Man-Bat

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	Secret Society of Super Villains Justice League Dark Suicide Squad
Partnerships	Khalid Nassour
Notable aliases	Dr. Kirk Langstrom
Abilities	(As Langstrom): Genius-level intellect Proficient biochemist and zoologist (As the Man-Bat): Superhuman strength, durability, speed, and agility Flight Echolocation Razor-sharp claws

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,^[1] 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.

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.^[2]