if this level of crazy doesn’t make for a wildly entertaining ride.
5) Batman: Streets of Gotham
While the main character of this story is indisputably Batman, there are two very important distinctions that set it apart from the average Batman comic. One is that this follows Dick Grayson during his criminally short time as the Caped Crusader, and two is that the story exclusively shows Batman from the perspective of other characters. The title is much more focused on how Batman appears to the rest of the characters in Gotham City, with particular attention paid to the street-level perspective of the Dark Knight. The narrator of the story switches up between story arcs, sometimes being allies like Jim Gordon, other vigilantes like Batwoman, villains like Hush, and even completely unrelated side characters that populate the dark streets of Gotham. This story aimed to show the effect Batman had on Gotham by giving a perspective we don’t often get to see explored in more than a page or two every now and again. A typical Batman comic would show him traveling to the Batcave, gathering resources, and the like, but this comic only shows Batman when other people see him, which only enhances his mysterious, insanely competent aura. This comic makes Batman seem even more amazing than he already is by showing us how it would be to see him in action from the eyes of someone else, which is a great perspective to gain.
6) Bat-Mite
This six-issue miniseries released in 2015, and focused on everyone’s favorite Batman superfan and full-time unintentional nuisance: Bat-Mite. The fifth-dimensional imp is obsessed with all things Batman and will do anything to help his idol reach his full potential. Much to Batman’s chagrin, this usually entails causing more problems than Bat-Mite solves, which just ends with nobody except the reader being happy. This miniseries showed us that sometimes even other imps reach their limits with Bat-Mite’s obsession, and he is exiled to Earth by the rest of peers. With Batman obviously unwilling to take in the little gremlin, Bat-Mite travels around and teams up with some of DC’s biggest jokes and bottom tiers in terms of respect, from Booster Gold to the Inferior Five. He even winds up saving Robin by using the patented Bat-Shark Repellant, which brought said item into the comic book continuity. That alone justifies its existence, and everything else Bat-Mite has ever done.
7) The Batman Chronicles
Unlike the other ongoings and miniseries on this list, this series was specifically released once a quarter, intended to fill out the odd weeks to ensure that there was a Batman comic releasing every week of the year. With a much higher page count than a normal issue, this comic focused on stories that followed either Batman or one of the many Batman-related characters, even occasionally starring one of his many villains. Each issue contained three separate stories, jumping around time and continuity to tell the stories they believed needed to be told in this comic. Issue #5 alone justifies everything about its existence with three incredible stories. “Decoys” shows Gordon’s early months in Gotham as he strives to prove that his new home can be better, “Of Mice and Men” shows Alfred and a young Bruce bonding in a beyond wholesome way, and “Oracle: Year One: Born of Hope” shows us how Barbara picked her life up off the ground to reinvent herself as Oracle after she was paralyzed. The last story is one every fan of the Batman Family should read, and demonstrates exactly what makes Oracle such an amazing character.
So there we have seven obscure Batman Family spinoffs that you probably didn’t know about, but definitely should read at some point in the near future. Like I said, Batman and his Family have starred in hundreds of comic books, but just because these ones are less known does not mean they don’t deserve to be loved just like the headliners. Which obscure Batman Family spinoff series is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
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