Warning: contains spoilers for Batman #125!
Having just taken over DC's ongoing Batman comic with issue 125, Chip Zdarsky is currently in perhaps the most coveted hot seat in comics, but the Daredevil and Public Domain writer just pitched a seemingly boring story idea that every self-respecting fan of the Bat-Family will instantly want to see come to life.
Known for expertly mixing humor and pathos, Chip Zdarsky has started his Batman run with a bang, killing off an iconic Gotham villain, introducing new villain Failsafe, and bringing fan-favorite Robin Tim Drake back to the Dark Knight's side (just in time for him to be grievously injured.) However, as action-packed as Batman #125 is, it's a way more mundane idea that fans will be particularly eager to see come to life.
Writing in his Substack newsletter, Chip Zdarsky comments on the tightrope comic creators have to walk between the stories they want to tell and those that are commercially viable when handling major pop-cultural figures like Batman. Zdarsky reflects on the nature of popularity, and a quote from Janeane Garofalo decrying art which is "pleasing to most" and therefore falls short of the "sublime." Reflecting that Batman #125 (created with Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles) selling out in comic stores may therefore be a bad sign, Zdarsky states:
I genuinely love these characters and have stories I want to tell with them, but I’m also highly aware of the need to sell some books, which means being “popular and well liked” on some level. There may be a part of me that wants to do a Batman story where he has to make a nice meal for his beautiful boys, but also I need to make sure DC doesn’t fire me because, hey, I still need to buy ingredients for MY meals.
I know I just activated dozens of you who now want an issue of Bruce Wayne making a beautiful meal for his beautiful boys, so maybe my example doesn’t work???
Zdarsky is right to speculate that the idea of an issue in which Batman simply cooks for and bonds with his adopted sons is one that would be well received by fans. If there's one complaint that is constant among fans of Batman comics, it's that the various relationships between members of the Bat-Family are pushed to the sidelines too often. This complaint has most recently been answered by Webtoons' Batman: Wayne Family Adventures - a slice-of-life series that has been immediately embraced by fans.
Of course, this isn't surprising - each member of the Bat-Family is both an archetypal hero (from brash hothead Jason Todd to empathetic leader Dick Grayson) and a complex individual built up over decades of stories from different creators. Readers have literally watched most of them grow up, and while superhero comics thrive on conflict, they're also long-running 'soap operas' full of grudges, romances, and familial connections. If Zdarsky and Jimenez can find a way to make something like a Bat-Family meal the focus of an issue - rather than simply an excuse for exposition - it would likely hit the same bullseye with the added benefit of being set in DC's main continuity (fun as Batman: Wayne Family Adventures is, it simplifies its heroes lives and characteristics to suit its tone.)
For fans who want to see Batman "making a beautiful meal for his beautiful boys," Batman #125 actually offers some hope. While the high-octane adventure is as far from a quiet family meal as it gets, it does examine the current disconnect between Batman's vigilante activities and his civilian identity, as well as examining the way in which he sees his sidekicks as soldiers in his personal war. Despite starting out in a dark place, it makes sense that these concepts could be resolved with some slice-of-life moments, and the fact that Zdarsky has already confirmed he wants to tell that kind of Batman story is cause for anticipation.
Source: Chip Zdarsky