Man-Bat - Mobile Edition

DC Comics Toys
Man-Bat
By Hervé St-Louis
June 11, 2006 - 23:05

During the 1970s run on Detective Comics, artist Neal Adams created many memorable stories helping to take Batman away from the campy image he had acquired in the 1960s. Although many of these stories involved vampires, another angle was to create a direct opposite to Batman in the form of Man-Bat. Man-Bat is Doctor Kirk Langstrom who in the course of the three issue storyline turns himself and his bride into mutated bat-like creatures. Although cured of his disease in the particular story, Man-bat would return often as one Batman’s rogue. The Man-bat acrion figure was sculpted by Jonathan Matthews.

Likeness

Man-Bat is the type of character that changes according to the illustrator or the time period. Neal Adam designed the original Man-Bat which was more human like and whose head was just larger and with elephant like ears and a nose with large nostrils. Recent depictions like in the JSA have modelled Man-Bat in this fashion. The Man-Bat looks closer to the character appearing in the latest animated series from Cartoon Network. His chest is wider and hairier. His head has no human features.

Sculpt

Man-Bat has a large torso and a head that extends from his neck, as if he were better adapted to a flight position. The hair on his back makes him look like a hyena. From the fourth and fifth fingers on each hand, his wings extend into wings. This sculpt is great and imposing. The membranes of his wings look real as they have veins. The legs and waist of Man-Bat don’t have a nice posing. The posing helps with the character’s balance though. Man-Bat has a hunched-back but it looks impressive.

Paint

The paint job is excellent. The wings have realistic shading with dots making. The pants don’t have extensive shading. There are many details inside his ears. The hair on his chest and back has lighter tones setting it apart from his regular skin. There are some grey lines to highlight the muscles but they don't look very good. A darker brown would fit better.

Scale

As his limbs are not extended, Man-Bat is about 6 inches and will fit perfectly with most Batman action figures from the DC Direct line. He is

Stability

Man-Bat is not very stable. In fact it is difficult to pose him. His large wings makes it hard to find the right balance. His wings and head point forward and only his back counterbalance his forward weight. The legs, although thick don’t offer sufficient support. In order to pose Man-Bat, one must use the action figure stand that comes with the figure. However, one must find the ideal way to use the stand to balance the figure properly. The action figure stand is not wide enough to hold both feet. Using one of the DCDirect’s oval action figure stand could be a better solution.

Articulation

One of the main turn down with Man-Bat is that the shoulder’s ball-joints’ articulation don’t extend completely allowing one to pose the figure like he was flying. Instead, Man-Bat looks like a vampire about to surround his prey. There are twelve articulations at the shoulders, the elbows, the writs, the hips, the abdominal and the neck. His head has a ball-joint.

Plastic
The plastic composing Man-Bat is sturdy. His wings however are in a translucent rubber-like material. The figure is top heavy. However the figure is not suitable for children.

Props
The action figure stand is a concrete-like platform. It can connect with other similar action figures thanks to two pegs that connect.

Packaging

Man-Bat comes in a large box with a card stock on the back. There are several images of other action figures in the Batman rogues’ gallery.

Cost

The figure can cost anywhere from USD$12 to $25 depending on the store where the figure is purchased. Vendors who ordered entire cases of action figures cost less than. These are savings that can be passed on to collectors.

Availability

This action figure is not difficult to find in stores. It is the first DCDirect Man-Bat action figure. There have been other Man-Bat action figures but this one is one of the best. DCDirect action figures have a tendency to sell out become difficult to find later.

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