Batman is DC’s most popular character, and it’s not even close. Superman is the first superhero and recognized the world over, but Batman sells way more comics. Right now, Batman has begun “H2SH”, a sequel to “Hush”, a blockbuster from over twenty years ago, in Batman. There’s also Detective Comics, the other ongoing Batman comic. He has a starring role in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest. On top of that, there are multiple other miniseries, both from DC’s regular line and the Black Label — there’s a joke that the Black Label is basically the Batman Label — and that’s before we even get to something like Absolute Batman. Batman is everywhere in DC Comics, and there’s a few reasons for that — Batman comics sell like hotcakes and every creator has some kind of Batman story.
The amount of Batman books that DC puts out right now, and honestly over the last few years, is astounding. There have been times, in the last decade, where DC published more Batman comics than they published of non-Batman comics. DC fans have been complaining about the amount of Batman comics for years, but it hasn’t stopped the publisher from putting them out. So, are there too many Batman comics or do fans have the wrong idea? And if there are too many, what can be done about it?
So, to answer the question of there being too many Batman comics, we have to define what a Batman comic is. So, for example, Batman and Robin: Year One is definitely a Batman comic, but is Nightwing? Or Batgirl? Does World’s Finest count? So, in order to get the answer let’s set up the ground rules. A Batman book is any book that stars Batman. We’re not going to count any comic that stars a member of the Bat-Family. This is just straight up how many comics that star Batman. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest will be counted, since he is one of the two main characters. So, let’s get started.
In March 2025, there are 12 Batman comics being published, four of which are facsimile editions, which are just reprints of older issues. This includes Batman, Detective Comics, Absolute Batman, Batman and Robin, Batman and Robin: Year One, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Batman: Dark Patterns, Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween, Batman #612 facsimile, Batman #613 facsimile, The Batman Adventures #12 facsimile, and Batman’s Strangest Cases Limited Collector’s Edition #59 facsimile. Those are just new issues, mind you, not counting collected editions. Adding collected editions of older Batman comics brings the number up to 18. And, again, we aren’t counting the Bat-Family of comics, but if we were, the number would go over 20, and would be closer to 30.
However, even then, that is still a lot of Batman comics and it’s definitely on the lighter end. “Infinite Frontier”, the publishing initiative that followed Dark Knights: Death Metal, saw Batman make up the majority of DC’s entire publishing line. It was honestly a little bit insane, but it made sense if one looks at the sales situation for DC at the time; Batman was the only thing selling. That said, there’s no reason for any one character to have twelve different solo books in one month. Looking at the list of every Batman Black Label comic in the DC wiki, there’s 21 since the imprint started in 2018, averaging three a year. Again, this is just counting the books that are starring Batman. If you add in characters like Joker and Harley Quinn, that number goes up.
When it comes right down to it, there have too many Batman comics for a long time now. Corporate comics, first and foremost, are about making money. The creators love their job, yes, but they want to get paid and the best way to get paid at DC Comics is to do a Batman comic. That’s pretty much just the reality of the situation. The publishers also want to make money and DC has long been something of a distant number two. Batman comics are a huge moneymaker for DC, and they are going to publish as many as the market will bear. So, the question of whether there are too many Batman comics is more complicated than just the number of Batman comics being published. If you’re just going by the number of Batman comics being published monthly, then yes, there are. There’s 12 this month alone. However, that also means that the market can handle 12 Batman comics and every one makes money off them. There’s really only one way to change this state of affairs.
Batman has personally starred in 8,436 comics, and has made appearances in 23,382 since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27. That’s an insane amount of comics, and almost certainly one of the highest numbers out there in comics. Honestly, I don’t think it’s possible to find a month that has less than ten Batman comics in it at any time since the 1990s, at least, although he probably hit similar numbers as the ’80s went on. That’s a lot of comics and anyone would say that there are too many, especially when one looks at all the comics that DC could be publishing. However, let’s be real — Batman makes money. Batman books rarely if ever get cancelled and when they do, they’re usually secondary ongoings. People will buy Batman miniseries and one-shots, mostly because of the amazing creative teams that DC gets for Batman books.
Until people stop buying Batman comics, there will always be a lot of Batman comics. If you look online, it seems like no one wants them, but they never actually stop buying them. Now, it is hard to stop buying Batman books and that’s because DC is constantly getting the best writers and artists on Batman books. So, a person might not buy any of the Batman ongoing books, but they’re buying Batman miniseries because they want to see what so and so is going to do with Batman. DC knows the formula — big time creators and Batman make big time money. That’s just the way the whole thing works.
So, if you want less Batman titles, it’s time to practice some self-control. Stop buying Batman comics. Stop buying the umpteen miniseries with superstar teams on them. Stop buying the Black Label books. Stop buying the collected editions and omnibuses. Just stop buying Batman. DC will notice, and you’ll see less Batman books being published. Instead of every creator wanting to do a Batman story, they’ll get the chance to do the stories they want to do with other characters. It’s a cycle; if you stop buying Batman comics, then less of them will be published and more books from characters that you want could get that place.
That’s it. DC will continue to publish Batman books until it’s not as profitable. Batman is never going to go away, obviously. He’s still one of the most popular comic characters of all time. Batman and Detective Comics are venerable parts of the comic industry. They won’t go away. However, all of the Batman miniseries? One-shots? Black Label books? Possible Vertigo books (I will not put it past DC to make Batman vertigo books)? None of those will get published. Would that be a better DC Comics? None of us know, but there’s really only one way to find out.
Batman is DC’s most popular character, and it’s not even close. Superman is the first superhero and recognized the world over, but Batman sells way more comics. Right now, Batman has begun “H2SH”, a sequel to “Hush”, a blockbuster from over twenty years ago, in Batman. There’s also Detective Comics, the other ongoing Batman comic. Read More