Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Batman, Batmancrunching, dc

Batmancrunching Next Week's DC Comics Releases [UPDATED]

Ever since the week that DC Comics managed to make every single book they put out a Batman book, we here at Bleeding Cool have been carefully analyzing DC's weekly output to keep tabs on the percentage of Batman books published by the company each week. This week sees Batman or Batman-related comics take up thirteen out of sixteen slots of comics hitting stores next week, February 8th. For more on how we broke down the numbers, we spoke to world-renowned Batmanologist, Professor Thaddeus T. Puffinbottoms.

"Classifying Batman comics published by DC isn't as easy as it first sounds," Professor Puffinbottoms explained. "Popular perception would assume that 'Batman comic' is a binary concept, with books either about Batman or not about Batman. But that isn't true."

"In actuality," the professor continued, "there are levels of 'about Batman' that can be applied to DC's various offerings. There are Level 1 Batman comics, books named after and directly starring Batman, including Team-Up books with Batman in the title. Level 2 Batman comics feature characters closely associated with Batman as the main cast members of the book, typically taking place in Gotham City, and starring other people with 'Bat' in their name, like Batwoman or Batgirl, or well-known Batman villains like The Joker or Harley Quinn."

"Level 3 Batman comics star Batman as a member of an enable cast or feature Batman in one or more stories as part of an anthology," Puffinbottoms added. "And finally, Level 4 Batman comics star a close associate of Batman as a member of an ensemble cast otherwise mostly unrelated to Batman."

"Non-Batman comics do not feature Batman or any of his close associates in a prominent role, though there is always the possibility that Batman could guest-star in the book," Professor Puffinbottoms concluded.

With that out of the way, here's the breakdown of Batman and non-Batman comics hitting stores from DC next week:

First up, Level 1 Batman comics include Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #11, Batman/Catwoman #10, Batman: Urban Legends #12, and I Am Batman #6, for a total of 4 out of 16 Level 1 Batman comics, or 25%. Level 2 Batman comics include Batgirls #3, Detective Comics #1052, Future State Gotham #10, Harley Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat Bang Kill Tour #6, Joker #12, and Pennyworth #7, for a total of 6 out of 16 Batman comics, or 37.5%. Level 3 Batman comics include Justice League 2021 Annual #1 and Strange Love Adventures #14, or a total of 2 out of 16, or 12.5%. There are two Level 4 Batman comics this week: Titans United #6, which stars former Batman sidekick Nightwing as one member of the cast, and Suicide Squad: Blaze #1, for a total of 12.5% of all books. Finally, there are two non-Batman comics in stores from DC next week: Black Manta #6 and Superman: Son of Kal-El #8, comprising 12.5% of the books published by DC Comics next week.

Thanks to DC's bold but risky decision to publish 2 non-Batman titles next week, only 87.5% of the DC Comics in stores that week will be Batman comics of some sort. So how many Batman comics are you picking up next week? Let us know in the comments.

CORRECTION: Little Bleeder Mathew Folwell pointed out in the comments that, since Harley Quinn is a star of the ensemble cast of Suicide Squad: Blaze #1, it should be considered a Level 4 Batman comic. We previously classified the book as a non-Batman comic. We apologize for the error and have updated the article to reflect the new numbers.

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