Man-Bats
Man-Bats are a hybrid species that feature in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Man-Bats were the result of experiments that were conducted by Dr. Kirk Langstrom who was looking for a cure for his medical condition that saw him losing his hearing. o find a cure, Langstrom experimented with bats DNA and the experiment seemingly worked at first. Howewever, the side effects of the experiment came later and Langstrom transformed into a creature, half human and half bat. The transformation was gradual and eventually he was turned into a Man-Bat. Following his instincts, Man-Bat went to the Batcave, where Batman captured Man-Bat and with help from Francine, they developed a an antidote that cured Langstrom, reverting the transformation and turning him back to a human; although his hearing loss was cured. Kirk and Francine married soon afterwards. (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual v1 #5)
Talia al Ghul and the League of Assassins paid a visit to Kirk Langstrom. As part of his threat to him, Talia arranged for some League of Assassins operatives to kidnap his wife Francine and inject her with a degenerative neuro-bacillus that will cripple her in 24 hours unless he delivers them the Man-Bat Serum. He complies with them and a select number of League of Assassins operatives are turned into Man-Bat Commandos. They first appear where they attack a gala in London that was being attended by Bruce Wayne. (Batman v1 #656) The Man-Bats attempt to kidnap the Prime Minister's wife, but Batman takes down all six of them. Many more arrive, and Alfred evacuates the building with Jezebel. Batman uses super-sonics and takes out 30 of them, but they overwhelm him and knock him out. When Batman regains consciousness in the sewers and finds the Prime Minister's wife tied to a chair, the Man-Bat Commandos hold Batman when Talia al Ghul appeared stating that she has taken control of her late father's organization and introduces him to his son. (Batman v1 #657)
After Talia learned about the Black Glove's involvement on the disappearance of Batman, she sent the Man-Bat Commandos to eliminate every member of the organization, starting with Jezebel Jet. The Man-Bats attacked the airplane where Jet was flying to escape Gotham and most likely they destroyed it, killing everyone traveling on the plane. (Batman v1 #681)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Man-Bats were a hybrid life form of bat and humans with the formula being created by Kirk Langstrom who was the first of their kind. Talia al Ghul had an agent steal the serum from Langstrom's laboratory to use on her soldiers to create the Man-Bat Commandos. (Detective Comics v2 #19) Various Man-Bats appeared under the control of Talia al Ghul in her plot to destroy Batman. (Batman Inc. v2 #1)
During Forever Evil, some Man-Bat Commandos were used to help the Crime Syndicate of America hunt down the Rogues. The Mirror Master managed to trap some of them in the Mirror World. When a Man-Bat snatched up the Weather Wizard, the other Rogues members chase after it until it crashed into a solid wall of ice upon arriving in Mr. Freeze's territory. (Forever Evil: Rogues' Rebellion v1 #3)
A trio of Man-Bat commandos came to be captured by the U.S. government where they were placed at Belle Reve penitentiary and forced to work as part of the Suicide Squad. (New Suicide Squad v1 #5)
From the Phantom Zone, Xa-Du created a compulsion in numerous criminals to kill Clark Kent after the Phantom King sustained injuries that prevented him from returning to Earth. Among those ensnared by this command were thirteen Man-Bat assassins that accompanied Bane, Killer Croc and Cheshire as they sought out a depowered Clark Kent. (Batman/Superman Annnual v1 #2)
Overview
Members
- Kirk Langstrom :
- Francine Langstrom :
- Aaron Langstrom :
- Abraham Langstrom :
Notes
- Man-Bats were created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert where they made their first appearance in Batman v1 #655 (September, 2006).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, multiple Man-Bats appeared in the episode "The Last Bat on Earth!". They were presented as one of the animal based societies that formed in the future following the Great Disaster in the era of Kamandi. Man-Bats populated the Batcave that managed to survive even to this time when Batman, Doctor Canus and Kamandi arrived in order to find technology to defeat Gorilla Grodd who had arrived in this era to lead the Ape Men army. Upon arriving, the three were attacked by the Man-Bats who were insulted that a human attempted to emulate them. However, the heroes managed to defeat the Man-Bats with Batman telling them to get out of his cave. Later on, they arrived to aid Batman who had gained their respect and stood alongside him along with the united animal people armies to fight the Ape Men army. They were instrumental in distracting the colossal ape Tiny allowing for Kamandi and Prince Tuftan to tie a rope around his legs causing him to topple and be defeated.
- In Beware the Batman, Dr. Kirk Langstrom was a brilliant scientist that was working on a serum to help cure disease that was derived from bat genetic material as shown in the episode "Doppelganger". His laboratory was attacked by Professor Pyg and Mister Toad who forced him to test his serum on himself turning him into the Man-Bat hybrid. They later used the Devil's Breath drug to keep him in a suggestible state where they had him steal numerous chemicals to make more samples of the serum in order to create an animal-human hybrid army to take over Gotham City.
Films
- In Son of Batman, Ra's al Ghul forcibly had Dr. Kirk Langstrom work on mutagen research in creating serum that could turn humans into bat hybrid creatures. The purpose was to subject some of his own warriors in the League of Assassins to the mutagen turning them into super-assassins that could fly, navigate by sonar and attack in the cover of darkness. Dr. Langstrom would agree to help Ra's al Ghul but would constantly make improvements to the serum to delay its use. After Ra's al Ghul was killed by Deathstroke, Slade Wilson took Langstrom's wife Francine and daughter Rebecca hostage forcing Kirk to complete it. Afterwards, a large number of assassins loyal to Wilson wee treated to the mutagen where they were first encountered by both Batman and Robin Damian Wayne in Gotham City. Another group of Man-Bat assassins were in the League oil rig by Scotland but Batman deployed a sonic batarang that forced them to flee to the surface. Once there, Nightwing had Dr. Kirk Langstrom fire an antidote into the Man-Bats that turned them back into human beings.
Video games
- In Gotham Knights, Man-Bats appeared in the setting of the 2022 action role-playing video game. It was revealed that their creation was the result of Dr. Kirk Langstrom's experiments where he had been affiliated with the Court of Owls. However, secretly, he was also working for their enemies in the League of Assassins. 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.
Appearances
- Batman v1: (2006)
- Man-Bat:
- Red Hood and the Outlaws:
- New Suicide Squad v1:
External Links
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