Funny how Clayface and ManBat had similar allegories to addiction, just in different ways.

I hadn't heard of Man-Bat until I played the first Lego Batman game and he was a miniboss in a level. Also learned about Killer Moth that way. I also really like the small inclusion Kirk and Francine get in Arkham Knight. It is a very small sidequest, but what's there is good.

It's insane to think, that Two-Face was a relatively obscure Batman rogue until BTAS reinvented him! It was very risky for BTAS creators to start their series with Man-Bat, but it worked in the end.

Fun fact, humans actually can use sonar. We actually only discovered the comcept of sonar, because some doctors realized that some blind people were able to develop it as a skill. So daredevil is actually based on not only a real phenomena, but a very well demonstrated one

Kinda makes me wish there was an episode between Man-Bat and Croc. Langstrom needs the serum to let his worst self take over, while Waylon is already his worst possible self. It could be the chance for Kirk to see what everyone else sees when he takes the formula, with that being enough for him to push himself off the serum for good.

I think it's very important to note that the impulses that Kirk has in the BTAS version, his feelings of needing to let go of all those trappings of society and humanity, they tie even more into the theme of Man-Bat in the series as a man-turned-beast. By separating himself from his need to be a good person, he is also in a way separating himself from his humanity.

I love how BTAS went and made so many obscure villains mainstream for Batman. Hell, Manbat got to come back in The Batman and he was pretty great there too.

That comment about being blackout drunk isn't just the perfect explanation of how Man-Bat works, it is hauntingly profound.

I would be mad that Man-Bat is literally The Lizard with the specifics changed a la Mad Libs, but since I love bats and I love animal people I love both and I don't care. Man-Bat remains to me arguably the most striking design of the entire series, and in a work as visually stunning as B:TAS, that's saying a LOT.

I remember that the growl from man bat freaked me out when i was younger as well as the trasnformation scene. But also remember feeling lots of sympathy for him too for wanting to become a better person

I really got some David Cronenberg's _The Fly_ vibes from this episode

The ironic part is in the show Angstrom's motivation is changed to a weird gene splicing thing because he describes bats are extremely tough and durable animals; you'd think he was talking about cockroaches. Except pretty much the same decade scientists were becoming aware social bats (who roost VERY tightly with each other and will share food) are especially susceptible to catching lethal fungal infections from each other, dying in the hundreds.

The craziest scientist in the 2 Man Bat episodes wasn't Kirk himself but his dad in law Dr March who thought bats were the next stage of evolution or whatever.

7:12 "doctor marsh-............................................... dismisses the recording-"

Man-Bat is my favorite Batman villain! Anytime i see him getting any kind of attention i smile as i think he deserves so much more love.

I love how in this video On Leather Wings is referenced in relation to the dire consequences of addiction to all those impacted by it while also bringing up Man-Bat's comic book origins and especially his fate as portrayed in the DCAU tie-in comics. Brilliant.

I adore Man-Bat when he's a more beast-like character, with little to no humanity left. Really wish he was in Arkham a lot more.

If you think about some of the rouges from Batman: Tas share the same problem as Spider-Man's rogues from Spider-man: Tas. For example the lizard, who's name Dr. Curt Conners, was so desperate to regrow his arm that you forego some of the warning that Peter had given him took it upon himself to take the formula to regrow his arm but in doing so causing to become a giant reptilian monster. Morbius is another that he too had become so driven to figure out Peter's blood that he accidentally combined with a vampire bats own DNA and he end up coming a pseudo vampire.

I remember "Terror in The Sky" (mainly the transformation scene) as being not only my introduction to BTAS, but to Batman, in general. It's a little vague, but I'll try to explain it as best I can. Sometime in 1994, when I was either 4 or 5 years old, I remember flipping through channels and coming across this episode on a re-run. and I distinctly remember tuning in right when Francine runs to the bathroom. With no hint as to what happened in the story before that point, you can only imagine my reaction to the transformation. It just came out of nowhere. Now, I don't remember crying and screaming during the scene. All I remember was being in complete shock and not making a sound. This was long before I had seen films like An American Werewolf in London, so monster transformations were new to me. While I was shocked, I was also curious as to what was going to happen next, so I left it on the channel and waited till it came back from commercial to see the outcome. And that's how I got introduced to Batman.

Huh. A good video although I thought you might nod to the Batman Beyond episode SPLICERS where we see a kind of legacy from the Man-Bat formula. Even to the point that Bruce winds up making the old antidote as a precaution and needs to use it on Terry who was given an overdose of Bat-based Mutagen.

I never really cared much for Man-Bat. I always saw him as a rip off of the Lizard from Spider-Man's rogues gallery. All the stories boil down to the doctor turning into the monster, fight hero and turns back to a human at the end of the story. I like the more distilled version in TAS. Kirk turns into man bat once and stays cured afterwards.

Since you mentioned Kevin Nowlan's initial design for Man-Bat having more ephasis on the Man part of the character what do you think about other designs the character has had in other media? Like the more human looking designs in Arkham Knight and Beware the Batman and the more beastial designs like in The Batman and Batman Unlimited, the last of which is the one most similar to BTAS. There's also the version of Kirk that is more like a Vampire and is also Batman in the animated film Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

Great work!

The Lizard first comic apprentice was in The Amazing Spider-Man number six on November 1963. ManBat first apprentice was in Detective Comics number 400 on June 1970. Incase you didn’t know, now you do.

Just started watching your stuff, and I love it! This was my FIRST BTAS episode I watched as a kid(in Sweden kinda 1993-94 maybe), and it was quite the introduction which made me HAVE to wake up every saturday morning to see it on tv

I like the one where he showed his sad reaction to the woman that he loves showing that he's n there somewhere & this episode is like SPIDERMAN all over again

I always love the final design of man-bat! It is a beautiful work of art and both frightening and cool at the same time! I am a little sad that he didn't get more episodes but then again, it's better to enjoy his moments then have them overused!

Ive never thought of Manbat as an analogy for drug consumption o.o But its so dam good at being that analogy!

Thank you for the video! I always appreciate people making video essays on old cartoons.

Oddly enough the first time I paid attention to Kirk's story was Justice League God's and Monsters. It was incredibly interesting how Kirk turned out in a universe where Man-Bat was mostly man and became the only Batman.

Honestly I REALLY liked this take on Kirk Like you said, he wasn't striving to cure deafness and he was quite a healthy man in this show. All he wanted was power and it corrupted him Funny enough in the batman 2004 show he did this as well albeit he wanted to be feared like Batman

Your channel is super underrated

It be kinda neat if the splicers from beyond had some sort of connection to man bat. Hes basically the first splicer

I always love the sound effect they had for his screech! So supernatural!

Yay stuff to watch at the dead hours of work. Love your content 💜

While I like the Mat Bat in the show, I think his first three apperance in the comics are better story, specially how each issue shows Kirk evolution, both physical and mental, as he goes from a scientist just wanting to find a cure (1st apperance) to become addicted his transfomation (2nd apperance) and decide to turn Francine into a She Bat like him (3rd apperance).

As a one off, threat of the week? Sure, he's fine. But there's nothing interesting enough about Man-Bat to warrant repeated appearances. Just a feral beast that has to be wrangled, lacking the engaging, colorful personalities of Arkham's regulars. I think the TAS crew understood this because Langstrom only features prominently in three episodes. Also, I always viewed him as a semi-knockoff of The Lizard from Spider-Man. Very similar stories.

I always wanted to see a ManBat movie, live action or animated.

One of the first BTAS toys I got was a Man-Bat one Xmas morn. I wish I could find it but I think it was lost in one of the various moves since then.

Dope show review

Shame they didn't use Man Bat more

*Question:* Many of the Man-Bat comic book appearances you show from the 1970s appear to have gradient colour that would seem to come from the mid 1990s or later. Were these _remastered_ editions? Or is this just incredibly deft watercolour from 1970s DC? (À la Spectrum Animation?) *PS:* I really love your background music. Reminds me of my favourite Bowie track, _Subterraneans._

Can I just say how I really like the animation quality at 6:01 and 7:49 👏

I was happy to be able to thank Neil Adams for creating Man-Bat, but also my other favorite winged character, X-Men's sauron!

that episode scared the fuck out of me as a kid. His screaches specially would not get out of my mind and terrified me

Also, you should try contacting Lynne Naylor and see if she'll share any Poison Ivy art with you. 😉

7:00 I wish 🤞 spectrum animation didn't go bankrupt the animation studio I mean.

I actually knew who the ten eyed man was before seeing this video but its only because one of the animated series had a episode based on the comic where joker gets the powers of a god from some guy from the fourth(?) Dimension intact the ten eyed man was in that episode which is why I even knew about the ten eyed man before watching this video

I still remember the night I saw this episode for the first time as a kid. The gloomy atmosphere and the music captivated me completely, and of course the humanity and the heart of Batman inspired me. The sad face of Man-Bat when his wife sees him also really resonated with me. Even though I really didn't understand why at the time. That series really was a spiritual successor to the radio dramas of yester year. Same tone and high quality story-telling.

I would LOVE to see ManBat in a film. One of my favourite villains.

Interesting to only just now find out that Romulus turned up again! Always wondered what happened to him Great video on Langstrom too!

Man-Bats transformation kinda reminds me of the Wolf-Man (1941) played by Lon Chaney Jr.

Kinda wish we would see more of Man-Bat and She-Bat, kind of makes you wonder what if Lizard from Marvel was semi successful ( with the wife thing from the early comics).

5:30 why does the one on the right look adorable in a way

The timing for this video is pretty good considering the latest issue of Batman: The Adventures Continue took the addiction parallels from subtext to full-blown text, although I also can't help but see it as a cynical way to reuse the character once more. Also, slightly off-topic, but I never realized how much Beware the Batman borrowed from Man-Bat's debut story arc for their version of the character. He just needed the opera cape.

Man-Bat returned, sort of, in the Batman Beyond episode, " Splicers".

Honestly i love the dc animated movie where kurt langstrom is batman and a vampire its a unique take on kurt. Also love man-bat as a mindless monster

I first heard of him through The Batman(2004). Now THAT one was creepy. Even in human form, he was a bit scary.

It's basically Batman's equivalent to the Lizard.

Apparently, I'm a very pleasant black out drunk. All 5 times I've blacked out, I've sobbered up in a mcdonald's only to find out I've cleaned up half the party. Which makes sense because im usually the host and always end up at mcdonald's blackout or not. So, I think the blackout analogy is hilarious. Because all I can picture is a manbat raiding mcdonald's.

Dang, looking back on it these shows where exilentally written

The animation when the manbat was flying reminded me so much of the animated show Cybersix

It's a one note joke, but I love in the Harley Quinn series ManBat is her lawyer, who cannot speak English but screech everything.

Man, I’m not gonna lie to me I really enjoy the animated series, man, bat, and the Batman man bat

that justice league gods and monster was my favorite subversion of this character

For once, the mostly-hated Bat-Embargo really saved the character integrity of Kirk Langstrom. Him becoming Man-Bat *again* and then making and leading an army of them in the original plan for Justice League Unlimited's "Double Date" just reeks of another lost cause in what is supposed to be a permanent victory by the Batman against the sins of Gotham (and that's barring my slight dislike for any Barbara Gordon becoming Oracle after a Batgirl-ending injury in said plan... can't we just have an uninjured Babs who can be Oracle when she's simply resting from her strenuous Batgirl duties?). In a sidenote, "On Leather Wings" is still the better starting point to B: TAS and all of the DCAU for the newcomers and revisiting veterans. Also, if you think very deeply about it, Batman Beyond is what Spider-Man Unlimited, the cut short pseudo-sequel to Spider-Man: The Animated Series, should have been.

Radar guided vermin taken to the next level.

Another interesting version of Kirk Langstrom is in the film/series of shorts "Justice League: Gods and Monsters". In it, it is not Bruce Wayne that becomes Batman, but Kirk; and the formula he took did not turn him into Man-Bat, but into a sort of vampire. This is the same world where General Zod's clone/son becomes Superman instead of Kal-El, and Wonder Woman is the New God Big Barda, who fled from Apocalips after Highfather of New Genesis pulled a Red Wedding when she was getting married to Orion (I think) and even managed to kill Darkseid in the fracas.

I remember him from The Batman, my personal favorite iteration of the man and his gallery.

legit my favorite batman villan character

I like how Man-Bat‘s voice would later be reused for Dranzer.

God I love this channel

Amazing

As someone who loves Man-Bat and has every issue of his initial solo series (plus his appearances in Batman Family), I can kind of see why others wouldn't like it.

I'm a little surprised you didnt mention how Terry turned into the Beyond era's Man-Bat, even if it was very brief in the Splicers episode.

🪴Batman really has that jekyll and hyde exploration thing in spades, huh. siudfhkjshf It certainly is an interesting exploration, Manbat is sort of the equivalent of the Werewolf in the batman universe. We sort of like that exploration of the 'what's left after the self goes dormant' element that is built into those sort of characters, so that's fun. (Jekyll and Hyde is always an interesting topic to bring up, because most people refer to it as dominance of different personalities, when the original story it was just the same dude with a *really* extensive makeover going incognito. Interesting how things become interpreted hundreds of years down the line.)

You know before watching these videos I didn't know batman the animated series pretty much made batman and his villains who they are today

Do a video on Grundy. He was a great villain.

Man Bat is my favorite batman villian.

I like to think that the Manbat serum is what lead to Splicers in Batman Beyond.

It shows you, for just a few moments, that the creature is her. Miss it and its gone.

It's not really about power, it's about glory. Think about it: batman is what everyone is talking about in Gotham. Becoming man-bat enables him to ride the bat-fame train.

5:46 I wish they faithfully adapted the issues

I never knew some of this stuff about man bat or what he calls him self at 1:21 the REAL bat man

Manbat is more novel Jekyll/Hyde than others inspired such as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Harvey Dent/Two Face.

Ive never gotten blackout drunk. Do people actually lose their consciousness when they do? Ive gotten so dizzy that I can't walk and I throw up. But im still present. Often I feel embarassed. Am I so self aware that I transcend drunkenness?

Like your stuff but since when is two face a lesser known villain?

I was meaning to ask for a while, what is the ending theme of the videos? I guess it is from btas but I don't remember it

Didn't they retcon his reason for creating the serum as a means to combat his hearing lose. I know for Batman TAS,they made the reason to be linked to a crazy Evo theroy involving a man bat hybrid being able to survive the supposed next evolutionary cataclyim

i actually love the idea of ManBat as a private detective, mainly for how dumb it is, but because i could see this working if it was right. for sure no one would notice a man sized bat flying in the air with a camera.

I give credit to the BTAS artists for apparently being the first Man-Bat designers to realize a bat's wings are made of its hands and not some extra rod-like bones coming out of the wrist.

Dang this and the mr Freeze stuff looks great and that studio did all this great work without asking for more money. Now they are gone because of it? Shows how bad the world is. 😞

I think the best way to depict Man-Bat would be to _have_ him trying to cure deafness, but then start becoming addicted to being Man-Bat; this would help demonstrate just how destructive drugs can be by showing the way they can affect even the most innocent and promising of individuals.

I think around 7:13 to 7:16 the audio cuts out a bit

The Man-Bat is the Incredible Hulk analogue for The Batman.

She-Bat. Sheesh.

None of these are obscure to me because I played the lego game. I was disappointed when Killer Moth was not as popular as I thought he was. Tragic.

I always thought Man-Bat was a DC Comics knockoff of Marvel Comics The Lizard.Scientist becomes menacing half human half fierce animal creature,slowly losing his humanity.

Ugh, why must these always premiere when I'm at work? Ah well, it'll give me something to watch with dinner I suppose.

Hell no, Detective ManBat is fucking awesome