Francine Langstrom

She-Bat first appeared in Detective Comics #402 (Aug 1970) and was created by Frank Robbins and Neal Adams.[1]

Francine Lee was the fiancée of scientist Kirk Langstrom at the time that she first encountered the Batman. It was the Batman who first revealed to Francine that her husband-to-be, Kirk Langstrom, had mutated himself into a hideous Man-Bat. At one point, the Batman had captured the Man-Bat and tried to give him an antidote to his condition, but the Man-Bat fought him at every turn. He even tried bringing Francine to the Batcave in the hopes that she could convince Langstrom to take the antidote willingly.

Kirk escaped, however, and when he next reunited with Francine, forced her to take the same bat gland extract that he had taken as proof of her love and devotion to him. Although Francine was terrified, she knew that somewhere within the Man-Bat's insanity lay the soul of the man she loved. Francine took the serum and like Kirk, mutated into a creature with bat-like qualities. The two "Man-Bats" decided to marry one another. At their wedding, they donned latex masks to disguise their features, but the Batman interrupted the ceremony and exposed them in front of all their guests. Batman fought against Francine and Kirk and was finally able to defeat them by using the cathedral’s bells to incapacitate them. Upon doing so, Batman administered his cure to both of them, turning them back to normal.

A few months later, the Langstroms traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, to study a rare breed of vampire bat that had surfaced following underground nuclear tests in New Mexico. While examining one of the bats, Francine pricked her finger on a fang and the toxin activated the dormant Man-Bat gene that still resided in her body. She transformed into a monster once again, but this time with more vampiric characteristics, including enhanced strength. In this iteration, Francine could only transform into a She-Bat during the nights of the full moon.

An uncontrollable savage, Francine began terrorizing the streets of Las Vegas, biting victims upon the neck and drinking their blood. When news of her rampage reached Gotham City, Batman believed that it was Kirk Langstrom who had become the Man-Bat. He flew out to Vegas and fought the She-Bat on the roof of a Vegas casino. After the initial fight, Batman deduced that his opponent was not Kirk Langstrom at all, but Francine. Finding Kirk, the two tracked Francine to a cave where Batman ensnared her with his batrope. He then administered the same antidote he had used in this past and Francine was once again cured.

This treatment did not last long, however. A year later, a professor of Medieval history from Antioke University known as Baron Tyme used his sorcery to take control of Francine. Turning her back into the She-Bat, he had Francine attack and kill a former colleague of his named Professor Raymond Arthur. Kirk Langstrom became the Man-Bat again and used hypnosis to break Baron Tyme's hold over her. Kirk defeated Tyme and the sorcerer apparently died in his tower chamber when the room caught on fire.

Batman consulted with Langstrom about his wife's condition and insisted that he give Francine a full blood transfusion. Kirk brought Francine to his home town of Chicago where she lived with him at the Lakeshore Manor Apartments. He kept a steady vigil over her condition and fortunately for them both, the blood transfusion appeared to have cured her.

The Langstroms had two children, Rebecca and Aaron. While Rebecca was a normal human (excluding the times when her whole family was mutated into Man-Bats), Aaron was born a mutant bat-creature due to the serum in his parents' systems. She also served as the lead scientist for the Outsiders to help them with their missions.

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Francine is reimagined as a more villainous character. She met Kirk as a research assistant and supposedly loved him for his conviction in developing the Man-Bat serum for curing the deaf. When Kirk transformed into the Man-Bat to help cure the city of the Man-Bat epidemic, she decided to bring Kirk back so he could perfect the formula for its original purpose, then she would take the formula herself and transform into the She-Bat. With some reported deaths Kirk began to think that he lacked control over the beast, but he discovered that Francine's Man-Bat formula differentiated from his as the bat she used was a South American vampire bat. It is revealed that Francine only married Kirk to ensure the company that he would complete the serum and then have him killed so she could inherit a large sum of money. She developed her own serum after Kirk turned into the Man-Bat in order to keep her job. Kirk tried to help cure her, but she preferred her new form and attacked Kirk, but ultimately refused to kill him. Kirk combined the two serums in order to become a stronger beast and defeat Francine, and Francine mocked him by acknowledging that he could only beat her by becoming like her. She is later charged for the murders that she committed as the She-Bat.[2]

She is later released from Arkham by the Penguin and sent to attack Harley Quinn, demonstrating that she has much better control over her transformation than Kirk does. She injects the Man-Bat formula into Harley and her friend Tony to turn them into Man-Bats. However, Harley ultimately regains control over herself after Francine threatens Harley's friends and defeats the She-Bat.[3]

Her mutation into She-Bat endowed her with the same abilities as her husband. Her leathery wings allow for self-propelled flight and precision while in the air. She also possesses enhanced senses of hearing and a unique echolocation ability. Her physical strength is likewise superhuman in her transformed state.

In the Batman Beyond comic, which is set years after Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce revealed that Kirk and Francine lived a normal life, started research in sonics, and had two children after the two Man-Bat incidents, but she developed an aggressive form of Parkinson's disease. Kirk tried to perfect the Man-Bat formula to save her, but was too late. Kirk's children left him, angered that he did not give as much attention to his wife during her final days.[4]

In the comic prequel to Justice League: Gods and Monsters, it is shown that this version of Francine was Kirk's best friend and first girlfriend in high school. However Kirk distances himself from her and her husband due to his obsession with science and his eventual transformation into the Man-Bat.[5]

In the Amalgam universe, she is Francine Sallis; her character is an amalgamation with Ted Sallis' (Man-Thing's) ex-wife Ellen Brandt.

• Francine Langstrom at DC Comics Wiki
• Francine Langstrom at Comic Vine