Man-Bat

Man-Bat was a vampirelike character introduced in the 1970s by DC Comics as the stiff guidelines of the 1954 Comics Code were being relaxed. Created by Frank Robins, Man-Bat made his initial appearance in Detective Comics (No. 400) in early 1970. The original story concerned Kirk Langstrom, an expert on nocturnal mammals at the museum in Gotham City, the home of superhero Batman Langstrom had become obsessed with the idea of besting Batman in some way. In seeking to accomplish his goal, he concocted a serum made from the glands of bats . The serum gave him a natural sonar power and the supersensitive hearing abilities associated with bats. There was an unwanted side effect-he began to transform into a giant bat creature.

Langstrom was trying to find some way out of his predicament when thieves broke into the museum. Batman was about to be defeated by the thieves when Man-Bat showed up to help. In their next encounter, Man-Bat attempted to steal drugs that he hoped would reverse his condition. At the time, Langstrom was engaged, his marriage was approaching, and he was trapped in his bat form. His fiance, Francine, took some of the serum as an act of love and thus joined Langstrom in his batlike existence. With Batman's help they both received an antidote and returned to human form.

Their story appeared to be over. However, there was enough reader reaction to include several new Man-Bat stories in future issues of Detective Comics. In No. 429, Francine was bitten by a vampire bat and became a vampire she-bat. Her vampiric side was cured by a complete blood transfusion. Meanwhile, Langstrom had continued his research and attained the ability to turn into Man-Bat at will by taking some pills. He became a crime fighter like Batman. In this capacity he earned a large reward that left him independently wealthy. At the end of 1975, DC Comics tried to test their new character, who seemed to have a large following, with his own comic book . The first issue of Man-Bat appeared in December 1975. In it, Langstrom was called upon to deal with super criminal Baron Tyme, who had discovered a means to control Francine and use her to commit crimes. Tyme's intervention reactivated Francine's vampirism. The new comic book was short-lived, however, and after only two issues, Man-Bat returned to Detective Comics.

Over the next decade, Man-Bat made sporadic appearances to interact with Batman (for example, in Batman Family No. 18 in 1978 and Batman No. 348 in 1982) and occasionally with other DC characters, such as Superman (DC Comics Presents No. 335 in 1981). In 1984 a second attempt was made to revive Man-Bat in a separate publication. The original Man-Bat stories from Detective Comics were reprinted, but only one issue appeared, and Man-Bat returned to a secondary role in the ongoing DC cast.

Through the 1990s, Man-Bat has made periodic appearances and in the hands of new artists John Bolton and Kelley Jones has developed a more sinister appearance. He has also been involved in more stories which have pushed him to the edge of human society. In Final Night of the Man-Bat, for example, Doug Moench and Jones placed Man-Bat over against Batman in a Gotham that had lost its sunlight and Batman had to save Man-Bat from losing his humanity altogether and becoming a killer.

Delano, Jamie, and John Bolton. Batman Manbat. No. 1-3. New York: DC Comics, 1995.
Man-Bat. DC Comics. Nos. 1-2 (December 1975/January 1976-February/March 1976).
Man-Bat. DC Comics. No. 1 (1984). Moench, Doug et al. "Darkest Night of the Man-Bat." Batman 536-568 (Nov. 1996-Jan.1998).