I missed out on the Man-Bat stories when they first dropped on the stands decades ago, but soon I will have the chance to read them for the first time when the latest Showcase Batman Volume 5 arrives this month and includes the first three stories of the weird anti-hero.
It seems a goofy idea really, but it totally worked and Man-Bat became one of the more interesting characters at DC during the Bronze Age, at least in my meager opinion. Here are some of the earliest images of Man-Bat by Neal Adams. Here's a link to the debut story.
Man-Bat showed up again and again. Here's a look at the character rendered by his co-creator Frank Robbins. Here's a link to the story this page begins.
He even had his own comic book for a wee time. Here's a look at the debut issue, drawn by no less a light than Sturdy Steve Ditko.
Here's a gallery of Man-Bat covers.
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It's a shame Ditko didn't do more Batman stories.
ReplyDeleteA Batman/Creeper tale would've been wild!
(Neal Adams did a great Brave & Bold featuring the two, but still...)
That B&B story is awesome, offering up some of the most powerful Adams work I've ever seen.
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Heck yeah, Man-Bat is cool! My first exposure to him came in Batman Family #17, which I picked up back in the day simply because it looked cool - I loved the idea of all those Batman related characters in one book - and it was cool. I agree that he's pretty interesting. I just recently saw a Batman the Animated Series episode with Man-Bat, coincidentally.
ReplyDeleteThose big books by DC in the late 70's are some of my favorite comics. They were loaded with entertainment, for what now seems tiny prices. The "Family" concept really worked there for a time.
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