Man-Bat

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Man-Bat
The Man-Bat from Who's Who in the DC Universe #12,
art by Michael Golden
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceDetective Comics #400
(June 1970)
Created byFrank Robbins (writer)
Neal Adams (artist)
Julius Schwartz (concept)
In-story information
Alter egoDr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliations
Partnerships
Khalid Nassour
Notable aliasesDr. Kirk Langstrom
Abilities(As Langstrom):
  • Genius-level intellect
  • Proficient biochemist and zoologist

(As the Man-Bat):

Man-Bat (Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by

sympathetic villain or antihero
.

In the original version of the story, Kirk Langstrom was a

Francine
and father Abraham.

Since his debut at the end of the

television series and video games. In 2017, the Man-Bat was ranked as IGN's 16th-best Batman villain.[2]

Publication history

The character made his first appearance in Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) and was created by Frank Robbins and Neal Adams in collaboration with editor Julius Schwartz.[3] The Man-Bat was the star of his own eponymous series in 1975–1976,[4] which proved to be unpopular and was cancelled after only two issues.

Fictional character biography

Batman fighting the Man-Bat in the textless cover of Man-Bat (vol. 3) #3 (August 2006), art by Mike Huddleston

Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a

Francine Langstrom, into drinking the serum and she goes through the same transformation, becoming the She-Bat. Together, they terrorize Gotham City until Batman once again restores them to normal.[8]

On some occasions, Langstrom takes the serum and retains enough sanity to work for the forces of good. During one of these periods, he works with the detective Jason Bard. On another occasion, in Action Comics #600, Jimmy Olsen inadvertently puts Superman into a cave occupied by the Man-Bat to protect him from kryptonite radiation that had reached Earth following the explosion of Krypton. The Man-Bat calms the maddened Superman and then summons Hawkman, who helps Superman overcome the radiation. Kirk and Francine have a daughter, Rebecca ("Becky"), and a son, Aaron. Because of the effects the serum has on Aaron's DNA, he is born with a deadly illness. Francine turns him into a young Man-Bat to save his life. This occurs in issue #3 of the Man-Bat (vol. 2) miniseries by Chuck Dixon.

Infinite Crisis and beyond

Francine Langstrom as she appears in Batman and the Outsiders (vol. 2) #9 (September 2008), art by Julian López

The Man-Bat is sighted in Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains during the events of the 2005–2006 storyline Infinite Crisis.[9]

In the aftermath of that storyline, both Kirk and Francine are shown to be alive in the 2006 "One Year Later" storyline. Talia al Ghul binds and gags Francine, and then threatens to poison her if Kirk does not give her the Man-Bat formula. After Langstrom gives her the formula, she releases Francine as promised. Talia utilizes the Man-Bat to turn some generic members of the League of Assassins into Man-Bat Commandos.[10]

In

ReMAC
. In issue #10 of that series, Kirk appears, seemingly healthy and also aiding Francine.

In the 2008 miniseries

Battle for the Cowl" storyline, following Batman's apparent death, Kirk is haunted by nightmares of becoming the Man-Bat and killing his wife. When Francine disappears, he takes the serum and tries to follow her. After an altercation with the Outsiders, he returns to his human form and is captured by Doctor Phosphorus, who reveals that the serum is not necessary to trigger the change. Kirk discovers that Phosphorus has also captured Francine and becomes the Man-Bat to save her.[14]

During the 2009–2010

Bat-Family. The Man-Bat, following Red Robin's orders, protects Julie Madison, a former lover of Bruce Wayne, against Ra's al Ghul's assassins.[18]

The New 52

The Man-Bat in Batman: The Dark Knight (vol. 2) #28 (April 2014), art by Ethan Van Sciver

In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), the majority of Kirk Langstrom's history is rebooted. The Man-Bat serum first appears in Detective Comics (vol. 2) #18 (May 2013). Ignatius Ogilvy also comes into possession of the Man-Bat serum, which he uses as an airborne virus to spread throughout Gotham City's "900 Block".[19]

In Detective Comics (vol. 2) #19 (June 2013), Kirk Langstrom first appears where he and his wife Francine are escorted by Batwoman to Batman's location. Langstrom reveals that he is the creator of the serum, intending to help deaf people. Taking responsibility as the creator of the serum, he uses a sample of the serum Batman had obtained to inject himself. This creates an anti-virus which also spreads through the air. Langstrom is turned into a Man-Bat (the last remaining Man-Bat) as his anti-virus cures the remaining citizens of Gotham. It was later revealed that

Emperor Penguin was the one who released the virus.[20] Emperor Penguin later made use of Langstrom's Man-Bat serum when he combined it with the Venom drug and one of Poison Ivy's plant concoctions to empower himself.[21]

Langstrom re-appears in Batman Inc. (vol. 2) #10 (June 2013) apparently giving Batman the serum. He claims to be working on an aerosol antidote to the serum as well.[22] The back-up feature of Detective Comics (vol. 2) #21 (August 2013), focuses on Langstrom and his wife. He changes from the Man-Bat form into his human form and becomes addicted to the Man-Bat serum, taking it every night. He apparently does not remember his actions from the previous night, yet worries that a string of reported killings are his fault.[23]

During the "Forever Evil" storyline, the Man-Bat is among the villains recruited by the Crime Syndicate of America to join the Secret Society of Super-Villains.[24] The Scarecrow and the Man-Bat attempt to steal the frozen Talons (assassins that are associated with the Court of Owls) from Blackgate while the Penguin is having a meeting with Bane. Bane arrives at Blackgate as the Man-Bat and his fellow Man-Bats are attempting to transport the Talons to Mr. Freeze and is able to keep one from leaving.[25] The final issues of the series Batman: The Dark Knight would establish that Kirk is the son of a corrupt wealthy pharmaceutical businessman named Abraham Langstrom, who considers his son as a failure when compared to Bruce Wayne, the son of his business rival Thomas Wayne. Abraham would steal his son's serum, make some of his own improvements and use it to target the homeless (because no one would miss them) before being stopped by Batman, though he is able to plead temporary insanity to avoid going to prison.[26]

DC Rebirth

In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, which is part of DC Rebirth, the Man-Bat is featured on the news as an example of the "Superman Theory" where the government has been experimenting on humans to give them superpowers.[27] The Man-Bat later accompanied Black Adam in his attack on the White House.[28]

In Harley Quinn Rebirth, Langstrom's wife goes on a rampage against Harley and her friends, turning Harley and her friend Tony into Man-Bats as part of the Penguin's plan to break Harley's spirit. Their other friends get Langstrom released and he helps them find the antidote before predictably escaping himself.

The Man-Bat later becomes a founding member of the second incarnation of Justice League Dark.

Powers and abilities

By taking his bat gland extract, Kirk Langstrom transforms himself into a bat-like creature. When taking an antidote or if the serum wears off, he reverts to human form. As the Man-Bat, his strength, resiliency, speed, and agility are all augmented to inhuman levels. He possesses an extra set of digits in his leathery wings that allows Kirk to fly. With his sonar radar, Kirk can emit high-pitch sound waves and hear those echoes when they bounce off of nearby objects, thus enabling him to navigate perfectly in the darkness. If in the Man-Bat form for long periods of time, he loses control over his bestial side that works purely on instinct, plus making him prone to harm friend or foe alike.[29]

As Kirk Langstrom, he is a highly intelligent scientist in the fields of biochemistry and zoology (particularly chiropterology).

Other characters named the Man-Bat

Francine Langstrom

Man-Bat Commandos

As mentioned above, Talia al Ghul captured Kirk Langstrom and threatened to poison Francine if he did not give her the Man-Bat formula. Kirk gives in to Talia al Ghul's demands where she uses the Man-Bat formula on some generic members of the League of Assassins to turn them into the group's Man-Bat Commandos.[10]

During the "Batman R.I.P." story line, Talia al Ghul sends the Man-Bat Commandos to destroy Jezebel Jet's airplane.[30]

In 2011, The New 52 rebooted the DC Universe. Various Man-Bats have appeared under the control of Talia al Ghul in her plot to destroy Batman.[31] It is later explained that Talia al Ghul had an agent steal the serum from Langstrom's laboratory to use on her soldiers to create the Man-Bat Commandos.[20]

During the "Forever Evil" storyline, some Man-Bat Commandos were used to help the Crime Syndicate hunt down the Rogues. The Mirror Master managed to trap some of them in the Mirror World. When a Man-Bat snatches up the Weather Wizard, the other Rogues members chase after it until it crashes into a solid wall of ice upon arriving in Mr. Freeze's territory.[32]

Abraham Langstrom

Back when Thomas and Martha Wayne were still alive, Kirk Langstrom had a father named Abraham whose company, Patriarch Biopharmaceuticals, competed with Wayne Enterprises. Years after the death of Thomas and Martha, Abraham continued his shady deals, which involved exploiting his son's Man-Bat serum which he planned to profit from. He soon became addicted to the upgraded serum. When he became a Man-Bat, Abraham targeted the homeless people of Gotham City, draining them of their blood. This caused Batman to team up with Kirk Langstrom to fight Abraham.[33] Because the skin of Abraham's Man-Bat form was tough, Batman injected himself with the cure and tricked Abraham into drinking his blood enough to transform back to normal. Batman then handed Abraham over to the police. After evading incarceration by claiming that he had no knowledge on what his Man-Bat form did, Abraham returned to his company, though he was wary of the fact that Batman may catch him if he ever makes a mistake.[34]

Other versions

Countdown to Final Crisis

In Countdown to Final Crisis: The Search For Ray Palmer, an alternate version of the Man-Bat is shown. He is from Earth-19 (Gotham by Gaslight), and has experimented with bats similar to his mainstream counterpart. He is later defeated by the Blue Beetle and Batman.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, the Man-Bat is killed by Miranda Shrieve, the granddaughter of Matthew Shrieve.[35] In a flashback, the Man-Bat is invited by Lt. Matthew Shrieve to be a new member of the Creature Commandos and then betrayed. Miranda also kills his entire family.[36] It is revealed that the Man-Bat was working with General Sam Lane, who is responsible for the deaths of Miranda's family.[37]

JLA: The Nail

In the

Cadmus Labs.[38]

In other media

Television

The Man-Bat as depicted in Batman: The Animated Series
The Man-Bat as depicted in The Batman
  • Kirk Langstrom / the Man-Bat appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), voiced by Marc Singer while Man-Bat's vocal effects were provided by special sound effects.[39]
    • First appearing in
      Francine
      became "She-Bat" after she was accidentally exposed to a different Man-Bat serum created by Dr. March. In the end, Francine is cured by Batman and reunited with her husband.
    • Kirk Langstrom makes a cameo appearance in The New Batman Adventures episode "Chemistry", attending Bruce Wayne's wedding.
    • In Batman Beyond, a new trend dubbed "splicing" involves fusing bestial and human DNA. The new Batman ends up captured by the Splicers' leader Abel Cuvier and injected with vampire bat DNA, transforming him into a Man-Bat. He is later cured by Bruce Wayne.
  • Kirk Langstrom / the Man-Bat appears in
    GCPD Detective Ethan Bennett. Batman confronts the Man-Bat once more before the latter turns back into Langstrom and is taken to Arkham Asylum, where he attempts to recreate his serum. In the episode "Pets", the Penguin attempts to use a sonar device to gain control of a giant condor, unaware he has one that only works on bats. When he uses it, remnants of the Man-Bat serum in Langstrom's body cause him to transform into the Man-Bat and fly to the Penguin's side. While the Man-Bat proves to be the Penguin's loyal servant, Langstrom is furious at being used and threatens retaliation. Batman later foils the Penguin's plans and cures Langstrom, who is taken to Arkham alongside the Penguin. As of the episode "Attack of the Terrible Trio", Langstrom has renounced his Man-Bat identity and helps Batman develop an antidote for a mutagen that the Terrible Trio
    developed using his research.
  • A race of Man-Bats appear in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Last Bat on Earth!". They are intelligent, anthropomorphic inhabitants of Kamandi's post-apocalyptic future who encounter Batman when he travels to the future to stop Gorilla Grodd and his ape army. They are initially hostile, but later gain respect for Batman and assist him and Kamandi in defeating Grodd.
  • Kirk Langstrom / the Man-Bat appears in
    Mister Toad, but is later freed by Batman and Katana and becomes a founding member of the Outsiders
    .
  • The Man-Bat appears in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode "What a Night for a Dark Knight!". After the Man-Bat kidnaps Alfred Pennyworth, Batman and Mystery Inc. join forces to save him. At first, the former suspects Kirk Langstrom, but rules him out upon realizing he is incarcerated at Arkham Asylum. After rescuing Pennyworth, the heroes discover the Joker had dressed up as the Man-Bat as part of a plot to get the password to Bruce Wayne's bank accounts.
  • The Man-Bat makes cameo appearances in Harley Quinn as a member of the Legion of Doom in the first and fourth seasons.

Film

Video games

Lego DC series

Other games

  • The Man-Bat appears in the SNES version of The Adventures of Batman & Robin.
  • Kirk Langstrom / the Man-Bat appears in
    Gotham City Police Department
    's headquarters, where he is left crying over Francine's fate. If the player returns to Langstrom's lab after this, they will find Francine's body gone and a broken television screen with the words "forever my love" written on it in an unknown substance. If the console or computer's date is changed to October 31 after capturing Langstrom, Batman will re-encounter the Man-Bat while free-roaming, but will not have the option to pursue him. If Batman returns to the GCPD headquarters after this, he will find two police officers looking into Langstrom's destroyed cell, commenting that he transformed into the Man-Bat again and escaped.
  • Kirk Langstrom and the Man-Bat Commandos appear in
    League of Shadows
    . After the Court discovered Langstrom's treachery and killed him for it, the League steals his research and combine it with Lazarus Pit chemicals to create an army of mutant Man-Bats, which are defeated by the Gotham Knights.

Miscellaneous

  • The Man-Bat appears in Super Friends #28.[43]
  • The
    Gotham City Police Department
    .
  • The DCAU incarnations of Kirk and Francine Langstrom appear in the Batman Beyond tie-in comic. In flashbacks, the Langstroms lived peacefully, studying sonics and going on to have two children. However, Francine developed an aggressive form of Parkinson's disease and was given a short life expectancy. In response, Kirk attempted to perfect the Man-Bat serum to save her, but she died before he could do so. Following this, his children left him, angered that he did not spend time with her during her final days. Devastated, Kirk turned to his perfected serum, became the Man-Bat once more, and lived in secret. During this period of time, he rescued a girl named Tey from the Jokerz, injected her with the serum, and fell in love with her. In the present, Kirk builds a cult of Man-Bats with the intention of using Kanium to help him and his cult control themselves more effectively. Bruce Wayne tries to reason with him, but Kirk views them both as monsters and attempts to use a bomb to kill themselves. After the new Batman rescues them, Kirk tells Wayne to use his second chance wisely before killing himself with his bomb.
  • The Man-Bat appears in
    Emil Hamilton
    to reboot the rings and depower the inmates. Following Parallax's defeat, the inmates are returned to Arkham.
  • The Man-Bat appears in All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12.
  • A new incarnation of the Man-Bat appears in issue #4 of the Beware the Batman tie-in comic book. Tim Quan, an acquaintance of Barbara Gordon's, sneaks into Kirk Langstrom's laboratory and ends up mutating into a Man-Bat. Having become more unstable than Langstrom, Quan goes on a rampage and kidnaps Barbara. Batman teams up with Langstrom to find and cure Quan, at the expense of Langstrom's own cure.
  • Kirk Langstrom / Batman appears in the Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles episode "Twisted", voiced again by Michael C. Hall. He tracks and confronts deranged murderer the Harlequin before biting her neck and drinking her blood.
  • The Man-Bat appears in the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic.
  • The Man-Bat appears in the Injustice 2 prequel comic as a member of Ra's al Ghul's Suicide Squad until he is killed amidst Gorilla Grodd's betrayal.[44]

See also

References

  1. .
  2. ^ "25 Best Batman Villains". IGN. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  3. .
  4. . Thanks to his appearances in Detective Comics and Batman, Man-Bat's popularity soared to the point where writer Gerry Conway and artist Steve Ditko launched the [character] into his own series.
  5. .
  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ Kronenberg, Michael (October 2019). "Fright Night: Batman and the Horror Genre". Back Issue (116). TwoMorrows Publishing: 15–22.
  9. ^ Infinite Crisis #7 (June 2006). DC Comics.
  10. ^ a b Batman #655 (September 2006). DC Comics.
  11. ^ Gotham Underground #1. DC Comics.
  12. ^ Salvation Run #2 (February 2008). DC Comics.
  13. ^ Final Crisis #4. DC Comics.
  14. Battle for the Cowl
    : Man-Bat
    #1. DC Comics.
  15. ^ Superman/Batman #66. DC Comics.
  16. ^ Superman/Batman #67. DC Comics.
  17. ^ Batgirl (vol. 3) #10-11 (July 2010-August 2010). DC Comics.
  18. ^ Red Robin #12 (July 2012). DC Comics.
  19. ^ Detective Comics (vol. 2) #18 (May 2013). DC Comics.
  20. ^ a b Detective Comics (vol. 2) #19 (June 2013). DC Comics.
  21. ^ Detective Comics (vol. 2) #20. DC Comics.
  22. ^ Batman Inc. (vol. 2) #10 (June 2013). DC Comics.
  23. ^ Detective Comics (vol. 2) #21 (August 2013). DC Comics.
  24. ^ Forever Evil #1
  25. ^ Forever Evil: Arkham War #2
  26. ^ Batman: The Dark Knight (vol. 2) #28-29. DC Comics.
  27. ^ Doomsday Clock #3 (January 2018). DC Comics.
  28. ^ Doomsday Clock #11. DC Comics.
  29. ^ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe Vol. XIV (April 1986)
  30. ^ Batman #681. DC Comics.
  31. ^ Batman, Inc. (vol. 2) #1. DC Comics.
  32. ^ Forever Evil: Rogues' Rebellion #3. DC Comics.
  33. ^ Batman: The Dark Knight (vol. 2) #28. DC Comics.
  34. ^ Batman: The Dark Knight (vol. 2) #29. DC Comics.
  35. ^ Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1 (June 2011)
  36. ^ Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #2 (July 2011)
  37. ^ Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3 (August 2011)
  38. ^ JLA: The Nail #3
  39. ^ a b c d e f g h "Man-Bat / Dr. Kirk Langstrom Voices (Batman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 1, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  40. ^ *Ramey, Bill "Jett" (2005-07-28). "Interview: Lee Shapiro". Batman-on-Film. Archived from the original on 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  41. ^ Game Informer features a two-page gallery of the many heroes and villains who appear in the game with a picture for each character and a descriptive paragraph. See "LEGO Batman: Character Gallery", Game Informer #186 (October 2008): 93.
  42. ^ Newton, Andrew (31 August 2018). "LEGO DC Super-Villains Season Pass details revealed". Flickering Myth.
  43. ^ "Super Friends #28 - (comic book issue)". Comic Vine. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  44. ^ Injustice 2 #1. DC Comics.