Plot summary: When Man-Bat is spotted in the Gotham skies it appears Kirk Langstrom is drinking his formula again… or is he?
(Originally published on The Reel World December 12th, 2020)
Notes
Original Air Date: November 12th, 1992
Directed: Boyd Kirkland (11)
Written: Steve Perry (3) (story) & Mark Saraceni (1) (story & teleplay)
Animation: Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD. (15)
Music: Shirley Walker
Loosely based on ‘Man-Bat Over Vegas’ aka Detective Comics #429, published in 1972. The final line of dialogue is directly lifted from the story.
The first and last episode written by Mark Saraceni, who predominantly wrote cartoons but did end up penning a single episode of The Sopranos.
This episode shares its name with one of the video tapes of The Gray Ghost.
Recap
Some dockworkers are attacked by none other than Man-Bat while trying to unload some fruit. In addition to an insatiable hunger for… mangos(?), the series’ very first villain displays a new form of echolocation.
After scaring the workers away and making quite a mess, Man-Bat takes to the skies and then swoops down towards a balcony.
We smash-cut to Kirk Langstrom waking up from a nightmare to the concern of his wife, Francine. He denies he’s keeping anything from her, and then steps in some half-eaten fruit…
The dockworkers report the incident to the dubious GCPD. Luckily, Batman was listening and hops on his fancy Bat-Bike, which is given some sexy camera angles to show it off as if it were new despite it having appeared in ‘Two-Face Part II’.
Francine visits her father, Dr. March, concerned that Kirk is experimenting with bat DNA again. March basically tells her to get lost now that her husband has ended their work partnership. Yikes.
Speaking of Kirk, he’s rocking some solid 5 o’clock shadow as Francine confronts him in the middle of an experiment. He insists it’s not what she thinks, but Batman calls bull. Kirk denies taking the formula, but Francine storms out tearfully.
Kirk insists he is merely trying to make a more effective antidote as Batman’s is obviously defective if he’s been on the prowl again. Bruce takes a DNA sample and then leaves as March listens in.
But before Bruce can start the engine of the Batcycle he is set upon by Man-Bat, who savages him in the snowy laboratory grounds.
A badass chase ensues that spills onto the busy Gotham streets. Bruce is able to hook Man-Bat with his grapple gun, but he lets go in order to avoid being killed by an oncoming train.
Batman informs Kirk that based on tests on fibres left on his costume, the recently surfaced Man-Bat is somebody else entirely. Kirk is relieved, but more worried about Francine being missing…
Bats breaks into Dr. March’s office and finds evidence that he had been experimenting with Langstrom’s mutagen. March confronts him, gun in hand, raving about bats being able to survive a cataclysm.
Bruce disarms him and after some interrogation he remembers that Francine cut her hand helping him clean up a chemical spill. A depressed March later burns his notes.
Kirk surprises Francine by being two rows back from her on a flight to… somewhere, and the pair talk it out.
Their reconciliation is short-lived however, as Francine sprints to the bathroom not feeling well, and sure enough horrifically transforms into (wo)Man-Bat!
Terrorising the passengers, Francine forces the door open, causing the plane to begin rapidly dropping. Batman witnesses Francine fly off with Kirk, but has to save the passengers.
Giving chase by tracking She-Bat’s distinct wingbeat, Bruce forces her up onto Gotham suspension bridge where she gently lays Kirk down and looks very sad.
Francine snarls and attacks, shrugging off an antidote dart, with a full dose apparently not being administered. A second shot (and a flying kick) do the job though and she painfully transforms back to human form.
Confused, Francine nearly falls off the bridge in shock, but Kirk catches her, reassuring her the nightmare is over. Batman would have saved her, if not for the fact she KO’d him in her final moments as (wo)Man-Bat.
Best Performance
Honestly the best vocal in the episode is She-Bat, but I’m reasonably sure that was created by combining recordings of animals and applying various effects. I could credit the entire sound team with the win, I suppose… but nah.
I really don’t think there’s a standout here, and when in doubt I generally go with Kevin Conroy. This is one of his weaker winning performances, as he’s generally just angry at the two scientists, first Langstrom, then March, scolding them for their meddling with nature. It’s fine, but you’ve heard it many times before.
Rene Auberjonois would be a close second as he’s a better actor than either Marc Singer or Meredith MacRae.
Episode Ranking
We’re in the middle of a run of episodes featuring returning villains, so it’s fitting that we’d revisit the pilot at around the mid-point of the series. Overall it’s obviously not as good of an episode, as it doesn’t contain the strong detective and character elements for Bruce, as well as setting the tone for the entire series, but there is a marked improvement in visual quality and action scenes.
The real highlight of these is the big chase sequence from the lab, through the snowy streets and up onto a train-line. There is a genuine feeling of danger throughout and even a good sense of geography as Batman drives his bike up some stairs and onto the tracks, culminating in him being forced to let the villain go to avoid certain death. This is stronger than most of the action scenes from early episodes combined.
But action alone isn’t enough to secure a high ranking, so I’m placing it around the middle, several places below its predecessor, which boasted more variety and the unenviable task of establishing the tone of the whole show. This wasn’t many words, was it? Well… it’s that kind of episode. Nothing wrong with it, just not much to discuss.
[2023 Edit: This seems a little too low! To be fixed…]
- The Laughing Fish
- Heart of Ice
- Robin’s Reckoning Part I
- Perchance to Dream
- Two-Face Part I
- Joker’s Favor
- Feat of Clay Part II
- Robin’s Reckoning Part II
- Beware the Gray Ghost
- Mad as a Hatter
- Heart of Steel Part II
- Vendetta
- Appointment In Crime Alley
- Two-Face Part II
- Heart of Steel Part I
- On Leather Wings
- Pretty Poison
- Feat of Clay Part I
- Joker’s Wild
- It’s Never Too Late
- See No Evil
- The Clock King
- The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
- Eternal Youth
- The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
- The Cat and the Claw Part I
- Terror in the Sky (NEW ENTRY)
- P.O.V.
- Christmas with the Joker
- Day of the Samurai
- Fear of Victory
- Be a Clown
- Night of the Ninja
- The Cat and the Claw Part II
- Nothing to Fear
- Prophecy of Doom
- Tyger, Tyger
- If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
- Dreams In Darkness
- The Last Laugh
- Cat Scratch Fever
- Moon of the Wolf
- The Under-Dwellers
- The Forgotten
- I’ve Got Batman in My Basement
Rogues Roundup
She-Bat/Man-Bat (Meredith MacRae) (second appearance)
Obviously this is technically not the same villain as in ‘On Leather Wings’, but for intents and purposes we’re evaluating a giant mutant bat, as neither of the human counterparts are villainous. The Francine version actually seems stronger, giving Batman more trouble in a physical confrontation and displaying stronger echolocation (demonstrated by the excellent Bat-Vision POV shots), though I would imagine the latter has more to do with production reasons than plot ones. The addition of losing her memory of transforming opens some fun doors too, so up the list she/they go.
I find it pretty funny that for all the emphasis on Batman being the World’s Greatest Detective, he’s completely oblivious to the fact Man-Bat is clearly wearing Francine’s ripped clothes before he learns the truth, lending further credence to the idea Bruce has such an aversion to sex that is creates a blindspot.
- The Joker
- Mr. Freeze
- Two-Face
- Clayface
- Mad Hatter
- Poison Ivy
- Catwoman
- The Riddler
- Clock King
- HARDAC (and Ronda Duane)
- Killer Croc
- Rupert Thorne
- Lloyd Ventrix
- Josiah Wormwood
- Scarecrow
- Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
- Tony Zucco
- Harley Quinn
- Man-Bat/She-Bat (↑)
- Hugo Strange
- Red Claw
- Arnold Stromwell
- Mad Bomber
- Tygrus (and Dr. Dorian)
- Kyodai Ken
- Nostromos (and Lucas!)
- Cameron Kaiser
- Penguin
- Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
- Professor Milo
- Romulus
- Sewer King
- Boss Biggis
The Matt Signal 
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