You are reading that correctly my non comic book reading friends. You do not have dyslexia all of a sudden. Or maybe you do...I don’t know...I’m not a doctor. I own a dork paradise in Jersey you silly goose.
I haven’t done one of these in a while and figured it was time to try to get back in the groove after such a long absence. It’s First Appearance Friday!!! This is where I touch upon a specific character in the comic world, show ya where they first appeared, their background,creators, powers and abilities, and some snazzy merchandise featuring the hero or villain in question. Kinda a cliff notes on em. Today...we tackle Man-Bat!!!
The reason I’m picking this mofo is because we just got his First Appearance in the shop in a collection the other day and it just seemed like a good pick.
- Cool character? Check.
- Classic Batman baddie? Check.
- Lots of sweet merchandise? Check.
- Rare First Appearance Comic? Hell 2 the yeah!
Ok...so Man-Bat first burst onto the scene waaaaaay back in June of 1970...10 years before I was even born. The book? Detective Comics #400. He was created by Frank Robbins & Neal Adams and has been a classic villain in Batman’s Rogues Gallery ever since.
As with most villains, he has a complicated backstory that led to this villainous path. His birth name was not Man-Bat obviously...but instead Dr. Robert Kirkland Langstrom. A scientist who concocts a serum that would allow humans to use sonar...like a bat. This due to his own unfortunate situation of going deaf. Obviously the only logical thing to do is to test it on himself. It works!!! With a slight side effect. It basically turns him into a half man/half bat.
While trying to reverse this horrific transformation, he must steal rare chemicals (of course). This is where he first clashes with the Caped Crusader. The rest...is history.
His first appearance in Detective Comics #400 is a fairly hard to come by book. In recent years, Bronze Age DC books have been drying up. When we get big collections in, it’s a rarity to see this time frame from DC. Marvel?!? We get a ton of but the DC’s are pretty dried up. Depending on the shape, this book could fetch between $100-$500 bucks. The copy that we got is actually in pretty decent shape...outside of a gob of what looks like melted caramel stuck to the book which is unfortunate. I’m goi g to try to find someone who cleans books and see if there is any way to possibly remove this dirt sloppy stain that the previous owner left. Either way...cool book...cool character...it’ll move, and besides...we bought it for like .30 cents...or around 2 Steem in todays price. Woo hoo!!!
Throughout the years, DC has used Man-Bat as a villain in various series. He’s had his own book for mini series but for the most part, it’s rare that a villain is interesting enough to carry a title. Man-Bat is sadly no exception. The cool thing is there have been some rad merchandise for this bastard. Action figures, statues, and more!!! Let’s check out some sweet ones below!
But now I’d like to show off one of my favorite pieces. This was a mini bust sculpted by the great Randy Bowen and based off the art of the amazing Arthur Adams. There were only a handful of these produced. They were never released officially and I’ve heard around 10 were made in total. I got this one about 15 years ago for around $100 bucks. Mine was signed by Adams in 1997. One day if I ever know if Bowen will be at a local show or something, I might have him sign mine as well. Currently there is only one available online. It’s currently on eBay and the seller is asking $700. Hasn’t sold for that yet but I bet if they lowered it to around $500...it would get gobbled up in a heartbeat.
Thanks for looking folks!
Blewitt