Webcomic / Batman: Wayne Family Adventures

"Being a father can't be harder than being Batman, right?"

"Welcome to the manor, I suppose."

— Damian Wayne/Robin V

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures is a webcomic by DC Comics, the first in its planned collaboration with Webtoon, and the second webcomic (after Li'l Gotham) to focus on the Gotham Cast Herd. It is written by CRC Payne; the artists involved are StarBite (Rhett Bloom) (inks), by Maria Li (storyboards), Lan Ma (backgrounds), C.M. Cameron (flats and rendering), and Kielamel Sibal (lettering). The first three issues were released on September 8, 2021 as part of Batman Day 2021.

It is a Slice of Life Dom Com comic featuring interactions between the Batfamily, portrayed here (in contrast to their usual dysfunctional dynamic in the mainstream comics) as a vitriolic-but-loving surrogate family of vigilantes who work hard under the tutelage of their mentor, Batman, to keep Gotham City safe.

In addition to Bruce Wayne/ Batman and his loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth, the main cast includes Duke Thomas (The Signal), Damian Wayne (Robin), Tim Drake (Red Robin), Cassandra Cain (Orphan), Jason Todd (Red Hood), Barbara Gordon (Oracle), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), and Dick Grayson (Nightwing).

The comic can be read for free here and is updated on Thursdays.

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Tropes in this webcomic:

• 555: When Ana hands her phone number to Duke, it appears as 555-0189.
• The Ace: Cass is notably the only one who manages to land a hit on Bruce when they fight over the last cookie.
• Adaptational Heroism: Harley Quinn is traditionally depicted somewhere between an insane supervillainess to a morally gray Anti-Hero. Here she appears to be a full ally of the Batfamily, with Steph and Cass even personally watching over her as she recovers from an injury. Tying into this, Poison Ivy is introduced as a "former" Eco-Terrorist (rather than the active Eco-Terrorist and Femme Fatale she is usually written as) and Harley's loving girlfriend.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Jason Todd's characterization in the comics tends to vary from bitter/crazed villain to Token Evil Teammate to antiheroic jerk, and his relationship with the Batfamily is tense at the best of times. Here, his mean streak is very downplayed and played for laughs, and he's on good terms with Bruce and the other sidekick-vigilantes.
  • Talia Al-Ghul's relationship with Damian in the comics is a heavy case of Depending on the Writer, but some of her more noteworthy stories really play her up as an abusive mother who views Damien as an extension of Bruce at best and a disposable asset at worst. She's more of a case of Parents as People in here, keeping her distance from her son but wanting him to have a happy childhood.
• Adaptation Name Change: Damian's dog in the comics is traditionally named Titus. Here, he's called... Murder King. However, "Assassin" has him go by his original comics name, implying that Damian changed the name.
• All Just a Dream: In "Daydreaming" ninjas invade the cave and are eaten by the T-Rex robot as a stunned Duke runs to grab his costume, only for Duke to be woken by Bruce as he'd dosed off while reviewing boring contingency plans.
• All Part of the Show" In "S'tel ees a cigam wohs", Zatanna plays off Copperhead attacking her and Nightwing (and Copperhead using a magic wand to transform Nightwing into a bunny) as this and gets Bruce to "volunteer".
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Jason and Bruce have their... differences, but Jason still spends a lot of time at Wayne Manor, and Bruce sends him gear for his crimefighting.
• Back from the Dead: Mentioned and lampshaded in "Vigilante Bingo", where the Batfamily takes a tally of things they've all done. Jason asks everyone who's been murdered and brought back to life to raise their hand, which he, Cass, and Damian do while Dick is on the fence about the time his heart got stopped during his ordeal with the Crime Syndicate. Duke is understandably concerned about how nonchalant they all are about it. Jason brushes him off, saying that it happens more often than you'd think.
• Badass Normal: Lampshaded. Stephanie sports Green Arrow merchandise because she admires how he's a regular human who keeps up with his superpowered peers... in front of her mentor and father figure Bruce, who is also one.
• Bedsheet Ladder: In "Recovery", an injured Bruce escapes his bedroom through the window with a rope of linens tied together, but Tim is there to greet him at the bottom.
• Big Ball of Violence: A great ball of screams and limbs erupts next to Bruce as the siblings fight each other for the last cookie.
• Big Word Shout:
  • "DIBS!" when there's only one of Alfred's award-winning cookies left. Cue the Fight for the Last Bite.
  • The Robins all call "SHOTGUN!" when Bruce asks which one of them is going to sit in the front passenger seat of the Batmobile. They then proceed to bicker over who gets that seat for various petty reasons. By the end, they aren't able to come to a consensus and all end up sitting in the back seat.
• Billions of Buttons: The Batmobile's dashboard is littered with dozens of unmarked buttons that do everything from firing missiles to ejecting the passenger seat. This proves troublesome in "Driving Lessons" when Duke has to take the wheel for the first time since Stephanie's arm is in a sling from a prior fight.
• Birthday Episode: "Stupid Traditions" is about Damian's birthday. Dick and Babs are keeping him company with the party setup while the rest of the family gets his present — a puppy.
• Blatant Lies: Jason is lying through his teeth when he claims that the safehouse was already trashed when he found it and Bruce knows it.
• Brick Joke:
  • In the first issue, Damian tells Duke that the dinosaur in the Batcave eats intruders. Bruce later tells Duke that he was kidding. In issue 20, "Daydreaming", Duke daydreams that the dinosaur comes to life and eats several ninjas sneaking into the Batcave...and is disappointed when he wakes up.
  • "Not It" has Bruce mutter about how much he hates fighting Condiment King, to the point where he does everything he can to pawn the task off on his children. Evidently, his luck eventually ran out, as "Suit Up" opens with Kate having to retrieve a spare Batsuit for him after the original was ruined in a fight with— you guessed it— Condiment King.
  • "Daydreaming" ends with Duke woken from the titular daydream by Batman, who was trying to explain their emergency plans to him and decides to start over from the top with what to do if Gotham is overrun by an army of Man-Bats. "Hold the Line", sixty-five issues later, focuses on the GCPD and Batwoman dealing with Gotham being overrun by an army of Man-Bats.
• The Cameo:
  • Superman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and the Flash show up at the end of “Favoritism”.
  • Selina Kyle, Bette Kane, Luke Fox, and Harper Row have cameos in "Top Chef".
  • Conner Kent, Cassie Sandsmark and Bart Allen drop in in “Hangout”.
• Can't Tie His Tie: Played for Laughs in "S.O.S.". Youths Duke and Damian can't tie their ties for a party without Alfred on hand and turn to Bruce for help. It turns out Bruce can't do it either, and frantically winds up calling Superman and the Justice League for help. And when that doesn't work they just follow Wonder Woman's suggestion to go without ties in the end.
• Chair Reveal: Damian pulls one in "Recovery" complete with Alfred the Cat as a Right-Hand Cat.
• Chaos While They're Not Looking: In "Assassin", Bruce checks in on Duke and Damian, confirming that they're not playing paintball assassin in the manor. They deny it ("I was merely painting outside today..."), but as soon as he leaves the room, they whip out the paintball guns and point them at each other.
• Chaotic Car Ride: In "Front Seat" Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian fight over who gets to sit in the front seat of the Batmobile. They all end up crammed in the backseat, with Jason forcing his brothers into a tangled mess as he shoves them all away from his side of the car.
• Christmas Episode: "Holiday Spirit" which features Bruce's kids doing volunteer work during the holidays.
• Combat Stilettos: "High Heels" has Stephanie needing to wear stiletto heels for an undercover operation, so she enlists Selina Kyle's aid in learning how to both walk and fight in them. She ends up competing with Damian over it.
• Comical Coffee Cup: Bruce has one with "World's Okayest Father", presumably a gift from Dick or Tim.
• Cool House: Wayne Manor, as seen through the eyes of Audience Surrogate Duke in the first issue: it's got a laser grid and a life-sized dinosaur.
• Crazy-Prepared:
  • Per tradition, Bruce "Batman" Wayne. His list of emergency plans in "Daydreaming" is so long that Duke falls asleep going through them, though we hear that M-02 apparently is "in case Gotham is overrun by an army of Man-Bats". Sixty-five episodes later...
  • The issue "Utility Belt" shows just how prepared he is: at any given time, he keeps stun bombs, a foldable katana, bear treats, and shark repellent in his utility belt. Green Lantern is shocked not only at the fact that he keeps so many random items on him, but at the implication that he has such things because he's been in situations before where they were needed.
• Crossover: Season 2 has several crossovers with other DC-licensed Webtoon comics, with appearances from Zatanna Zatara, Mari and Grace, and Artemis and Bizarro.
• Date Peepers: In "Crush Part 2", Steph brings Tim and Damian to spy on Duke's date night. The first two are wearing Paper Thin Disguises, while Damien didn't bother and just looks annoyed.
• Deathbringer the Adorable: Damian receives a puppy for his ninth birthday and names him Murder King. Cassandra grimaces while Barbara says that's not an appropriate name for a dog. It's later shown that the dog was renamed Titus.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Stephanie's reaction to Kite Man trying to make himself her nemesis resembles a girl turning down a pushy guy's romantic advances. She even says, "No means no."
• Dom Com: Shenanigans featuring a group of surrogate siblings, their father figure, and their butler in a mansion. Oh, and said father figure is Batman.
• The Dreaded: In a weird way, the Condiment King. Fighting him is just plain embarrassing and you end up with your costume covered with smelly gunk.
• Escalating War: In the appropriately titled "Escalation", Damian takes offense to Tim borrowing his pen without permission and retaliates by ruining his favorite mug. By the time Bruce tells them to pull the plug, Damian is covered in glitter and Tim's hair is dyed "Joker Green".
• Exact Words: Barbara recounts her day at the library (actually as Mission Control):
  • "Helped a kid with some reading": Pointing Robin towards the note Batman left, banning him from using the Batmobile because of his age, and refusing to override the controls.
  • "Helped some people find their way around": Directing Spoiler and Red Robin who ended up at the wrong bank instead of the one that was being robbed.
  • "Workout a little": Defending herself against an intruder with a bat.
• Face Palm: Duke's reaction after he finds out about his siblings spying on his date.
• Faceplanting into Food: In "Unaccompanied", Bruce recalls that he doesn't want to bring Tim to a gala because the last time he did so, Tim was so exhausted he fell asleep into his food.
• Failed a Spot Check: In "Detective Work", Stephanie rants at the Robins and Duke for allegedly eating her sandwich, which they all deny. Despite demonstrating a clear aptitude for problem and puzzle-solving, it never occurred to her to check the fridge, as Damian stashed it in there after noticing it was left out before going back to painting.
• Faux Horrific: "The Tournament": When Barbara unveils what the loser has to do upon losing their friendly competition, we get three completely horrified reaction shots... of Nightwing's old "Discowing" costume.
• Fictional Social Network: In "Online", Barbara finds Jason's "Full Hearts" (Tinder) account.
• Fight for the Last Bite: Cass, Jason, Duke, Tim and Damian gather round for some of Alfred's baked goods and award-winning cookies. And then they notice there is only one cookie left and proceed to get into a brawl. Alfred wins.
• Friend to All Children: Every member of the Bat family is surprisingly good with kids.
  • Bruce/Batman, of course. His habit of adopting every crime-fighting orphan he meets is lampshaded by Jason.
  • Dick/Nightwing has two issues where he comforts a little girl who's recently lost her parents. He's a Cool Big Bro in general, as well, always willing to spend time with his younger siblings.
  • Jason/Red Hood. In the issue "Sneak Attack", he's helping a lost little boy get to safety, then promises to buy the kid candy if he never tells anyone that Orphan scared him.
• Frustrated Overhead Scribble: After tripping on a tire iron Jason left laying on the floor of the Batcave and having Jason make fun of him as he storms away Tim can be seen making an angry noise indicated by a tangled scribble in his speech bubble.
• Give Him a Normal Life: Well "normal" is relative, but that was Talia's rationale for leaving Damian so that he could live with Bruce. She wanted him to have a childhood, which the League of Shadows wouldn't have provided.
• Gossip Evolution: "Unbelievable" has Batman show up to Justice League HQ with his leg in a cast, which leads to the other superheroes speculating how he injured; it starts with the culprit being either The Riddler, Bane, or Killer Croc, but by the time Superman and Wonder Woman ask Batman directly, they've heard that the Joker hired Riddler and Bane to feed him to Killer Croc. Batman claims that definitely is what happened rather than admit the embarrassing truth that he accidentally fell down some stairs at Wayne Manor. Making it worse? He'd just successfully proven he can skateboard. He was on his own two feet at the time of falling.
• Graceful Loser: In "The Tournament", Steph took her punishment from losing last year pretty well, noting that she "rocked that bowler hat".
• Green-Eyed Monster: Played for Laughs in “Favoritism”. Poor Bruce is majorly jealous that his kids are toting around memorabilia of the Justice League that isn’t him.
• Handicapped Badass: In this version, Barbara uses a wheelchair and acts as Oracle, but that doesn't stop her from fending off an intruder with a bat. (In the far background of the frame revealing this, there is another intruder lying in a heap.) She later even acts as bait to take down a group of criminals targeting her father, using their assumptions that she's defenseless against them and getting them all arrested.
• Hero Does Public Service: On Christmas all of the Batfamily members are out volunteering in Gotham. Some of them are implied to volunteer at the place they're spending Christmas regularly while it's left vague for others.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Tim, Damian and Cass are very casual about being trained as assassins as children, which Duke comments is a bit concerning.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Jason not only unwittingly trips an alarm breaking into one of the safehouses for gear, he ends up staying behind to be caught because of a potty break.
• Holding Hands: While Tim and Bernard are on a date their hands bump, and Tim wants to hold his hand but thinks Bernard doesn't want to, then thinks maybe Bernard was hinting he wanted to but that the moment has passed and it would be awkward to bring up. On their next date he asks if Bernard wants to hold hands right away to avoid the awkwardness, which he does.
• Humiliating Wager: "The Tournament" has Tim, Jason, Cass and Steph compete in an annual video game match where the loser has to wear Dick's 'Discowing' costume. The previous year's contest saw Steph having to wear a Riddler costume after she lost.
• Hurt/Comfort Fic: The two-parters tend to follow this pattern: Part 1 being the Hurt and part 2 the Comfort.
• I Can Still Fight!: One entire issue is dedicated to Bruce being confined to a few weeks of bed rest by Alfred, and trying to get down to the Batcave...only to be stopped every time by his family (with the last straw being Jason removing the wheels from all of the Bat vehicles so Bruce can't leave).
• Instantly Proven Wrong: In episode 1:
  Alfred: Why don't you let Master Damian give you a tour? He's very excited about your arrival.
  (the very next frame is Damian, looking irritated, with the caption "He's still working on his people skills.")
• Interrupted Intimacy: "TMI" has Batman and Catwoman end one of their chases with innuendo-laden banter that was clearly leading into something more... until Bruce realizes that he left his comm-link open, his family heard everything, and they have gained a serious need for Brain Bleach (except for Damian, who failed to pick up on the subtext).
• I Warned You: In "Arm Day", the guys at the gym (Jason, Damian, Dick, and Tim) hold a competition to see who can do 100 two-fingered, handstand push-ups first. Cassandra warns them beforehand that's a bad idea. At dinner, they're too exhausted to eat (probably because of muscle pain in their hands and arms). Cass gives them a "Told you".
• Last Episode, New Character: The Season 1 finale introduces Harley Quinn.
• Last-Name Basis: Damian refers to Alfred as Pennyworth.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: "Night In", the Season 1 finale, is based around Bruce taking a break from crimefighting.
• Lethal Chef:
  • Implied of Bruce — Damian tells Duke that the kitchen is Alfred's domain, and Bruce has a lifetime ban from cooking. It's later played straight when, while on the phone with Superman, Bruce almost burns the stove by making an omelet.
  • "Top Chef" shows that the rest of the Bat Family aren't exactly... well, top chefs. Their attempts to make a pie must be seen to be believed.
• Lighter and Softer: Compared to many Batman media, which normally skew towards the grim (as they star a dysfunctional group of vigilantes who operate out of a Wretched Hive). This one is a Dom Com featuring Bruce as a loving parental figure to a group of colorful youths.
• Like Brother and Sister: Among the girls, only Cass is officially adopted by Bruce, but Steph (who at least apparently lives at the manor) and Barbara still have a sisterly dynamic with the boys. Steph moreso acts as something of a little sister to Dick, Duke, and Jason, though thanks to her history with Tim their dynamic is closer to Amicable Exes.
• Man Bites Man: Within the Big Ball of Violence for the last cookie, someone shouts, "Hey! No biting!"
• Manly Tears: Duke cries after his breakup with Ana, and is comforted by Dick and Cass without being shamed.
• Missed the Recital: The "Family Ties" two-parter sees Bruce barely miss Cassandra's dance recital after a long night of crime-fighting. He's devastated that he missed it and, after a heart-to-heart with Alfred, rents out the theater so she can have a do-over with him in the audience.
• Mission Control: Played for Laughs. Barbara acts as the traditional Mission Control to the Batfamily as Oracle (providing offsite tech support and intel) but the scenarios seen in "Eyes and Ears" are comedic: she stops Damian from driving the Batmobile since he's too young, and when Tim and Stephanie wind up at the wrong bank, she points them to the one that's actually being robbed.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Bruce calls the Justice League because he can't figure out how to tie his, Duke's, and Damien's ties. Hilariously, Superman, then Flash, then Green Lantern all get in on it, all of them taking it completely seriously with Bruce growing more stressed as they need to leave soon. Finally, Wonder Woman points out that no one will say anything if they simply don't wear ties.
• Mythology Gag: Has its own page.
• No-Damage Run: In "The Last Cookie", it’s revealed that if no one gets hurt, Alfred bakes sweets.
• Noodle Incident:
  • It's revealed in "Vigilante Bingo" that all Bat kids before Duke have pranked Bruce at least once. Apparently, one such incident involved swapping his smoke bombs with glitter bombs.
  • "Driving Lessons" reveals that crew don't fire missiles in the Batcave anymore. And during Steph's first test drive she almost took down a building.
• Not So Above It All:
  • Bruce is at first nonplussed at his kids fighting each other over a cookie. But when it lands onto his coffee cup, he's more than willing to leap into action to defend it. Much of the humour as the series goes on stems from him being just as immature as his children, just better at hiding it.
  • Clark Kent too, who is just as inept as Bruce at tying ties, and later is shown using his super-hearing to eavesdrop on Alfred and the Kents' dinner at Bruce's request like a pair of kids spying on their parents.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: The other Bat-kids will never let Dick Grayson forget about his "Discowing" costume and mullet. Unfortunately for them, he really doesn't see the problem.
• Paintball Episode: The Batkids play paintball in "Assassin", shooting each other at opportune times even when they're on mission.
• Parents as People:
  • How Talia is presented here. She did contribute to Damian being initially raised as an assassin, but she realized down the line that she was robbing him of a childhood, so she let him leave to live with Bruce so that he could hopefully live a happier life.
  • Bruce as well, with him having issues with communicating with his kids, and his obsession with fighting crime means he can be unreliable for important events. But he also still clearly cares about his kids, telling Jason and Stephanie (who both frequently end up as The Unfavorite at times in main continuity) both that he loves them in separate You Are Better Than You Think You Are moments, and feeling a great amount of guilt when he misses Cass' ballet recital.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Bruce assigns Stephanie to deal with Kite Man, and she refuses with an emphatic, "Hard. Pass."
  • Damian attempts to stab a socialite who cooed over him and pinched his cheek. Bruce yanks him back with a, "No knives," and reiterates, "No. Knives," when Damian protests.
• Queer Colors: During Tim and Bernard's date the two are wearing jackets in the colors of the Bi flag, and the sunset is also in bi flag colors. This color choice was confirmed as intentional by the artists.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Barbara has these in "The Tournament" when she reveals the punishment for losing the titular event.
  • She gets them again in "Online" when she discovers Jason's online dating profile.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Bruce can't figure out how to tie a tie without Alfred's help. Wonder Woman suggests that he simply show up to the black tie event without a tie because he's the richest man in Gotham so they're hardly going to turn him away.
• Sdrawkcab Speech: Zatanna's incantations are mere English words spelled backwards, but the sentences themselves are not reversed.
• Seen It All: The intro boxes characterize Commissioner Gordon as having seen it all.
• Servile Snarker: Alfred is in tip-top shape here.
• Shout-Out:
  • "Alert" has Batman and Red Hood mimic the infamous "pointing Spider-Men" meme.
  • "The Tournament":
    • The premise features Cass, Steph, Tim and Jason playing what is essentially Mario Kart.
    • The shot of Damian and Duke undertaking Lessons in Sophistication is a reference to a similar scene in The Princess Diaries.
  • In "Crush (2/3)," Steph quotes the Keeping Up with the Kardashians "You're doing amazing sweetie" meme.
  • In "Online," a Youtube-esque video site has a video titled 'BATGIRL CRASHES MY PARTY?' with a young kid in a yellow shirt and a blue cap pointing at a blonde Batgirl with a bewildered look on his face. The color of his outfit and the way he wears his hat makes him a dead ringer for the 'Youngster' trainer class from Pokémon, specifically using the colors of the SRE rendition of the trainer class - also known as 'Youngster Joey' after the memetic trainer from GSC, whose HGSS look was updated to take after the SRE look.
• Snowball Fight: The "Snowfall" two-parter is about the Batfamily having a snowball fight with Bruce in one corner against everyone else. It ends with Alfred providing covering fire and Bruce pulling out set of Powered Armor to defeat everyone.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Averted and Lampshaded in "Night In". Superman has no problem with patrolling Gotham while Bruce takes a night off, but this doesn't stop Harley Quinn from mocking the idea, claiming that the people of Gotham are "allergic to truth and justice".
• Tempting Fate: A triumphant Damian holds the last cookie over his head and gloats about how he's the superior Robin. Jason tackles him mid-sentence and grabs the cookie.
• There Was a Door: Discussed in "No Doors Allowed" as Jason and Cassandra get on Duke's case for using doors and not any of the other iconic entrances. Duke's rebuttal? If their enemies are expecting them through those entrances, why not use the door?
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Steph is as tomboyish as you'd expect a vigilante to be, but in a few issues she's shown wearing cute skirts and celebrates wins with sparkly happy-dances.
• Too Much Information: "TMI" features Batman flirting with Catwoman while not realizing that he'd left his comm open... with all of his proteges/children listening. Spoiler declares it to be the worst thing ever, Red Robin is left crying in a corner, Red Hood begs for someone to kill him again, and Damian innocently asked if he was going to arrest her.
• Welcome Episode: The first issue has Bruce welcome Duke Thomas to Wayne Manor.
• You Monster!: Played for Laughs when said by Jason, after Barbara reveals the loser of the video game match in "The Tournament" has to wear Dick's old disco-themed Nightwing costume.

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