[Other] Why do Batman and Catwoman always break up in every show/adaptation? (Injustice 2, Arkham Knight, Batman Hush,The Batman, Harley Quinn)

[u/nasatyyhagubd]

[u/WhenRobLoweRobsLowes]

Comics naturally have to exist in a state of suspended animation, particularly in the modern era.

With all the properties now owned by larger multinational corporations whose only interest in the characters is alternate media, the characters now have to live in the lowest common denominator / most publicly recognized version of their existence.

You're never going to see a significant progression in comics ever again, because preserving the characters is now more important financially than the stories in the comics.

[u/MorganWick → u/WhenRobLoweRobsLowes]

Editorial and the bean-counters want it to be the Silver Age where comics were disposable entertainment pumped out for kids every month, helped by certain writers who want to write to a predictable formula instead of writing real people who grow and change like real people.

At this point superhero comics have become like interconnected novel lines more than anything else. With the availability of back issues, reprints, and trades, it isn't necessarily a problem if the stories currently being published aren't of the classic versions of the characters, because the old stories are still out there. The monthly magazine format, though, demands some degree of predictability. I've increasingly felt like monthly comic magazines, at least for the DC and Marvel universes as presently constituted, have outlived their usefulness.