Siskoid and Chris Franklin’s coverage of The Brave and the Bold continues with issue #119 (June 1975) by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo, starring Batman and Man-Bat! It’s “Bring Back Killer Krag”!
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Relevant images and further credits at: FW Team-Up Supplemental
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I have always loved Man Bat–like Chris, I’m pretty sure my first exposure to him was the Power Record, which was about a powerful intro to a character as a kid can have.
While the Batman Family stories were fun, I think he works better as a spice, so him showing up every so often in B&B is perfect.
In an alternate world, Marvel beat DC to the punch and created Man-Bat first so he could be part of the Legion of Monsters. That’s the same world where DC created a Spider-Woman, and Charlton published the SUPER FRIENDS comic.
Fun listen as always!
Great episode! Love me Haney and love me some Man-Bat so this hit the bullseye.
I also find Batman to be sort of mean this issue, funny, especially with the Bale voice.
As for Man-Bat, for some reason he just appeals to me so I am always willing to give his stories a try. Look at my collection and I have his 70s series, the Delano prestige one, the Battle for the Cowl issue (the only issue of that I have), etc. In particular, I love that Secret Origins issue and found the explanation of the bat flying through the window a perfect no-prize to explain why a bat would fly through glass to begin with! Heck, I even got Nowlan to sign it at a con and gushed on the art.
Batman hiding under the mule reminded me of Odysseus and his men hiding under sheep in a similar fashion to escape the Cyclops’ cave. So I thought it was fun until it didn’t work.
And yes, in World’s Finest #258, Batman is infected with a Kryptonian Lycanthropy virus that makes the victim mutate into an animal they are obsessed with (we see a unicorn and a wolf too!) Great story reviewed on my site and with Billy D on his show. The Kryptonian werewolf Lar-On has been a minor character in DC since Rebirth.
Finally, I would team Man-Bat with Tigra. Have them fight Killer Croc and the Lizard!
MAN-BAT rIDDLER as private dectecives
but that’s just a team up i’m not sure what the plot would be
Here’s my idea for a man bat team up
Let’s take to the IDW universe and have him and his family save a little mutant bat girl named Barbara and the man bat family can go on adventure with the tmnt and little Barbra to save Venus from Baxter stockman then will make a else world as they adopted Barbara the girl mutant and move to mutant town since whole family is mutants . Happy ending
I think the amount of story crammed into Bronze Age comics is why I have a hard time with the glacial/write for the trade pacing of modern comics. Bob Haney crammed more into his stories than most Bronze Age writers. Can you believe that bit with Batman and the shark only got a page? Most writers would have stretched that out into at least a three- or four-page action sequence. I think most writers would have treated Batman turning into a Man-Batman as a plot for an entire issue, but it is almost a throwaway here in Haney’s script. Haney went back to the well with a Bat-Batman in B&B 137, which I thought you might segue into next. Bat-Hulk is fun, though.
You always have to take Haney’s Batman as its own thing and not as the “regular” Batman. Dadgum, Haney’s Batman is entertaining. Don’t forget. The pretty girls are blooming like flowers, and the Batman digs this day. Ok, that was another issue.
As for original comic vs reprint vs digital copy, if you ever cover the Batman/Bat-Squad team up from Brave & the Bold 92, get an original copy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scan the does justice to the moody coloring on the original cover. If I remember, the B&B omnibus reprint colors weren’t as moody as the original covering. I never see B&B 92 get mentioned by anyone as a favorite cover, but it is one of mine. Beautiful Nick Cardy art.
We’d already done a B&B with the Demon, so I imagine Chris discounted it.
Yes, I was going to make that the next jump, but we did the previous Demon team-up.
I promise I won’t suggest a team-up. That was just a thought on my part. You guys cover what you want to.
Again, I’m not asking you to cover the Batman/Bat-Squad. However, I just looked at the digital copy on DC Unlimited (or whatever it is called. I have it bookmarked so I don’t have to remember.) The coloring is bright and garish in places, so IF you do cover it, get an original copy. The artwork in the original is much more moody.
Man-Bat and Spawn join forces to save Vampira from the powers of- darkness?
I love Man-Bat, the hero. I hate what Marty Pasko, and subsequent writers did to him, and to his poor family! Aside to Dr. Anj, the deaf bat story was, in the words of our pal Martin, pants. I check the original source the bat flew in through “an open window.”
One of the main things with many of Haney’s B & B stories is to realize that he was writing contemporary movies with super-heroes in the lead roles. Look back over the previous 12 months from almost any Haney story from this era, and you may spot the cinematic and TV influences. He may have anticipated the movie Jaws, but the book was a huge hit in 1974; Caribbean island with voodoo practice? James Bond was at one the year before; Black Napoleon? Haney may have seen, or may have only seen ad ad for, The Black Godfather, released in September of ’74; tough guys as leading men? Clint Eastwood in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,” Charles Bronson in “Death Wish,” and Warren Oates in “Bring Me the Head Of Alfredo Garcia” were on the screen all summer in ’74.
According to Mike’s Amazing World, this comic went on sale March 20, 1975. Which means in was probably finished about three months earlier than that. There’s a new game for you, Siskoid! Trace the pop culture influences in mid-70s Bob Haney stories panel by panel!
I can try, but I’m weak on the 70s because I was a francophone child during the decade and my culture didn’t even include American comics, not until 1980.
(That said, I’ve seen all the movies you reference. And we DID mention a couple of them on air!)
I first saw Man-Bat in “Batman: 30s to the 70s” and I’ve always liked his look. My preference is hero or anti-hero Man-Bat, since it makes for more interesting stories, making a scary character the star. Having him be “just another monster” just doesn’t appeal.
There’s also something delightfully offputting by using “Man” as a prefix on a name. It must be from the frequent use of “Man” as suffix for superheroes, or even the occasional monster like Universal’s Wolfman. But when it starts with “Man”, it accentuates the “wrongness” of any character, be they Man-Bat, Man-Thing, or Man-Wolf.
Speaking of, I’m surprised Man-Wolf didn’t come up in the podcast. The debut of John Jameson’s alter ego was in 1973, so after the creation of Man-Bat, and had an amazing Power Record. So he’s my choice for a team-up with Man-Bat, and going for gold, they have to rescue Batman and Spider-Man from the Lizard and Killer Croc.
And yes, Batman transformed by the Man-Bat serum is bringing that turducken vibe. I also get an impression of how Kelley Jones depicted vampire Batman, and wonder if that’s more than a coincidence. But most importantly, is it Batman-Bat or Man-Batman?!
Trust me, you don’t want to go our of your way to mention a Power Record to Chris. I’ve got to edit these things!
I think Man-Bat and Ghost Rider should team up against Dracula and the Lizard.
Another awesome episode! Poor Man-Bat! He’s had so many incarnations and swaps between villain and hero that it is like a yo-yo. He was back to a villain in the relatively recent Batman and Robin series which I enjoyed.
I am on the fence. With apologies to my podcast partner Shawn M Myers (who loves him some detective Man Bat) I like him BOTH as a hero and a villain. He is fun as a hero as a counterpoint to Batman (and those PI stories with Jason Bard are great). But as a villain he can certainly be scary – for all the reasons you cited including the visceral human reaction to Bats.
The most amazing thing is we have not had him in live action. Imagine a scene like the one in the first episode of BTAS flying through Gotham. I blame Christopher Nolan.
Keep up the great work! B&B Seeing ya!
Man-Bat is one of my all-time favorite characters, but I’m glad I didn’t come across him for the first time in this story, because as both of you point out, he doesn’t do a very good job! I read him first in either Batman 30’s to the 70’s (like Tim Price above) or in the reprint of his debut in BATMAN FAMILY #1. When I read his two issues there was a list of his previous appearances, so I went out to try to track them all down. That’s how I eventually found this B&B issue. I profiled all of his Bronze Age appearances on my blog, if anyone wants to check it out . Go to my page and click on the Steve Ditko Man-Bat button on the right-side column. 🙂
My favorite MB is his series in BatFam. He had Francine, his daughter Rebecca, his pal Jason Bard, and some fun adventures. His team-up with the Demon with art by Michael Golden is awesome!!
I love Man-Bat so much that I actually teamed him up with the Justice League in the newest issue of my fan-fiction JLA series…. with the cover by the one-and-only Chris Franklin!! Look for it soon!