Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight#104: Batman Family Adventures

Have you ever wanted me to go a month in 2022 without a throwback? If so, then fear not because we're shining an extremely special spotlight on Dc's favorite family in Batman Family Adventures by CRC Payne and StarBite.

Summary

In his endless crusade to ensure that tragedy never strikes twice, Batman has become a symbol that strikes fear in criminals and hope in citizens. However, most people don't realize is that the caped crusader is also a father to a whole host of fostered kids. And with the addition of Duke Thomas, it seems that the family is only going to get bigger. Either way, these are the stories of Gotham's closest family on their off-hours.

Cast

Given that Batman has one of the biggest ensemble casts ever, I'm going to give you guys a short description of all the most recurring characters.

Batman: I'm not introducing him y'all know.

Nightwing: The cheerful and optimistic oldest brother Dick Grayson was originally an acrobat for Haley's Circus flying Grayson. However, after his family died tragically, he was adopted by Bruce to become the first Robin and then evolve into Nightwing.

Red Hood: Growing up in the streets, an orphan Jason Todd, met Batman after stealing the Batmobile's wheel. From there, Jason got adopted as the second Robin. However, due to his violent temper and sensitive nature, Jason would die and get resurrected to become the violent vigilante Red Hood.

Red Robin: The third Robin, Tim Drake, surprisingly isn't an orphan (at least post-crisis ) instead of a superfan who sought out a self-destructive Batman after the death of Jason. However, instead of getting the dynamic duo back together again, Tim decided to become the next Robin. Tim is known for his more tactical, wise, and cautious personality. He would later become Red Robin

Robin: The latest Robin and Batman's actual son Damain Wayne is a son of the assassin Taila al Ghul. Damien is an awkward man in a boy's body, never really having a childhood. However, along with his family, he's starting to have one.

Orphan ( really goes for any character here): Raised to be an assassin by birth Cassandra Cain was consistently abused by her father, Cassandra Cain. After accidentally killing someone, though, she would eventually leave her abusive father and find herself in Gotham. Finally, Cassandra found her voice in the batfamily, becoming the second Batgirl and currently Oprhan.

The Signal: One of Batman's newest protege's Duke Thomas is the audience surrogate in regards to this series. He's awkward, curious, and very anxious but is always willing to learn and has the wit and intelligence to match.

Overview

I am honestly so surprised that this series hasn't existed till now. Like even before this, I've constantly seen bat family comics and other slice-of-life superhero comics on the internet get massive attention. And it's not like both DC and Marvel were completely inept at this. The former alone had many kid-friendly comics beforehand like Lil Gotham and Tiny Titans, more introductory comics made to help new readers into the mainline comics. Graphic novels like "I'm not Starfire" and "Teen Titans: Beast Boy loves Raven" also prove that attracting a more YA audience isn't out of the question either.

Regardless, this comic is a goldmine idea in concept alone. Everyone praises Batman for having one of the most inventive villain rosters in all of comics but outside of the Robin's, not nearly enough love is spread throughout the bat family he's inspired. As a guy who's read and knows his fair share of comics, this serves a good middle ground for newcomers and old-timers.

Despite the cast list, there are still a ridiculous amount of appearances and cameos from pretty much all of Batman's mythos. Each character usually brings out a short but sweet intro panel that introduces them while still having many deep-cut references for comic veterans. I highly recommend reading the comics or searching some of these lines if you want some good trivia.

While the characterization is a little bit more idyllic and less problematic to fit the more lighthearted tone (Ex: Cassandra's more developed speech or Jason's...everything), I love it anyway, with characters often marked by such tragedy and rich histories, seeing them in normal situations is hilarious and heartwarming. Yet when the more multi-part severe stories hit, the mix of realistic family dynamics about the character's canon struggle legitimately gets my bitter soul crunched from cuteness. It may be nothing more than fanservice, but it means spotlighting dynamics and rarely discussed characters, then count me in.

Epilogue

I hope to see more Webtoon collaborations with other companies, specifically western comic book publishers like I mentioned for my spotlight on Caster. The webcomic format gives them a chance to reach an audience they may not have otherwise. Either way, I'll probably take a great look at them all soon enough. Until then, though, let's light up the bat signal one last time to see where it takes us next.