The British Bat-Men!

 

As most of you will know, this year marks the 75th anniversary of Batman. However, the notion of costumed 'bat-men' didn't originate with Bob Kane's creation. One such earlier character was Batsowl, who starred in a series of prose stories in the British comic Illustrated Chips in 1918. 

I'm not suggesting for a moment that there was any connection of course. Bob Kane was born in 1915, so it's highly unlikely he'd have seen a British comic when he was three years old. However, there are some interesting similarities between the two characters, not least being the costume, as you can see from the header illustration above.

Like Batman, Batsowl's other identity was a wealthy figure. In this case, an Earl, Desmond Devance...

He also had a secret underground laboratory, not dissimilar to the Batcave...

...and his appearance struck terror into people...

    Sadly, like most British comics of the time, Batsowl is uncredited. I don't know how long the serial ran as I only have one episode, which is the one I'm showing here. It's from Illustrated Chips No.1477, dated December 21st 1918. This was one of the comics presented as a facsimile in 1972 in the Six Comics of World War One collection.

It's highly likely that Batman and Batsowl were both partially influenced by The Phantom of the Opera, by French author Gaston Leroux (first published as a serial in Le Gaulois from 23rd September 1909 to 8th January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910), and The Scarlet Pimpernel (the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905 and which was adapted as a very popular London play in 1905).

Flying Justice was the title of a serial in The Boy's Friend in 1927.  The hero is Roger Falcon and in the episodes I have, I don't think he is referred to as "Flying Justice".  Falcon does have the wings, costume - and in some illos. -  the domino mask, which qualify him as a genuine masked mystery man.  Yet another one well before Batman. 

 The Human Bat and The Human Bat  V The Robot Gangster  was also the title character in two novels by Edward R Home-Gall in 1950.  

Home-Gall was a noted writer of boys' stories' The Human Bat, described by at least one person as "a costumed psychotic" , used mechanical batwings to give him the power of flight, and from his fingers he is able to project energy beams.  In fact, I think it fair to dispute the "psychotic" claim. The Human Bat's mission in life was to save young boys from a life of crime. He smashes a criminal mastermind (masquerading as a robot spider) who recruits boy thieves by poisoning their minds with 'kleptotoxin.' ...

In the sequel there is even more spectacular action and more violence as Dr Syntax (no, not THAT Dr Syntax) sends a giant armed robot to commit jewel robberies and the police casualties pile up! There is a bit of an even weirder twist as the robot is accompanied by a somewhat schizophrenic schoolboy who is controlled by the disembodied brain of his twin, who has been dismembered by his mad scientist father. Well, I guess that must have happened back in the day!

Edward Reginald Home-Gall was the son of author William Benjamin Home-Gall. He was a prolific author under many pseudonyms. He was also a man who was awarded the Military Cross for his actions on 4th June, 1917 at the Battle of Messines for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty under heavy shell fire" as the Battalion Signalling Officer. He died in France in 1974.

Initially advertised as Spring Heeled Jack in the end the character was simply named The Human Bat!

John Holloway was based in Fingall, Ireland and his father was the 17th Earl of Fingall. In  Funny Wonder, March, 1899 it is told how a cousin and a Parliamentary rival of his father plot, and succeed in taking the family estate and fortune. To seek revenge and reclaim his inheritance, John dons a caped suit that his father's manservant had handed to him for formal occasions and John added the mask to conceal his identity.

And in 1943 we got The Winged Avenger in The Film Fun Annual....

Let's not forget Harry Banger had his detective Slicksure -then working with the Secret Service confront an evil Bat! in the 1940s

But, oh, there is more. Gerald Swan's Thrill Comics number 1, 1940 presented William A. Ward's The Bat!

Also at Swan in the late 1940s, William McCail brought us...The Bat....are you seeing why this gets confusing? Don't even get me started on the number of Owl Men!

Then in 1952 Cartoon Art published The Bat Magazine in which strips seemed to be redrawn from Western Ghost Rider comics. Ghost Rider having appeared in the comic before The Bat took over.. This Bat did not have bat-wings but he was called "the Bat" so there...oh, and Ward's Bat never had bat-wings either!

However, going bac k to the beginning almost, and proving why the 1890s-1939 was the Golden Age of British comics, on the 9th September, 1899, in Illustrated Chips no. 471, the first Master of Comic Art, Tom Browne introduced us to Spring-Heeled Jack (aka "Mr Bat). 

 And this little run down is not finished yet as there is Zark from 1951 -he's got bat-wings but he is a Martian!  He was also brought to us by Gerald Swan.

Below: slightly from outside the Dark Age we have, from a May, 1955 edition of Radio Fun. The Falcon...with costume and wings!  Artist: George Heath  

 

Guess what? There are probably others and I am looking into those but here I wanted to cover the 1890s to early 1950s. The bat wing types continued into the 1950s -Mr Apollo fought a villain known as The Acro-Bat...

In the 1960s to 1970s the trend continued and I would argue that this fella from 1966 could also be called a bat-winged man!





I post this in the full knowledge that others will steal the work!