Above is the trailer for Bat-Fam, a spinoff of Merry Little Batman, a Batman Christmas special I had considered checking out. If this is what the special is like, I think I’ll pass.
According to the Bat-Fam wiki, because Fandom has a wiki for probably every franchise ever whether anyone cares or not, the show follows Batman and his family taking on the issues of daily life, getting along, and fighting crime. The Webtoon comic Batman: Wayne Family Adventures proves that there is a market for such a concept, and it could be fun to watch. Except outside of Damian and Alfred, none of them appear to be part of this. Even Man-Bat looks like a bad Grandpa Munster wanna-be. No Nightwing, no Batgirl, no Robins of any kind, none of the traditional or current Batman Family are even part of this. Instead we have Volcana, who I only know from an episode of Superman: The Animated Series, Alfred’s oddly black niece Alicia (which I can only assume is a nod to Alicia Silverstone playing Barbara Pennyworth instead of Barbara Gordon in Batman & Robin as Batgirl), and the ghost of Ra’s Al Ghul…for some reason. Speaking of Superman, why is Livewire, one of his enemies from the DCAU, showing up here along with Killer Frost, a Firestorm villain?
Of course someone on X-Twitter tried to defend this show by saying “it’s just a kids show”, as if being for kids means it doesn’t have to be good. No, I don’t mean it has to be good to or for adults. Kids are allowed to have their own stuff. It also can be done well, in a way that entertain kids and is fun to actually watch while not insulting their intelligence. The show may not be out yet, but trailers are supposed to give you an indication of how good it will or won’t be, and this ain’t looking so good. I can point you to much better “just kids shows” that are better uses of the Batman family (which should have actually been about the Batman family), and I don’t have to go to Batman: The Animated Series to do it. That show was geared for a slightly older kids group than Bat-Fam appears to be doing, as was Kids WB’s underrated The Batman. So we’re talking younger kids…and I still have you covered with better shows than this slop.
BW Vs Bleeding Fool> You’re Burying The Coma Patient
I used the image Bleeding Fool used because I wasn’t sure I could find the original tweet. By the way, it’s Bleeding Fool’s anniversary. I like the site very much, so it’s a shame I’m breaking a vs out on one of their contributors on their anniversary week. It’s also one of their contributors I happen to enjoy and have used for Saturday article links, Brian Neumeier. Sadly this is also not my first versus article with him We agree on a lot, but not everything, and this is one of those subjects. Sorry, Brian, I have to pick on you again.
In discussion is this article he posted from his regular site (I linked to both, so choose your preference) “Burying Dead Media”. It’s an argument I keep seeing too often and it kind of saddens me. It also confuses me and tells you just how badly the Hollywood system has bungled comics since acquiring DC (Warner Brothers) and Marvel (Disney) in both comics and movies, as well as all the not-stalgia movies and comics that have also come out. The thing is I don’t disagree with many of Neumeier’s opinions, just his solution: just give up and let it all die.
Personal bias may be in play here, but the heroes that formed my moral worldview as much as my family, the reason I didn’t allow my temper to regularly go psycho on my bullies or the school itself for example, as well as why I wanted to write these kinds of stories, are being tossed aside…which I believe is what the current stewards want. They want us to give up on our childhood heroes to replace them with their own zeroes. I’m against the egotists, corporatists, and activists as much as anyone else. They’re three of the groups that make up the SEECA acronym I’ve been using lately along with the snobs and elitists. There’s a sort of scorched earth perspective from many of my fellow commentators who say it’s too far gone and must be replaced. Basically, this attitude.
The thing is, I’m not ready to call off the remodelers and call in the demolition team just yet. It’s not just my bias. I’m at a point in my life when I could go ahead and watch/read the old stuff and be fine. On the other hand, I’m not yet convinced that this generation of writers has been able to undo what decades have built so easily. The termites haven’t completed the job, the media is only in a coma.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on October 14, 2025 in Comic Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, radio/audio drama, Streaming Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged audio drama, comics, commentary, movies, old media vs new media, television, TV.
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