The numbers i've seen say Batman sales went from 600,000 per month in the mid 50s to 265,000 when Schiff was finally booted off them. The stories sucked. It might have been proto-psychedelic but it wasn't Batman.


No, there were some bad stories, but there were plenty of good ones, by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang especially. Comic sales in general dropped during the period you cite, especially superhero sales. That's why Superman, Batman, and WW were the only ones left at DC at one point.


Some have made the case that the sci-fi Batman was Weisenger's idea and Schiff was bullied into it. If you can't fight your corner, you can't be an editor. Can you imagine what Kanigher would have said/done if Mort had told him to put more sci-fi into Sgt Rock?
  1.  Mort wasn't Kanigher's boss.
  2.  Kanigher followed orders when given them. He hated the idea of editing Wonder Woman, and keeping H.G.Peter on the strip. The bosses told him to do both and he did it. He even took Dr. Marston's widow out for lunch every few months to keep everything smooth with Wonder Woman and DC. He followed orders when he had to. The bosses at DC in the 40's and 50's were tough---you didn't mess with those guys. I'm sure Schiff made arguments about things, but when push came to shove, he likely did what he was asked to.