Update: Man-Bat back on DC schedule for 2021 debut

(Image credit: Kyle Hotz (DC))

Update: The early 2019 Man-Bat series that was mothballed in the early stages of the pandemic has been rescheduled for a 2021 debut.

The five-issue Man-Bat series by writer Dave Wielgosz and artist Sumit Kumar is now scheduled to debut February 2.

DC's announced Man-Bat series may not have a release date anymore due to the COVID-19 influenced distribution shutdown, but the publisher has informed retailers that the series will be released eventually.

"The five-issue Man-Bat miniseries, slated to debut in May with issue #1, will be rescheduled and resolicited," a DC spokesperson said in a newsletter to retailers earlier this week.

Man-Bat was among a swath of titles removed from the upcoming release schedule due to the COVID-19 influenced distribution shutdown. While many titles received new release dates after distribution was resumed, Man-Bat is one of several titles - along with the DC event series Generation - which hasn't been listed on DC's revised schedules.

The five-issue Man-Bat series will be written by DC associate editor Dave Wielgosz, and drawn by Sumit Kumar. Kyle Hotz has drawn covers for the first two issues.

Wielgosz and Kumar's series finds Man-Bat at the end of his rope, lashing out as a force of nature against Gotham like Jaws on Amity Island.

"For years Kirk Langstrom has struggled with his monstrous alter ego Man-Bat and the serum that transformed him," reads DC's original solicitation for #1. "But he’s finally hit rock bottom following a devastating setback, and he’s going to take out his anger on every single citizen of Gotham City. Will the combined might of Batman and the GCPD be enough to stop Langstrom once and for all? Or will this just be the start of Man-Bat’s devastation?"

Look for the revised release date of Man-Bat here at Newsarama once DC has confirmed it.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)