Man-Bat #5

Man-Bat #5: The Promise of Compromise

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

It is good to know where your story is going to end. From the start, I knew this mini-series was going to end with Man-Bat becoming the calmer version of himself who joined the Justice League Dark in the outstanding run on that book James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez-Bueno had. This issue was always going to end with that beat.

However, in telling the story of how Man-Bat was going to reach this point, I had created a lot more problems that needed to be solved. At the end of issue four, I had given myself a buffet of conflict for the final issue: Scarecrow had the fixed sonic cannon and was going to use it to have half of Gotham City attack the other half, Batman has been turned into a version of himself dictated by his worst impulses, Man-Bat has injected himself with Venom turning himself into the almost kaiju-sized King Man-Bat, and despite all these dopey men telling her this wasn’t going to be that bad Francine Langstrom is still trapped in a tornado of misery created by her husband. How did I solve these problems? Did I solve them? Let’s get into it.

Man-Bat #5, subtitled “The Promise of Compromise”, opens with Scarecrow awakening after being knocked unconscious by Batman in the previous issue. To his delight, he sees that the mess he’s created is even bigger. Mind-warped Batman is locked in battle with King Man-Bat, and the two don’t even notice Scarecrow. Giving him the perfect opportunity to take the sonic cannon and head to Gotham City to enact his plan. While Batman and Man-Bat didn’t see Scarecrow, Francine Langstrom did, and she followed him.

King Man-Bat isn’t just a larger version of Man-Bat, he’s a new permutation of the character. We go inside King Man-Bat’s mind to see that Kirk Langstrom and normal Man-Bat are yelling at each other about how they need to use King Man -Bat to solve all the problems they have created. The hope was that the Venom would strengthen Kirk and Man-Bat enough to prevent the death of Kirk Langstrom, but it seems like that’s not the case. King Man-Bat is going to burn bright. They have a limited amount of time to make things right.

King Man-Bat takes Batman to the sky where he can easily beat him, or so he thinks. Batman summons the Batplane to assist him and an even greater aerial battle between the two characters commences.

Meanwhile, in the heart of Gotham City, Scarecrow is driving a truck with reckless abandon into the city with the Sonic Cannon by his side. He reaches the Gotham City News building so he can use the satellites on top of the building to super broadcast the signals from the sonic cannon. Before he can get up there, Francine Langstrom reveals she is in the truck bed and has a gun pointed at Scarecrow. Scarecrow is exhausted by the Langstrom family drama, he turns the sonic cannon on a group of Gotham City’s citizens, and using the subliminals turns them into a violent mob with one goal: destroy Francine Langstrom.

King Man-Bat is being chased by the Batplane while he holds Batman. Inside his mind, everything is falling apart, and Kirk Langstrom and Man-Bat are being forced together. To this point, Kirk has been controlling King Man-Bat. Regular Man-Bat takes the controls and has King Man-Bat throw Batman across the sky telling the Batplane to “Fetch” The gambit works and they get the Batplane and by extension Batman off their case. They fly into Gotham and see Francine being chased by a mob, King Man-Bat saves her, places her on a rooftop, and despite Francine’s pleading goes after Scarecrow.

Scarecrow is on the rooftop of the GCN building and has sent out his broadcast. The people in Gotham City are turning against each other. They are attacking each other. The way that Kirk has emotionally attacked Francine all of these years. The way that Man-Bat has attacked the city and what little remained of Kirk Langstrom’s integrity. Scarecrow is incredibly pleased with himself. King Man-Bat lifts Scarecrow off the ground and prepares to kill him.

From the other rooftop, Francine screams at Man-Bat to stop. Saying this is Kirk’s great problem. Instead of dealing with issues, unpacking them, and helping other people can help him. He becomes overwhelmed and takes the worst way out, the Man-Bat way. Inside King Man-Bat’s mind, we see that the Venom is working, it is stabilizing, but that stabilizing is having an impact Kirk didn’t see coming.

Kirk makes peace with the fact that Man-Bat isn’t a separate entity from him. They are one and the same. King Man-Bat disappears and in his place, we see a more refined, humane version of Man-Bat that we will see a lot more of in Justice League Dark. This more refined Man-Bat knocks out Scarecrow, takes the sonic cannon, and works with Francine to reverse the damage that has been done to the people of Gotham City. Stopping the violence that Scarecrow was inciting. And returning Batman to normal.

In a page that mirrors Kirk’s fantasy from the beginning of issue 3, Man-Bat stands alongside Francine and Batman as the GCPD arrives. They are going to take Man-Bat in for everything he’s done. Batman gives Man-Bat time to talk to Francine but warns him that if he runs, he’s going down.

Francine and Man-Bat talk. Man-Bat starts to speak but Francine begs Man-Bat not to lie. Not to say that he can fix everything. Not to say he can make what he’s damaged heal. Man-Bat says the opposite, all he has done is cause pain, especially to Francine. He needs to go make things right, but part of that means leaving Francine. Their marriage is a thing of the past, and now that Kirk has this second chance…it can’t be like the ones he has gotten before…he has to make it count. Francine appreciates this sober thinking as Man-Bat gets arrested.

Time passes and we see Man-Bat at Blackgate Penitentiary in Gotham City, working on projects, and trying to help people. He has an unexpected visitor….Wonder Woman. She has come because she has been paying attention to how hard Man-Bat has worked to make things right. She is offering him a place on her new Justice League team, she thinks he would be a good fit. Man-Bat says he has done a lot of monstrous things and isn’t sure he deserves this chance. Wonder Woman says she doesn’t believe in monsters, she believes in rehabilitation for people who seek it. She brings out her lasso of truth and she gives Man-Bat a rare opportunity.

She asks Man-Bat to hold it and ask himself if he’s ready to start a new phase of his life. One where he helps people. The lasso of truth won’t allow him to lie, even to himself. Man-Bat asks Wonder Woman if he is telling the truth…and he is ready for this new phase…they can help people. Wonder Woman says they can help a lot of people. Man-Bat grabs the lasso and says he’s ready to tell the truth. We ended up leading our story into the Justice League Dark title as promised.

I am happy with how the story ended. The mental gymnastics between Kirk, Man-Bat, and King Man-Bat got a little dicey. I could have clarified that a little better. That maybe where a sixth issue could have come in handy, but having also been a comic editor…every writer is going to hope for a few extra pages to tell their story. This was the right amount of story for five issues and I learned a lot. I am proud of the book we put together, and I hope it’s one that people revisit moving forward.

The Real World

In the first installment of the Month of Man-Bat, I talked about how this project started, and how I became the writer for it. I made the editorial decision to save the rest of the real-world components of the book for this last Man-Bat newsletter. We started working on this book right before the COVID-19 pandemic happened and changed the world forever.

While we continued working on the book, it was taken off the schedule and there was discussion that maybe it wouldn’t continue. No one was sure how many comics retailers or readers would be ready to take on once we figured out how to put comics out again. Like everyone else, I had a million other problems to deal with at that time, but I certainly was afraid that this was going to go away.

To my eternal gratitude…the higher-ups at DC sat down with what we had finished on the book so far and decided that the book was going to come back. They liked the work we had done, and they saw how hard we were all working. But we were still delayed. The book would not come back until February 2021. This gave us the time to finish most of the book before it came out, a rare opportunity in Mainstream comics.

When the book did come out, the first issue did better than expected from a sales perspective, and we were greeted with a lot of warm reviews. There were a couple of reviews from people I respected that said “Why does this book exist?” that hit me pretty hard, but…it was a good thing to take in. A lot of readers appreciated that we were trying to connect to another title instead of just doing a story that floated on an island. They also appreciated that we were trying to tell a complicated story about addiction using Man-Bat.

While things were slowly starting to get back to normal in 2021, we had a ways to go. People were buying comics again, but that year I did not go to any conventions or do any signings at stores. My debut comic came out and I didn’t really get to do all of the things I had dreamed I would get to do for it. Again…the world was literally on fire, I had the perspective to know this was not the most important thing in the world…but it still sucked. When the last issue came out I went to the wonderful Collector’s Paradise in North Hollywood California with my friend Andrew Marino. I had gone to a lot of comic stores while the book had come out and been hesitant to say I wrote this book. Andrew, forever braver than I, said that I wrote Man-Bat. The story asked me if I wanted to sign the copies of the book they had left and I eagerly said yes. So I did get to sign books for their customers. In addition to the copies, I had signed for my friends, uncles, and family friends.

And at the end…I had written a full mini-series. Five issues with my last name proudly on each cover. I learned a lot, I know what I would do better for next time, but….I am really proud of this book. And while I didn’t get to talk about the book at the time because I was not on social media of any kind. I am here now and I want to thank the people who need to be.

To Sumit Kumar, the penciler and inker of this project, I am still pinching myself that I got to work with you. In the first newsletter, I said that you were one of my favorite artists I worked with at DC, and that became even more true when I worked with you on this project. You drew this book during one of the most challenging times the world has ever had, and you did it with a lot of class. I can’t thank you enough for having been my collaborator on this. You are currently working on some awesome projects with great writers, I cannot wait to read those projects as a fan, but I greatly hope we get to work together again someday. It would be an honor.

To Romulo Fajardo Jr, the colorist of this project. When I first became an assistant editor at DC I was introduced to Rom’s work for the first time, I thought he was brilliant. He is the colorist I have worked with the most in my career and that is largely because I love his approach to every artist he works with. Getting to work with him on this mini-series felt right. He colored everything in this book with great emotional intelligence. He also went full red sky Gotham City from Batman the Animated series in the last issue, and I can’t say thank you enough for that.

To Tom Napolitano, our brilliant letterer. Tom is one of the first friends that I made in comics. When I started at DC he was a production artist and one of the best on staff. When we moved to LA we spent a lot of time together, shared a lot of meals, and on more than one occasion Tom let me use his laundry machine. He is truly a friend in every sense of the word. And to my great delight over the last decade, I have seen him become one of the best letterers in comics. And that’s not bullshit. Tom brings a cartoonist’s spirit to lettering in the best way. He makes decisions that are creative and ambitious while never, ever, compromising the readability of a page. To have gotten to work with one of my great friends on my first full-length comic project… means everything to me. I love you, Tom.

To Kyle Hotz & Alejandro Sanchez, our cover artists. All five of these covers are amazing. I pull the comics out sometimes and am in awe of how cool this comic looks. You both have hundreds of great credits between you, and I am happy these Man-Bat covers are both of those credits.

To Paul Kaminski & Ben Meares, the editors of this book. One thing people have asked me over the years is if it was challenging for other people on staff to edit me. And the answer I give is that I hope not. The editors at DC are some of the smartest and most creative people I have ever known, they all have made me a better writer, and creative person. That especially goes for Paul & Ben. They teamed up to edit this book and they both made me and the project better.

Paul is a tough cookie, and I mean that in the best way possible. He wants to know that you have thought all of your decisions through, and he wants to make sure that you are putting out something in the world that you are really committed to. Any time I thought I could just rest on my laurels because I had more Batman knowledge than the average person, Paul would always go “Not good enough, tell me why you’re doing that, and don’t just tell me the comic you are referencing that decision based off of.” He treated me the same way he would treat any other writer, and that in itself was a gift. Paul is now the Group Editor of the Superman group, and having worked with him as both a writer and editor I know why. He doesn’t accept anything less than awesome.

Ben Meares has the gift of being kind and honest in equal measure. He will tell you everything he thinks you are doing well, but he will also drill down and show you the fatal flaw in your work and help you fix it. He’s a great editor, it’s why he is editing Detective Comics and many other of DC’s best books right now. After this project, he edited me on two short stories I was incredibly proud of. I would work with him and Paul again on anything they asked me to.

I am hoping in the future I get to come back to DC and write something even better, but if I don’t…Man, I got to do this. And this was pretty damn great. And I won’t forget how lucky I was to have this experience.

From here on out we’re going to be doing more one-off content on the Newsletter. I am not quite sure what we will do next week, but I know it’s going to be awesome.

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz