If you are currently reading Tom King’s Batman run, then you have seen Kite Man flying on the peripheries of his stories. Kite Man first appeared in King’s run in Batman #6. He was seen swooping in mid-heist, and yelling his now-iconic catchphrase: “Kite Man! Hell yeah!” before being quickly dispatched by Gotham Girl. Since then, he has become a running gag in King’s Batman run, randomly popping up in various stories, proudly declaring: “Kite Man! Hell yeah!”
Cbr.com did a quick interview with King on Kite Man and why he used him. King admitted that Kite Man was used as a tribute to The Dark Knight Returns writer Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil.
It started with a desire to do a tribute to Frank Miller. I’m a huge Frank Miller guy, and his Daredevil has Stilt-Man who would sort of appear over and over again. So, it started out as something like that — I just wanted my own Stilt-Man. And I love Bendis’s Daredevil too and he had Owlman sort of in that role…But after I had done it and done a few jokes, laughed about it, I stopped to think.
What makes comics great is that the things that you laugh at can suddenly be the things that make you cry. That’s what The Dark Knight Returns was. People at that time were like “oh Batman’s stupid, we’re all laughing!” But Miller stepped in and said that if we took seriously what Batman actually is, he’ll melt your heart. So I was like, “what if we took seriously the idea of Kite Man?” He’s this guy who just can’t win, no matter what. He’s the kite floating in the wind. To me, he’s Sisyphus, the guy who rolls the rock up the hill only to have it fall back down and crush him. I was interested in a character like that and how he could possibly survive in Gotham City.
To check out what else King has to say about Kite Man and the role he will play in the current “The War of Jokes and Riddles”, check the CBR.com link.
