Creature of the night! Man-Bat is Gotham City’s take on the old werewolf mythos but it a batty twist. So how does one become a Man-Bat? What does one o while a Man-Bat? Detective work, probably. Let’s find out!
Rebert Kirkland “Kirk” Langstrom was a brilliant zoologist working with bats to find a way to aide deaf people to have some form of hearing as he himself was losing his hearing. Testing this serum on himself turned out to be successful in restoring his hearing and even giving him a form of sonar. There was a major side effect, it turned Kirk into a Man-Bat. Batman has to intervene and help find a cure to return Kirk back to human form.
There’s something about either the formula or being a Man-Bat that is addictive and thrilling so, soon, Kirk is back at it as Man-Bat and this time his wife, Francine, joins him as She-Bat. Batman has to step in once again to cure them and further developments are made with the serum to allow for more human intelligence to remain when in bat form and allowing for reverting back to human form when needed.
Now able to control himself and his transformstions, Kirk would begin fighting crime with the assistance of a detective. He’d be such a good person he’d even help a Krypton irradiated Superman recover while finding him in one of his hide out caves. kirk and Francine would eventually have 2 children, Becky and Aaron, sadly Aaron’s DNA would be mutated rom his parents interaction with bat serum causing him on have a fatal disease. Thankfully, turning him into a Bat Boy would save his life, the National Enquirer was a prophecy.
While mostly on the side ofnheroes, Kirk would be forced to give the bat serum to Talia al Ghul to save Francine, this would allow for the League of Assassin’s to have an army of bat commandos. as time went on, Francine found army cure for the Man-Bat and was ready to give it to Kirk when they learned his next transformation may be make him stuck in Man-Bat form. It turned out his Man-Bat side didn’t wish to die and when Francine was attacked by those who sought to destroy the cure, Kirk would transform for what might be the last time into Man-Bat to save Francine.
In the New 52, the serum that Kirk and Francine Langstrom made to aide deaf people would be stolen and spread into the air causing thousands of Gotham citizens to turn into Man-Bats. Kirk would inject himself to help Batman create an antibody that could cure the city but it also transformed him. While he is able to be cured it is a highly addictive serum for him and Kirk finds himself often waking up the morning after having transformed without any memory of what he’d done as Man-Bat.
There you have it! Science gone awry! A terrifying transformation into a monster! A monster turned hero! A monstrous sacrifice for love! Man-Bat’s story has it all. Man-Bat was the premiere episode of Batman: The Animated Series and has thrilled audiences for years. Will he ever make an appearance in the big screen? We’ll have to wait and see! Until next time, folks!
Suggested Reading
Detective Comics #400
Action Comics #600
Man-Bat
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
