I'm a long-time Batman fan, but there are a lot of things that DC has done that just don't make sense to me.

Elseworlds

They killed their Elseworld series with that Crisis of Infinite Earths title or whatever it was called, didn't they? I like Elseworld stories and think DC should consider making more of them, as they could appeal to broader audiences than the main continuity.

Characterization

Some of the characters are re-written too often to enjoy. Take Joker, for instance. Pre-new 52 made old Jack a tragic character you wanted to love, or at least feel sorry for and sometimes even root for, not a boring serial killer you just love to hate. Grant it, Joker's always been portrayed as a really bad guy, except in Elseworlds, but the character also had a certain level of style and sophistication.

Writing

Female characters are hyper-sexualized and some, or maybe most, of the stories, don't create depth or help the reader get to know the characters well. Story arcs are convoluted, complex, confusing, and somewhat absurd. I guess if it's marketed to kids, that's okay (but then why does the artwork suggest it's for adults?), but older readers like more than just non-stop action. We like to see well thought out rich storylines that relate to real life without being hyper "realistic." I don't need or want stories so realistic that I can imagine the superhero or villain living next door to me, except maybe in Elseworld's, but I also don't want storylines I can't possibly relate to. Batman and Robin don't have to rant about the dangers of drug abuse, but a superhero and villain team up once in a while would be nice. In real life, heroes aren't always heroic and villains aren't always villainous.

@kmb501: As one person, not really. DC (and any company for that matter) only cares if it affects their profits and the only way to do that is for a lot of people to stop buying their books. It did happen with Rebirth; the New 52 sales were getting pretty low and DC shifted their focus to their core audience rather than trying to appeal to just new readers.

I also want Elseworlds back, but even I have to admit that the majority of Elseworlds books were crap. DC still makes out-of-continuity books like Earth One (few and far between) and digital series like Bombshells.

New writers come on board and have a new take on a character. It's as old as the comic book medium. I disagree with Joker being a tragic character you feel sorry for. If he was ever written that way, it was a betrayal of the original character who was a villain through and through.

Comics have always sexualized female (and male) characters, at least it isn't as bad as it was in the 90s. Superhero stories are always absurd, it's just a something you have to accept. Convoluted and confusing is kind of subjective, but that is the writer's fault moreso than DC themselves. Comics are mostly for adults now with a level of violence I wouldn't suggest (less than teen) kids to read. I agree that many stories focus too much on action and stretch out a thin plot, but I guess I just accepted that about DC and Marvel (you want good stories, read creator owned books)

1) Start a blog, make a YouTube channel

2) Put out quality content

3) Don't come off as some crazy fanboy

4) Build a following of people you want to hear what you have to say

I guess they have always sexualized the characters, but it just seems a lot more overt and maybe an attempt to cover up some poor storytelling, in some cases.

Yeah, new writers take over and change characters, but they've gone to extremes with the Joker character. The Joker once upon a time had sort of an origin story (revealed in Gotham Knights, I think, and related heavily to the Killing Joke story). The character was dark for a villain of that time, sure. He started off as a straight sadistic mass murderer, but they gradually tamed him down, made him too tame in the Silver Age, and then found a pretty good balance in the Bronze Age. I don't get why they've decided to try to go full dark with the character again when they fleshed him out so well in those earlier issues. Take the Joker comic, for instance. It's so dark there's almost no humor in it. I don't get it. You want to sympathize with the protagonist when you read something, even if the protagonist is a mass murdering lunatic. I don't think that comic gives us any of that, and the character departs wildly from his traditional description--chemical burns replaced with a Glasgow smile, Joker venom being replaced with guns, and insanity being replaced with a drug addiction. That's practically rewriting the character.

Elseworlds could (and in my opinion should) feed the fans of the older comics some of what they want. That way, everyone could maybe be happy. The new 52 fan base could get their super dark and edgy Batman, and the older Batfans could get funny clever stories that take themselves seriously enough to not be boring but don't sacrifice the style and sophistication of the classic comics. You know, it is called Detective Comics. Some of us would like to read a good mystery with classic comic book humor, clever plotlines, and surprising twists.

I would rather join something that's already going on. I think I would switch to being a Marvel fan if I could find a character I liked as much as the ones from the Batman storyline but so far, nope. Marvel at least seems to listen to their fans and try new things. Redemption arcs for Green Goblin and Deadpool are two examples, but I don't read their comics much. Joker and Harley could be DC's Deadpool and Domino, only still villains ( who maybe sometimes do good things) who retain their own super unique brand of comedy, but nope, they aren't going to try that, are they? Not even as an Elseworld's story. I kind of don't get that, either, because Joker, when written properly, can be pretty funny (he can also break the fourth wall) and so can Harley.

That's just bad writing. If you don't want to read books that pander to horny 12 year olds, then stop reading Red Hood and the Outlaws or Suicide Squad or Judd Winnick's Catwoman. There are plenty of books that don't substitute fanservice for storytelling.

Joker has never effectively worked as a "sympathetic" villain. The only reason The Killing Joke was influential was because it presented a possible origin story for a character that was deemed to be an irredeemable monster. In every other good Joker story (such as Man Who Laughs, Arkham Asylum, Gotham Central, RIP, Black Mirror, etc), he is protrayed exactly as how he should be: as an unsympathetic monster.

Elseworld stories were the epitome of "dark and edgy" and "style over substance". The majority of Elseworld stories ranged from mediocre at best, and downright terrible in most cases. There are plenty of digital-first "alternate universe" series that have been better.

I'm probably thinking of the older comics, but I get the idea, maybe from Batman the Brave and the Bold and some other older comics that are no longer considered part of the continuity, that the Joker character could work effectively as something besides an irredeemable monster people love to hate, and I kind of disagree that he was always portrayed that way, because there are comics that hint that the character is more complex than that, like Going Sane, for instance. Sure, Joker is clearly the villain in a lot of cases, but in some comics, he's played roles that just don't fit that characterization (Batman and Robin Must Die and the comic where Batman created an alternate Justice League in Arkham Asylum, with the Joker just playing along, for example; sure, these stories have to stay few and far between so that the Joker character doesn't lose his appeal, but they do hint at a more complex character than a strictly sadistic psychopathic killer--even though that's what Joker is mostly portrayed as, sure) Even in Killing Joke, he's presented as possibly a character the reader wants to feel a little sorry for, even though most of the time he's a dastardly master criminal who is presumably so insane that he's not. I think comics that don't always have him in the bad guy role really work. Complex characters, in my opinion, are more interesting than flat characters that are either always good guys or always bad guys, and I think the comic writers should know this. I guess wanting good complex characters comes from growing up, though.

I guess the existing Elseworlds are bad, but the concept of Elseworlds is that everyone could potentially get a story they like. I may not like how character A is portrayed in the main continuity, but I could read an Elseworlds series where character A is portrayed completely differently--maybe a villain in the main continuity is the hero in an Elseworlds continuity, for instance.

It would be nice if Batman were part of Kindle Worlds. Then maybe the fans would get a hefty say in what DC published.

It's just a sign of the times.

I've lamented in the past the disappearance of the detailed mystery type stories of, say, Loeb. I think Batman as a detective has really taken a back seat to Batman the preposterously well connected Scientist. Maybe I'm getting old and boring, but I want good storytelling to contextualise the explosions. The tv show Beware the Batman was really good at getting this balance right.

One of the key areas that I think the modern comic in general isn't always perfect is the size of the artwork at the expense of the text. I know it's a pictorial medium, but some of these stories are running just a few hundred words per issue, and even the best writers struggle to get any development when the text is so short. It's like trying to cram a novel into Twitter.

They're very poetic, especially King who I think is a good writer in this short medium, but I could handle more panels per page with more storyline than a huge double page splash of someone's cleavage. I guess I'm in the minority though.

@rainshadow777: I agree with you while sometimes words are worthless:

http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Batman-and-Robin-2011/Issue-18?id=5922

Yes we haven't had a good mystery story in a while. But it also goes with the evolution of the society. Everything has to be quick and simple. The less reading there is the better, the quicker the reading the better, the simpler the story the better.

But really, Loeb is your reference in quality story ? I would prefer Brubaker or Azzarello.

You could send them a message on Twitter to individual writers or Geoff Johns. I've had a convo with Dan Slott on twitter although it was under different circumstances for Marvel.

@jb681131:

Like or loathe Loeb, at least he writes detailed stories that focus on plot, and that's what's missing. I could point to The Dark Knight Returns as well. Massive amount of text because the panels are tiny and allow for a story.