I'm getting sick of Batman.

[Jim Thompson]

Everyone's got Batman fever right now. They keep making stuff about him left and right and neglect DC's other heroes. So, can we give Batman a rest now? I mean, A LONG REST! Come on. DC has so many other superheroes they could make money on.

Give SUPERMAN a chance in the spotlight for a change, like he is in the Man of Steel movie. Just give Batman a rest. A LONG REST!

And yet you came to discuss things in a Batman forum, rather than talking about characters you'd like to see more of in those forums.

It's an approach, I guess.

[Bob Fett]

Sorry,dude.Batman will be around for a while.He's the golden cow right now, and he's the only character that works right now for WB.Expect to be covered in Superman stuff in 2013.Unil then,I'll wait for your post,"I'm sick of SUPERMAN'.

[DebkoX]

Dude your point is kinda strange, you're complaining that everyone is liking the Batman (Cos of the movie and comics) but you want everyone to hype for Superman which is coming out next year? ;S

[Statham]

Everyone's got Batman fever right now. They keep making stuff about him left and right and neglect DC's other heroes. So, can we give Batman a rest now? I mean, A LONG REST! Come on. DC has so many other superheroes they could make money on.

Give SUPERMAN a chance in the spotlight for a change, like he is in the Man of Steel movie. Just give Batman a rest. A LONG REST!

Okay, so.. Get this. There are plenty of people like you who are a bit tired of Batman. And you know what? DC listened. You know those animated films they put out on a regular basis? They tried doing different ones than Batman. They did Wonder Woman. Green Lantern. New Frontier. Did any of them sell nearly as well as Batman? No. DC listened to the fans and the fans crapped out on them. You know why Batman gets the films? Gets more monthly comics? More animated films? People WANT it. People WANT Batman and when they don't get Batman, DC doesn't sell nearly as much. You can point the finger at DC, but the fact of the matter is, the fans really helped dig this hole. This really pleasant, kind-of positive hole that actually keeps people interested in at least one comics character.

[DebkoX]

Batman, alongside superman is DC's biggest name, honestly, more people know Batmans is from DC.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I dunno. I think the poster might have a point--at least it's a genuine feeling. And what better place to discuss whether Batman is over-exposed than on the Batman forum. Likely any such discussion on another forum would simply be moved over here by the mods anyway.

It's a difficult play on DC's part. By putting several Bat titles on the stands each week--instead of just one--they gain shelf space from their competition (pressuring stores to give them more display over other companies), but at the same time all those Bat-titles displace other DC books. It's not simply a case of fans choosing what they want--it's much more complicated than that--marketing is a complicated game.

We've seen in the past when one character is over-exposed it invites a backlash and can drive down the fortunes of that character. Plus over-exposure can thin out sales on individual books. If there's only one Spider-Man title to buy-everyone will buy that one title. But if there's eight Spider-Man titles--readers are forced to choose which ones they will buy and while this might push up collective sales, it could drive down individual sales. It also fractures the readership. Instead of all X-readers following all the X-Men, readers pick and choose their favourites and only follow them.

Not that I think Batman is more over-exposed now than he has been in the last two decades. But such popularity is hard to sustain. If DC puts all their eggs in one Bat-basket, then they are much more at risk if the public should suddenly turn against Batman. And real world incidents can cause that sudden turn. DC is ultimately a better company when it offers a variety of product that pleases several different markets and not just one niche market.

[Statham]

I dunno. I think the poster might have a point--at least it's a genuine feeling. And what better place to discuss whether Batman is over-exposed than on the Batman forum. Likely any such discussion on another forum would simply be moved over here by the mods anyway.

It's a difficult play on DC's part. By putting several Bat titles on the stands each week--instead of just one--they gain shelf space from their competition (pressuring stores to give them more display over other companies), but at the same time all those Bat-titles displace other DC books. It's not simply a case of fans choosing what they want--it's much more complicated than that--marketing is a complicated game.

We've seen in the past when one character is over-exposed it invites a backlash and can drive down the fortunes of that character. Plus over-exposure can thin out sales on individual books. If there's only one Spider-Man title to buy-everyone will buy that one title. But if there's eight Spider-Man titles--readers are forced to choose which ones they will buy and while this might push up collective sales, it could drive down individual sales. It also fractures the readership. Instead of all X-readers following all the X-Men, readers pick and choose their favourites and only follow them.

Not that I think Batman is more over-exposed now than he has been in the last two decades. But such popularity is hard to sustain. If DC puts all their eggs in one Bat-basket, then they are much more at risk if the public should suddenly turn against Batman. And real world incidents can cause that sudden turn. DC is ultimately a better company when it offers a variety of product that pleases several different markets and not just one niche market.

Except.. You know, they are. Batman might have more books himself than some, but there's still other characters in his family of titles. And again, DC have tried pushing other characters. That was, I presume, partially the point of the New52. But people still want more Batman. Again, just blaming DC for this is a joke, because.. Well, the customer is always right. And the customer wants? Batman. DC put out other titles, and have promoted them equally as part of the New52. But.. You can't dictate to the customers what they buy. And when it comes to there being about.. What, four or five Batman titles? It seems to me that most fans pick them all up. So DC isn't exactly fracturing their sales base for Batman.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

But this actually points out some of DC's failings. They aren't able to build on the success of Batman to promote their other titles. Is DC going to be the equivalent of Archie Comics--a comic company that depends on one character for all its success? Marvel seems to be much more successful in extending their brand.

We should all worry about this, because a one legged table doesn't stand for long. And when it falls, everything comes crashing down.

[MorphyVSFischer]

People seem to think this is the first time this has occured. Anyone remember Wolverine in the 90's? How he was everywhere? When his popularity faded to a bit more sane level Marvel didn't come crashing down.
Hell wasn't it even to long ago Deadpool had four ongoing titles?

[doctormistermaster]

I just feel like Batman needs a little bit of a break.

Batman doesn't get a break because crime doesn't go on break!

[Nite-Wing]

Maybe they should just put the rest of the Justice League in the Batman movies that way you can push those characters without taking away from Batman.

[Seattle Freeze]

Give SUPERMAN a chance in the spotlight for a change, like he is in the Man of Steel movie. Just give Batman a rest. A LONG REST!

A friend of mine just took a trip to Japan and was visiting the local comic, toy, manga shops etc. He said he saw A LOT of Batman stuff but couldn't remember any Superman and relatively little of other DC characters.

Worldwide, Batman is DC's most marketable character and so of course they are capitalizing on it right now. Perhaps when the Man of Steal movies comes out and if it meets great reviews, they will focus more on Superman.

[Parch]

Such failed logic. I laugh at these guys who cry about too much Batman and too much Wolverine and how they're getting "shoved down our throats". Nonsense. Nobody is forcing you to buy these comics so if you feel these characters are overexposed then it's only your fault for reading too much of them. There are hundreds of comics to chose from. Read something else.

And I agree. Supes sucks. If DC retires Batman they might as well file for bankrupcy. The other DC characters just don't cut it.

[Mr. Holmes]

A friend of mine just took a trip to Japan and was visiting the local comic, toy, manga shops etc. He said he saw A LOT of Batman stuff but couldn't remember any Superman and relatively little of other DC characters.

I have a friend in China who said the exact opposite. Batman's appeal is more domestic than global.

[NinjaMic]

Like Batman didnt have 4+ titles before the reboot