My Rating
“Challenge Of The Man-bat”
Next week the Gotham Museum of Natural History will premiere a new exhibit on night-creatures, but Curator Wilkins is worried about the upcoming deadline. Dr. Kirk Langstrom, the scientist behind the zoological displays, has fallen grossly behind on setting up oversize bat replicas that will hang from the ceiling. Wilkins asked if Dr. Langstrom needed additional help, but Langstrom refused.
“What was he doing up there,” the elderly Curator asked himself as he approached the extension ladder deployed in the middle of the west wing hall.
High above, in the middle of a grouped set of papier-mâché vampire bats, Wilkins could see the patented leather shoes of Dr. Langstrom was standing at the top rung of the ladder. What Langstrom was working on, however, he could not tell. The display models were too large and covered the scientist’s actions. Would Langstrom have the displays completed on time? The museum board will meet on Friday. It was all about ticket sales for them.
After a brief exchange of assurances, Wilkins turned and began walking back towards the business office located at the rear of the museum. What he didn’t realize was that the chief zoologist abandoned all of his deadlines to collect live bat specimens for his biological experiments. Dr. Langstrom had become obsessed with creating a serum to enhance his own human senses. All he needed was a bit more bat gland-extract.
“A Burial For Batgirl!”
A morbid scream rang out across the Hudson University library building. Outside, Barbara Gordon had just exited her vehicle and was now walking towards the front entrance, when the shrilling echoes stopped her in her tracks. For any other college chick, the combination of the shocking trauma and the moonless night, would have sent them scrambling away in pure terror. But not Barbara.
All those months she spent secretly training to become Batgirl has steadied her every nerve. For what kind of crime fighter would Barbara be if she fled from everything that went bump in the night? With the speed of an Olympic athlete, Barbara raced to a nearby clump of bushes. There she changed into her hero’s attire in record time. Batgirl was on the case, whatever it may be!
Reviewer Notes
In November of last year, DC Comics was kind enough to release this facsimile edition of Detective Comics No.400, featuring the origin story of Man-bat, aka Dr. Kirk Langstrom. I’ve been trying to get a copy of the original print for years now, but the price point has become a bit ridiculous for those like me who merely want a reader grade copy of the book. With that said, I am really impressed by this reprint.
Writers Frank Robbins and Dennis O’Neil bring a mysterious, yet fun aspect to each of the stories. And you can never go wrong with art and a comic book cover by Neil Adams? In my opinion, this is the golden age of DC Comics, so I will always recommend grabbing these books when they come available. This Man-bat origins story gets a solid four out of five stars from me.
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