Warning! Spoilers ahead for Man-Bat #5!
In the finale issue of DC Comics’ current Man-Bat series, it’s revealed how one of Batman’s most tragic villains redeemed himself enough to earn a spot on Wonder Woman’s Justice League Dark. In previous issues, Dr. Kirk Langstrom was facing the seemingly insurmountable fate that his mind would eventually be lost to the monstrous and dark impulses of the Man-Bat. However, due to the work of Scarecrow, who corrupted Batman and planned to corrupt all of Gotham, Man-Bat got the chance to win two battles at once – the first being against Scarecrow to make up for his mistakes, and the second being the battle within his own mind.
Most of the series from writer Dave Wielgosz and artist Sumit Kumar has seen Man-Bat on the run as a fugitive from the law. Not only did he have Batman searching for him to take him back to prison, but the Suicide Squad was also hunting him. However, Scarecrow was the one who eventually captured Kirk, manipulating him and his ex-wife to build him a gun that could fire frequencies containing subliminal messages of fear and chaos. Eventually, Man-Bat managed to break free of Scarecrow’s control just as Batman arrives on the scene. As the Dark Knight was corrupted by Scarecrow’s new gun, Man-Bat saw no choice but to use a sample of Bane’s venom compound to stabilize his cells, though his internally conflicted nature resulted in him the more monstrous King Man-Bat.
This all leads to Man-Bat #5, which sees Kirk battling Batman. Eventually, Man-Bat was able to distract the “Darker” Knight long enough to face Scarecrow, who laid out all of Kirk’s flaws, claiming that his greatest one was that Langstrom can never listen to anyone, let alone himself. However, Man-Bat proved Scarecrow wrong, deciding to be at peace with both parts of himself and taking responsibility for all of the good and bad he had done in the past. This allowed Kirk to remain in control of a permanent Man-Bat body, and he quickly set to work in reversing the subliminal messages Scarecrow sent out. Having made up for his mistakes, Man-Bat surrendered to Batman, though he received a visit from Wonder Woman a few months later. Wanting his scientific mind for her new team, Diana had heard about Kirk’s attempts for redemption even behind bars and found it admirable. As such, Man-Bat was recruited into her Justice League Dark.
All in all, it’s a pretty cool way to end the Man-Bat series, setting Kirk on a brand new path where he’s not quite a hero, but definitely someone who’s looking to right his past wrongs. Seeing the work that Man-Bat put in to be better and make peace with his own mind in this miniseries truly shows that he earned his place on Wonder Woman’s iteration of the Justice League Dark, and their team went on to do a lot of good together.
Kirk Langstrom has always been a tragic character who never meant to become a monster. However, he finally acknowledges in this series that some of his worst traits and impulses were present before he ever grew wings, making him a much more three-dimensional character going forward in the DC Universe. Whatever’s next for the former Batman villain (Wonder Woman’s Justice League Dark series has concluded), it’s certainly going to be some dynamic new territory for the Man-Bat in the future.
