The two most consistently published superheroes in comic history are Batman and Superman. These heroes have over eight decades of history and backstories, which opened the door for almost countless heroes and villains. This is especially true for Batman and his ever-growing Bat-Family.
While Batman has a large cast of richly developed characters, not all of them are beloved by the fandom. Some allies are better liked than others, while some villains actually became more popular than some of the heroes fans are supposed to root for.
10 Hated: Jason Todd As Robin
In a much-publicized stunt, DC offered readers a chance to phone in their votes to determine the fate of Batman's second Boy Wonder in an upcoming battle with the Joker. While the actual fan vote was disputed, Jason didn't have many fans among Batman readers and was summarily executed in a later Batman issue.
It's not hard to understand why fans voted to kill him. While original Boy Wonder Dick Grayson had grown into an independent, reliable character, Jason was moody and angst-ridden. He disobeyed Batman, was reckless, and had a poor attitude. By the time he died, few readers missed him and were eager to accept Batman's next sidekick, Tim Drake, with open arms.
9 Loved: Jason Todd As Red Hood
Jason Todd returned to the pages of Batman as a villain. When Superboy-Prime punched a hole in the fabric of space and time, he altered reality and unintentionally resurrected Jason from the dead. Upon his return, he immediately targeted Batman for failing to save him from the Joker. As a symbol of reclaiming his past trauma, Jason adopted the old identity of his killer: the Red Hood.
In the New 52, Jason's resurrection was retconned; now it was the Lazarus Pits that brought him back to life. Jason has become a much more likable character since then and fans like him more as an antihero than they ever did as a squeaky clean sidekick.
8 Hated: Damian Wayne
Damian Wayne first appeared as Batman's son with Talia al-Ghul, and he took over the mantle of Robin. However, it took a long time for fans to take a liking to the son of Batman. He was insolent and often felt that he deserved to follow Ra's al Ghul's teachings even more than Batman's.
He joined the Teen Titans and was antagonistic toward beloved heroes, and fans rarely took his side. The only time that Damian really found his stride, and his fans, was when he worked with Dick Grayson after Batman's apparent death. As soon as Batman returned and Dick left, Damien returned to his alienating ways.
7 Loved: Deathstroke
Deathstroke is a Batman villain that became a hugely popular antihero in DC Comics. He was sowell-liked that he gained his own comic book series as a villain in the 1980s, which rarely happened at DC. Even when he was trying to kill the popular New Teen Titans, fans never really grew to hate him.
With his deadly fighting skills and photographic memory, Deathstroke is one of Batman's greatest villains with the one clear exception that this villain kills his opponents. Much like Marvel's Venom, Deathstroke was too popular to remain a pure villain. The assassin gravitated to the role of an antihero who begrudgingly assists Batman on occasion.
6 Hated: Duke Thomas
The Batman Family was already extremely large. With four different Robins, more than one Batgirl, a Batwoman, and even Batman International characters, it seemed the Caped Crusader developed a superteam taking away from his role as a Dark Knight working alone in Gotham City. That is when Duke Thomas arrived as yet another addition to the family.
Fans weren't excited to see yet another Batman ally show up when there were so many more to entertain them. He was mostly boring, had superpowers that made him unlike the other Bat-Family members, and crowded out better, more beloved Batman Family heroes. When the recent DC Comics event Future State revealed it was Duke who became Gotham's future protector, it seemed wrong considering there were more established and beloved Bat-Family members who could fill that role better.
5 Loved: Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn wasn't even an original comic book creation. Instead, she debuted in Batman: The Animated Series as one of its top villains and proved to be so popular that she was introduced in Batman's comic book mythology. She started out as a Joker sidekick, but that wasn't enough for fans, who fell in love with the Batman villainess.
Over time, Harley Quinn became so popular that DC severed all of her ties with the Joker and gave her own series, which is still being published. She joined the Suicide Squad and became one of the team's most popular members.
4 Hated: Azrael
When Bane broke Batman's back, a new hero stepped into the role of Gotham City's Caped Crusader. This was Azrael, who Bruce Wayne entrusted to protect his city in one of Batman's weirdest comic book arcs. The problem is that Azrael was not ready for this responsibility and he cracked under pressure.
He bullied Tim Drake, the new Robin, and almost killed him at one point. He began to break Batman's no-kill rule and took the character in a direction that went against everything fans loved about the hero. By the time Bruce Wayne returned, fans were ready to see Azrael go away.
3 Loved: Catwoman
Catwoman was always one of Batman's most popular villains and fans loved the flirtatious relationship between the hero and his femme fatale. Their love story was first memorialized in the classic Batman TV show with Adam West and Julie Newmar and later perfected in Tim Burton's Batman Returns with Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Selina Kyle ended up with her own comic series that moved her away from her original villainous cat burglar role into more of an antihero persona. There was some minor backlash when Batman recently asked her to marry him, but that marriage never happened and Catwoman is still roaming the streets as a popular DC heroine.
2 Hated: Cassandra Cain
Cassandra Cain should be an interesting character, but Batman comic fans often complain about the hero's imbalanced portrayal in the books. She is very overpowered and that makes her hard to cheer for because there is no weakness that can make her relatable. Even Batman, with all of his intellect and strength, has his traumatic origin story that makes him palpable to the masses.
It also doesn't help that Cassandra is the daughter of a Batman villain and a martial artist, and that role was already filled perfectly by Huntress. She is also very awkward and a mostly boring and forgettable character that fans often dismiss.
1 Loved: Joker
Joker remains one of the most popular villains in all comics, and he is easily Batman's most powerful enemy. It says a lot that a mass murderer who doesn't care about anyone but himself can have so many fans, but he is a fun character that brings chaos to a Batman world that needs it.
Joker was so popular that he got his own movie, he gets his own comic books, and when it was time to introduce a new breakout villain, DC used Joker to create The Batman Who Laughs. Seeing as how that new villain is one of DC's most popular new characters, it is clear fans have a great love for more Joker stories.
https://ift.tt/3A4Ppcy
August 04, 2021 at 12:00AM
