Batman Family

Batman Family was a DC Comics comic book series which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring supporting characters in the Batman comics. The term is often used to refer to the extended cast of characters of comics books associated with Batman.

Publication history
The Batman Family title proper ran twenty issues from September-October 1975 to October-November 1978 and featured solo and team-up stories starring Batgirl and Robin. The lead story in the first issue teaming Batgirl and Robin was originally intended for publication in an issue of 1st Issue Special. The series additionally featured reprints of Golden Age and Silver Age stories. Many issues of Batman Family featured Batman supporting characters such as Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale, the Elongated Man, the Huntress, and Ace the Bat-Hound. Writer Bob Rozakis introduced the Duela Dent character in issue #6 (July–August 1976) and revived the original Batwoman in issue #10 (March–April 1977). The series began featuring only new material as of issue #11 (May-June 1977) and Man-Bat began appearing as a regular feature. Batman Family converted to the Dollar Comics format with issue #17 (April–May 1978).

DC published several other ... Family titles concurrent with Batman Family. These included The Superman Family (1974–82), Super-Team Family (1975-1978) and Tarzan Family (1975–76). As a rule, DC's ... Family titles contained mostly reprints, and featured a higher page count (and higher price) than DC's normal books. Its final issue, #20 (Oct.-Nov. 1978), ran with no advertisements.

Merger with Detective Comics
In 1978, after the DC Implosion, it was decided that DC Comics' long-running flagship title Detective Comics was to be terminated with #480. The decision was overturned following strenuous arguments on behalf of saving the title within the DC office. Despite being the better selling title, Batman Family was instead merged with Detective, converting that series into a $1.00 68-page giant as of Detective Comics #481 (Dec. 1978-Jan. 1979). This arrangement lasted 15 issues. With issue #496 (Nov. 1980) Detective Comics reverted to its traditional size and price — thus effectively canceling Batman Family for good.

2002-2003 series
Batman: Family was an eight-issue miniseries published from December 2002 to February 2003 and written by John Francis Moore. The first six issues were illustrated by Stefano Gaudiano and Rick Hoberg. Steve Lieber replaced Hoberg on issues seven and eight.

Collected editions

 * Batgirl: The Greatest Stories Ever Told includes Batgirl stories from Batman Family #1 and #9, 160 pages, December 2010, ISBN 978-1401229245