Man-Bat Pt. 23: Detective Comics #485

After a late night of “babying” his new daughter, Rebecca, Kirk Langstrom chats with Jason Bard during a slow day at the office. It’s so slow that Kirk tells Jason the origin story of how he became Man-bat.

Then, Cara Eliot arrives wanting to employ them to follow her husband. Later, Kirk…er, Man-bat, discovers that Wayne Eliot has a laboratory where he’s created “some kind of costume.” Suddenly…

After a mid-air collision, Man-bat comments that Wayne must be scared witless…

That souped-up jet-pack must be totally out of control!

Man-bat flaps his wings to create some clear air turbulence, which sends Wayne crashing to the ground.

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Afterwards, Kirk ironically laments:

I almost felt sorry for the guy – working on something for so long and having it get out of control!

Notes

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When I cracked open this issue of Detective Comics to read, I thought it was odd that the Batcave editorial inside the front cover mentioned that Man-bat was “back for a visit.” Then I saw mention of the “concluding chapter of the Demon’s current adventure.” What was happening?

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Then I realized it’d been four issues since Man-bat last appeared, suffering his usual inconsistent treatment. After that, I also realized Batman Family is not displayed prominently on the cover. Instead,

featuring the entire Batman Family

appears in a yellow bar above a Detective Comics logo that takes up nearly the top fourth of the cover.

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Sadly, the Man-bat story is insubstantial. With a full page of origin recap and two more of Kirk and Jason chit-chatting, any real action is rushed, particularly at the end. It will be another seven issues of Detective Comics before Man-bat returns. I hope he’s treated better.

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Title: Detective Comics

Issue #: 485

Cover Date: Aug./Sept. 1979

On Sale Date: May 10, 1979

Writer(s): Bob Rozakis

Penciller: Don Newton

Inker: Frank McLaughlin

Editor: Paul Levitz