Kite Man

Kite Man (Charles "Chuck" Brown) is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly depicted as a recurring adversary of Batman. His name is an homage to Peanuts protagonist Charlie Brown. The character has been generally regarded as a joke in comparison with other supervillains, due to his lack of super-powers, dimwitted personality, and the flimsy central conceit that belies his identity as a super-criminal.

Kite Man
Interior artwork from Batman #30 (September 2017).
Art by Clay Mann and Danny Miki.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceBatman #133 (August 1960)
Created byBill Finger (writer)
Dick Sprang (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoCharles "Chuck" Brown
Team affiliationsJoker
AbilitiesExcellent hang-glider pilot
Uses a variety of gimmicked kites

Kite Man has been adapted into several forms of media in recent years, most notably being voiced by Jeffrey Combs in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series, and by Matt Oberg in Harley Quinn, in which he is a regular character.

Publication history

Kite Man first appeared in Batman #133 (August 1960), and was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang.[1]

Fictional character biography

Charles "Chuck" Brown is a man who armed himself with kite weapons to be used to commit acts of evil. He flies with a big kite strapped to himself or in a kite plane. He also uses an array of specialty kites to overwhelm his enemies and commit crimes.

In his first appearance (which he announces), in Batman Vol 1 #133, he first drops tear gas from his kite to steal a precious ruby then frees mobster Big Bill Collins, nearly killing Robin along the way and capturing Batman. Leaving mobsters to guard Batman's room, on his return Kite Man is defeated when Robin returns, frees Batman and they use his own amazing Kite weapons against him, leaving a Kite Plane trophy on the Batcave wall. [2]

Writer Len Wein brought him back in a story about payroll heists.[3]

Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Zatanna confront him again, in Hawkman's title. His real name is revealed, as well as a childhood fascination with kites. He is victorious and jumps into a tree.[4]

Kite Man is one of many criminals to take advantage of the supervillain-friendly atmosphere of the fictional country of Zandia. He ends up joining its sports team and later becomes involved in a fight against an invading troop of superheroes.[5][6]

In Infinite Crisis, Joker reports that Brown was thrown off Wayne Tower without his kite by Deathstroke, after he refused to join the new Secret Society of Super Villains.[7]

Brown, however, survives his fall and reaches some low rank in the post-Crisis Gotham City's underworld in the pages of the weekly series 52. He is captured alongside Sewer King, Dawson, Lamelle, The Squid and Mirage. As with the other prisoners, Kite Man is killed and eaten by Bruno Mannheim upon refusing to side with him.[8]

DC Rebirth

Kite Man appears in the DC Rebirth universe. This version is referred to as Charles, Chuck, and Charlie Brown. He seems to be somewhat unstable, constantly chanting the catch-phrase "Kite Man, hell yeah!", a reference to his son, Charles Brown Jr.'s reaction to the first time he tried flying a kite. He first appears robbing a luxurious party, before being quickly foiled by Gotham Girl.[9] He is then seen in a prison cell in Arkham Asylum as Batman walks down the aisles looking for criminals.[10]

At some point, he escapes, as he is later one of the many villains taken down by Batman and Catwoman after he takes her along with him on an average night of his job in Gotham City.[11] Kite Man later sold a kite to a pawn shop, where Headhunter purchased it to use to kill Swamp Thing's father. Batman and Swamp Thing interrogated Kite Man later.[12]

In a story set during the early years of Batman's career, it is revealed that he studied wind in school. He was a divorced father, became an alcoholic and began a life of criminal activities, eventually being recruited by the Joker to design the Jokermobile. During The War of Jokes and Riddles, he becomes encircled by Batman, who commands him to get the Joker's phone number and, later, to meet him. Shortly after, the Riddler kidnaps Charles, wanting to know about his future meeting with the Joker. After being freed, he is kidnapped again, this time by the Joker, who tells him about his encounters with Batman and the Riddler. He is then forced to serve as a suicide bomber by the Joker to kill Batman, but realizes that the bomb is fake. Charles Brown Jr., his son, is poisoned by the Riddler and subsequently dies. Wanting to get revenge on the Riddler, Charles Brown creates the persona of Kite Man to join the Joker's side.[13]

After Batman joins the Riddler's side on the war he starts to defeat every villain on Joker's side, leaving Kite Man for last. When Kite Man is captured he tells Batman and the Riddler about Joker's last secret hideout on a building and provides them and all the villains on Riddler's side kites so they can infiltrate it. After breaking inside, Riddler and his villains turn against Batman, who tells Kite Man to activate the jet-propelled inverse parachutes in their packs, making the villains ascend to be captured by Alfred Pennyworth in the Bat-Blimp.[14] After a scuffle, the Riddler then reveals that the creation of Kite Man, and his own defeat at Kite Man's hands, was part of an unsuccessful plan to solve the Joker's depression and make him laugh again.[15]

In other media

Television
  • Kite Man appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Jeffrey Combs. As a boy, he was obsessed with Benjamin Franklin and attempted to recreate his famous kite-flying electrical experiment. However, he failed to take adequate safety precautions, wore metal braces, and stood in a bucket of water. The subsequent electrical shock psychologically traumatized him and forced him into a life of kite-centric crime. In "Terror on Dinosaur Island", a flashback depicts him as the leader of a group of thieves equipped with high-tech glider kites that allowed them to commit crimes. Kite Man is stopped by Batman, and his former henchman Eel O'Brian (who Batman rescued from a vat he fell in) testified against him in court, and was later arrested. In "Long Arm of the Law", Kite Man steals a sample of Plastic Man in order to complete a theta beam gun that will enable anyone to copy Plastic Man's powers, or petrify someone with elastic powers. He also obtains a sidekick named Rubberneck and gains stretching powers from theta beam exposure, before fighting Batman and Plastic Man. However, he and Rubberneck are defeated when they are entangled together and the theta beam gun turns them to stone.
  • Kite Man is a recurring character in the DC Universe animated series Harley Quinn, voiced by Matt Oberg.[16] In this series, he is depicted as a criminal known for the catchphrase "Kite Man, hell yeah!" and for trying to pick up women. Though he is considered a joke by other supervillains due to his dimwitted personality, he remains confidently optimistic nonetheless. Debuting in "A High Bar", he attempted to flirt with Poison Ivy, failing to see she was not interested. Following a misadventure wherein he infected a group of boys with her pheromones and they joined forces to cure them, the two bond and eventually start dating. Towards the end of season one, Kite Man proposed to Ivy despite not having a ring, though she politely postponed answering him. In season two, he attempted to propose to her properly by stealing a ring, only to have it stolen by Catwoman, though Ivy accepted anyway. In the episode "Thawing Hearts", they attempted to secure a wedding venue, only to lose the reservation to his hated rival, Condiment King. In "Inner (Para) Demons", Kite Man takes Ivy to meet his parents, Darryl and Wendy Brown, who are disappointed with their son for not being born with metahuman powers. When Ivy learns they only approved of Kite Man dating her because of her powers and the potential of gaining metahuman grandchildren, she tells them off and convinces Kite Man to stand up to them. In "Lovers' Quarrel", Kite Man works with a digital back-up of Sy Borgman to create anti-mind control devices to help combat Doctor Psycho after he brainwashes Ivy. He later attempts to free her from Psycho's control with true love's kiss, but fails. After Harley frees Ivy and defeats Psycho, he retaliates by showing all of Gotham Ivy's memory of her having sex with Harley, leaving Kite Man shocked. In "The Runaway Bridesmaid", Kite Man forgives Ivy after she reveals she secured the wedding venue he wanted, but the wedding is busted by the GCPD, resulting in an all-out war between the police and the attending supervillains. Although Harley offers to officiate their wedding, having realized Ivy does not reciprocate his feelings for her, Kite Man breaks up with her and leaves; Ivy subsequently begins a relationship with Harley minutes later.

Film
  • Kite Man is featured in The Lego Batman Movie. He is among the villains that are brought together by the Joker.

Video games
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See also
  • List of Batman Family adversaries

References
  1. Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 216. ISBN 9780345501066.
  2. 'Batman' (Vol. 1) #133 (Aug 1960)
  3. Batman (vol. 1) #315 (September 1979)
  4. Hawkman (vol. 2) #4 (November 1986)
  5. Young Justice #50 (December 2002)
  6. Eury, Michael; Kronenberg, Michael (2009). The Batcave Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 978-1893905788.
  7. Infinite Crisis #3 (February 2006)
  8. 52 Week Twenty-Five (October 2006)
  9. Batman vol. 3 #6
  10. Batman vol. 3 #9
  11. Batman vol. 3 #14
  12. Batman vol. 3 #23
  13. Batman Vol. 3, #27 (September 2017).
  14. Batman vol. 3 #31
  15. Batman vol. 3 #32
  16. Milligan, Mercedes (November 12, 2019). "Harley Quinn Comes Out Swinging in Full Trailer".
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