Man-Bat #4

Man-Bat #4: Let Me Have My Delusions

Art by Sumit Kumar, Colors by Romulo Fajardo JR, and Letters by Tom Napolitano

Creating this Newsletter has been an attempt for me to promote work I wrote while I was at DC Comics, which I didn’t get a chance to do at the time. To let people know who I was as I got into the full swing of my freelance career and chased down my next writing jobs. I hope I have been successful in that, and I hope that more people have checked out the stories I have written/written about, especially Man-Bat.

Working on this Newsletter had another positive side effect I didn’t see coming. It made me take the time and reread all my work before I launch into my next stage as a writer. And because a lot of these stories were written years back, I feel like an editor looking at a younger writer’s work. I feel a healthy distance from the work. I can praise good things, and see things that could have been done better, and I am making notes about things I want to do better in my next batch of stories. I have also seen recurring themes I am interested in and gone “I should expand on those.”

In rereading Man-Bat #4…I was excited about the writer who wrote this. And I want him to get another opportunity to work on a project where he gets to write full issues. After three issues I enjoyed, he seems to have struck a chord here and figured out how to make the most out of the real estate afforded to him. The issue is well-paced, the character work is strong, and there is a lot of ambition here. The first issue was a solid start of a side mini-series, but four issues in a voice is forming. Now, I am going to stop talking about myself in the third person, but it was an effective way to start this installment of the Newsletter. Let’s get into Man-Bat #4, subtitled “Let Me Have My Delusions”.

Francine and Kirk Langstrom are being held captive by the Scarecrow as they work to fix the sonic cannon that Man-Bat destroyed in issue one. However, they do not know that they are being held against their will. Scarecrow is moving on from toxins to manipulate people and is working on sonic subliminals to manipulate his prey. Getting into their skull with sounds and puppeteering them that way. Kirk and Francine think they are still a happily married couple working in a laboratory, completely enjoying their married and work life together.

In reality, they are being held hostage on an abandoned soundstage in Gotham City by the Scarecrow. However, while Kirk Langstrom is under the power of these subliminals, Man-Bat is not. The Man-Bat aspect of Kirk Langstrom’s mind is doing everything in its power to break free.

Meanwhile, in the Batcave, Batman is continuing his investigation into the whereabouts of the Langstroms, and Scarecrow. Batman sets out to interrogate the remaining members of the BlackOut gang from issue one. Batman’s butler and trusted advisor Alfred Pennyworth (as if you didn’t know Alfred), points out that Scarecrow is an insecure charlatan. Wherever he is holding the Langstroms will need to double as some elaborate psychological trap. Batman makes note of that before he heads out.

Man-Bat is starting to awaken as Scarecrow pokes at Kirk Langstrom. Man-Bat attacks, but Scarecrow tells him that if Man-Bat keeps it up he’ll flush Langstrom’s last-ditch miracle cure (established in issue 2) that he took from Lisa Langstrom’s house. Man-Bat backs off but knows the endgame is near.

In the heart of Gotham City, the neighborhood known as the Cauldron, outside Noonan’s Sleazy Bar, a former of the Blackout Gang is bragging to another Gotham City crook about how he got off for his most recent crimes. He says that his lawyer put forth that because there was a chance Scarecrow used his fear toxin on the Blackout gang, it meant the court couldn’t hold any of the illegal actions against any of the members. It all could have been coerced against their will. Batman drops down and applauds the novel defense.

Batman then tells the Blackout gang member that he found him because he can’t keep his mouth shut. Batman is sure that’s how Scarecrow will find him too. So Batman says it’s in his best interest to share all the details they know about the Scarecrow.

Back at the soundstage, Scarecrow has increased the frequency of the subliminal sounds. The Langstroms are barely sleeping, their fantasy is now misery and they are at each other’s throats. In the middle of the night, Man-Bat awakes and destroys one of the speakers playing subliminals. Francine wakes up, having broken free from the subliminal spell, and is furious to see Man-Bat.

Man-Bat makes it clear he’s talking to her, not Kirk. They have to work together to break free. Man-Bat promises this is the last time she will have to pay for her husband’s sins. Francine scoffs, but Man-Bat begs. He says that Kirk will never forgive him if he doesn’t do right by Francine. As the two escape Scarecrow cuts them off with the sonic cannon and the Blackout gang members he’s still working with are standing by. The Langstrom’s fixed the cannon enough for Scarecrow to use it and tells them their “Second honeymoon” is over. He is going to take the sonic cannon into Gotham and broadcast the subliminals across the city, turning half of the city violently against the other half, in his ultimate psychological experiment.

Luckily, Batman has tracked them all down to the abandoned Karlo soundstage and breaks in to help Man-Bat and Francine fight. Unfortunately, Scarecrow shoots Batman with the sonic cannon. And the subliminals from it turn Batman into a feral version of himself ready to kill Man-Bat. The tables have turned.

Man-Bat decides it’s time for the last-ditch effort. He opens the metal suitcase that we have been teasing since issue two and what’s inside? Venom. The drug that turned Bane from a man into a muscular monster. The drug does the same to Man-Bat turning him from his normal self into the massive…KING MAN-BAT.

The next issue will be an all-out war. Man-Bat VS Scarecrow and Feral Batman. It’s going to be a good one.

Observations

Early on in the mini-series, I felt like I was not leaving Sumit Kumar enough room to draw cool things and do the storytelling I thought he did best. By this issue, I feel like I was writing better for Sumit, and I was more aware of what I was writing for him. Also…I made sure to write a bunch of cool Batman pages in this issue. I wanted the world to see how great he was at drawing Batman. Of course, I also made sure the Batman pages made sense in the story. This A-plot of this issue is high-concept and cerebral. So making the B-plot a grounded and well-executed Batman investigation story worked in the story’s favor as well as the art.

And I loved writing those Batman pages. I felt confident about them, but I have to confess…I loved writing Scarecrow way more. I had enjoyed him in the previous issues but in this one, he came into full focus. He’s an emotional pervert. As much as he needs the Langstrom’s expertise to fix the sonic cannon so he can execute the next part of his plan, he also loves that they are a dysfunctional couple, and he is getting sick pleasure exploiting that relationship. I am going to cheat this week and show off two pages Sumit knocked out of the park. This is the first…this page may be my favorite I have written in my writing career so far.

There are things you write and you have no idea where they came from. As much as I love that page, I really would rather not know what part of my psyche it came from. It’s deranged. Perfect for the story, but deranged.

This is the other page I love. Sumit just crushing every single Batman moment in this issue, but this one…it just works the best for me. The acting, the atmosphere, and the storytelling execution are all pitch-perfect.

I also want to give a special shout-out to our letterer Tom Napolitano. In this issue, we are dealing with a lot of different specific character voices, balloons, and caption styles. Tom juggles them all perfectly and I don’t think the readers ever get confused. Tom is everything you would want in a letterer and a collaborator period. He brings a cartoonist’s spirit to his lettering work. The decisions he makes are both incredibly creative but always serve the story above all else.

Next issue I’ll talk more about Romulo Fajardo JR, the brilliant colorist of this mini-series, who has been doing a stellar job on all of these issues, but on the next issue he turns things up even further.

One issue to go. The ending of this mini-series, and the ending of the month of Man-Bat. Be here!

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz