Man-Bat
Man-Bat (Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Introduced in Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) as an enemy of the superhero Batman, the character belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery. Originally portrayed as a supervillain, later incarnations show the Man-Bat as a sympathetic villain or antihero.
| Man-Bat | |
|---|---|
The Man-Bat from Who's Who in the DC Universe #12, art by Michael Golden | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) |
| Created by | Frank Robbins (writer) Neal Adams (artist) Julius Schwartz (concept) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | |
| Partnerships | Khalid Nassour |
| Notable aliases | Dr. Kirk Langstrom |
| Abilities | (As Langstrom):
(As the Man-Bat):
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In the original version of the story, Kirk Langstrom was a zoologist who tried to give humans a bat's acute sonar sense. He managed to develop an extract that could supposedly do this, but upon testing it on himself, he transformed into an anthropomorphic feral half-bat hybrid, lacking sapience and acting purely on instinct. Batman managed to reverse the effects, but Langstrom would return as the Man-Bat time and time again, albeit not necessarily as a villain, as Langstrom would sometimes retain enough sanity to use his powers for good. Several other characters have since appeared as similar Man-Bat creatures, including Langstrom's wife Francine and father Abraham.
Since his debut at the end of the Silver Age of Comic Books, the Man-Bat has been featured in various media adaptations, including television series and video games. In 2017, the Man-Bat was ranked as IGN's 16th-best Batman villain.