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Dr. Francine Langstrom, née Lee is the wife of Kirk Langstrom, the Man-Bat.

Man-Bat

Francine Lee was a geneticist and the fiancee of fellow scientist Kirk Langstrom. Langstrom experimented with bat DNA to cure his hearing loss, developing a powerful serum that transformed him into the Man-Bat. Francine, with help from Batman managed to revert the transformation, after which the couple became engaged and got married.[1]

Francine and Kirk's first child was Becky Langstrom; who was born completely normal. Unfortunately, Kirk started using the Man-Bat serum and with the chemical in his body, him and Francine conceived a second child called Aaron Langstrom; who was unfortunately born as a man-bat creature.[2]

Kirk relapsed and transformed into Man-Bat once again, leaving Francine alone to raise their two children. Months after his departure, Man-Bat returned to Gotham and saved Francine from the vicious attack of the creature known as Steeljacket. Though, Man-Bat's heroic acts saved his family, Kirk didn't return to his family.[3]

Shortly after that, Gotham City was declared a No Man's Land and Francine stayed in the city with her two children Aaron and Becky. Aaron's enhanced bat-senses allowed him to find food for them and soon the little kid-bat was kidnapped by a thug who intended to sell the boy to The Penguin. In desperation, Francine took the man-bat serum and transformed into She-Bat to rescue her son. She also gave some of the serum to Becky and once Aaron was rescued, the three of them decided to leave Gotham for the time being.[4]

Outsiders

In recent years, Francine joined the team known as the Outsiders, under Batman's leadership. After an explosion at the Outsiders headquarters, Francine was the doctor in charge of Thunder, who was left in coma after the incident. However, and due to the dangerous circumstances of the work, Francine quit the team shortly after.[5]

Some time later, after Batman's death, Francine was kidnapped and held prisoner by Dr. Phosphorus, who used her to lure her husband into a trap. Francine was held prisoner until she was rescued by her husband. While escaping, Francine was attacked by Phosphorus and this caused Langstrom to transform into Man-Bat wihout using the Serum. Man-Bat defeated Phosphorus and Francine tried to approach him, but he ran away after realizing the danger he had become.[6]

Powers

  • Transformation: Upon injection of the bat gland extract, Francine Langstrom could transform herself into a half-human/half-bat creature. This form mutated further when she was infected with blood from a vampire bat.
    • Wings
      • Flight: She-Bat could fly by way of artificially generated leather wings.
    • Claws: The She-Bat had sharpened claws which were strong enough to easily tear through flesh and muscle.
    • Echolocation: She-Bat could navigate through the air by way of echolocation, similar in function to a bat's radar.

Abilities

Weaknesses

  • Vulnerability to Sound: As the She-Bat, Francine was vulnerable to high-pitched frequencies. These frequencies caused her a great deal of pain and often left her disoriented.


  • Francine's hair color has changed many times over the years. When first introduced, her hair was red. In the short-lived Man-Bat mini-series, her hair was colored blond. In modern appearances, she is generally displayed with auburn hair, but sometimes blond.
  • Her husband has mentioned that her favorite drink is ginger beer.[7]

Related

Footnotes



Outsiders 0001
Outsiders member
DC Bullet 2024

This character is or was a member of one or more of the teams known as the Outsiders. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Outsiders members" category.

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