Man-Bat

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Man-Bat

Real Name	Robert Kirkland Langstrom
Alias	Man-Bat
Height	6'1
Weight	201 lbs
Abilities	Flight Superhuman strength Heightened hearing and sight
Team Affiliations	Secret Society of Super Villains
Base of Operations	Gotham City

Man-Bat (Kirk Langstrom) is a character found in the DC Universe. He was created by Frank Robnins and Neal Adams, and first appeared in Detective Comics #400.

Character History

A brilliant scientist, Kirk Langstrom worked all his life to help mankind. Focusing his studies on bats, Langstrom believed he figured out a way to use enzymes from the creatures as a means of transferring a bats sonar sense into those of blind people. After finishing the serum, Langstrom did not have a subject to test it out on. With his marriage struggling due to his constant work and funding for his project steadily dwindling, Langstrom decided to use the serum on himself as he had started losing his hearing. His creation had returned his hearing to normal, but nasty side effects began to ravage Langstrom's body and mind.

Mutating into a man/bat hybrid, Langstrom slowly begins losing himself as he suffers from frequent blackouts. Realizing how far he has fallen, Langstrom attempts to kill himself by jumping off of a building. However, during the fall, he flies away using his newly formed wings, completely his transformation into Man-Bat. Langstrom has been cured of the illness a handful of times by Batman with the aid of Langstrom's wife, Francine, but the change into his alternate form always returns. In one instance, Langstrom used the serum on his wife to transform her into the creature known as She-Bat, spurning the couple to terrorize Gotham City together.