Kite Man
We are all well aware of the substantial roster that is Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Over the years, we have witnessed some of the greatest supervillains in comic book history materialize through the pages of the comic book and make appearances on screen to leave us wanting more of them. However, as many as there are formidable foes for our favorite Caped Crusader, there exists a significant portion of villains that would come across as entirely laughable at the mere mention of them. One such goofy villain to grace the pages of DC Comics is that of Kite Man.
Exactly as his name suggests, Kite Man is a supervillain on a kite. The basic gist of his abilities stems from his utilization of kite-based weaponry to commit crimes in Gotham City. As ludicrous as it sounds, this is actually a real canon-based villain in the larger Batman Mythos, first appearing in Batman #133 in 1960.
From a modern standpoint, it would seem entirely ridiculous for such a character to exist in a comic book universe that is often grim-noir-esque. And yet, Kite Man is regarded as a major supervillain that occasionally is featured antagonizing The Batman in as serious a story as can be written for such a character.
CRAZY BATMAN FIGURINES COLLECTION OVER HERE!
It is virtually incomprehensible as to how a character such as Kite Man could ever be created as a villain that can go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Dark Knight. Perhaps, this has something to do with the fact that the character was created six decades ago during a time when comic books were not taken so seriously, and villains were a dime a dozen just to allow for a bit of fun to take place.
Even his villainous name alone, Kite Man, would make fans giggle at the thought of it if the character was ever introduced into a more modern comic book setting. Of course, we believe it is highly unlikely that we shall ever see the villain make an appearance on screen in a Batman film, as no one in their right mind would ever consider such a character worthy of being fleshed out in a movie.
That being said, the character has been mildly retconned over the years, now possessing an ultra-tragic backstory to try to compensate for his goofy appearance and kite-wielding abilities. Still, the attempts at trying to make this character worthy of the term “compelling” is far from being achieved.
We guess, in retrospect, that Kite Man is just one of those goofy mistakes one makes and remains indelible for years to come. Perhaps, there will come a time in the future when the character would be officially retired from ever being seen in the Batman comic books, because nobody is ever going to take a villain such as Kite Man seriously.