Kite Man


Kite Man 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 has been adapted into several forms of media in recent years, most notably being voiced by Jeffrey Combs in the 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, and was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang.

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, 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.
Writer Len Wein brought him back in a story about payroll heists.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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. He is then seen in a prison cell in Arkham Asylum as Batman walks down the aisles looking for criminals.
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. 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.
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.
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. 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.

In other media

Television