Tom King is just good at writing and fleshing out characters which don’t really get much of a spotlight. Vision, Supergirl, Mister Miracle, goated fucking books
I love when writers take characters that are/were considered "joke characters" that spawned as a result of the comic era where creatives would just throw shit at the wall until something sticks, and give them some real depth and quality storytelling motives and a reason behind their gimmick. Hell yeah.
Even in the Harley Quinn show where he's a joke to almost everyone, Kite Man still takes it all on the chin and strives to be the best person he can be. He was born powerless while his parents have superpowers, but he still feels like he can be something and makes his own power. When he finds out that Ivy cheated on him with Harley, he stands up for himself and calls off the wedding, knowing that she wouldn't be happy with him, and that he deserves better than her. Then in the next season when they meet again, he holds no ill will towards her and even cheers up Harley when she's in a bad place. He even finds a new happy relationship with Golden Glider, and in her conversation with Ivy, we learn that Kite Man puts the needs of those he cares for in front of himself. There's a reason why he's the fan favorite of the show.
Kiteman was used as Plastic man's arch nemesis in the Batman: Brave and the Bold cartoon, and its honestly fitting considering that kiteman is an evil mirror of plastic man in a similar way to how Batman's rogues are to batman. He and Plastic man are both former goons who are taken as jokes despite being surprisingly dangerous characters, but where Plastic man had a change of heart and decided to become a hero, Kite man's determination was tainted by his own stubbornness and he instead turned evil.
Ironically fitting for plastic man to have his worst enemy to be kiteman of all people, the banter between these guys would be on doofenshmirts vs peter parker energy
To be fair, strapping a bomb to your chest and telling you to take down batman and yourself, only for it turn out to be a dud, but having to go through the guilt of actually going through with it in the first place is really messed up
But at the same time... it's kind of funny, in a twisted way, isn't it? You've reached the end of your rope. You have double, triple, quadruple crossed every side in this damned war that's tearing apart your city. You have caused an unmitigated disaster in a situation where you were just trying to stop it all; you just wanted your son to be able to grow up, safe and happy! And so, your boss tells you that enough is enough. You strap a bomb to your chest of his design, and march yourself to the hero who everybody in the city is supposed to trust. The one who failed to stop this war. You are angry. You are sad. You are so, so incredibly tired. You are broken. You just want this war to end. You want your son to walk away from this- even if he thinks you're the worst, that you'll end up in hell when you die. You don't care. So long as he lives, you can make peace with that. You stand before the hero, accept your death, and hit the switch. "What goes 'Ha, ha, thump'? A man laughing his head off." You are alive. You will see your son again tomorrow. Your boss, renowned across the world- across continuities- for his wanton cruelty, for his callous disregard of life, for his insanity- has made you a joke of a suicide bomber. ...Personally, I think that's one of the greatest jokes that he's ever played.
Kiteman, Peacemaker, Vigilante, Ratcatcher, Poka-Dot man, Blue Beatle. DC has taken so many forgotten or minor characters these past decades and given them in depth and incredible stories making them memorable for the next few decades.
I remember hearing about Polka-Dot Man way back when, and I thought "this guy's a complete loser!" Then James Gunn changed my perspective by making Polka-Dot Man have a better backstory, better powers, and a personality that befits his experiences. You think that changing all that would make a different character, but it somehow feels like a Polka-Dot Man that I could see in a modern comic.
Kite Man is my favorite DC villain because I relate to his struggles of feeling like a joke or not being good enough and the character proved to me no matter how silly a concept can be if given to a good writer they can craft an excellent character.
This is a lesson for any prospective storytellers. There's no such thing as dumb, unworkable ideas. If something you came up with is cringe, your challenge as a writer is to use your creativity skills to come up with a way to make it interesting, and perhaps even relatable. If Kite Man can become a compelling character, any character can with the right writer behind them.
I was going to reply to this video with a joke comment, talking about waiting for a Kite-Man movie or something silly like that. Much like you could've done with this video. But no, instead, you chose to treat the character and his history with genuine respect and hindsight, and took away an honest lesson about overcoming your challenges no matter how traumatic, and learning to be happy with who you are. You took what could have been a silly concept and made it into a work of genius. Much like Kite-Man himself. And that's why you're the most based comic-book channel on the entirety of TH-cam, Alex, and don't you ever forget it.
I mean we could get a kiteman story if they animate the whole joker-riddler war into a movie Like it may not focused on him totally but what better way to represnt him while many of others don't know his character development in that war Expecting a character arc of Kiteman would come out of nowhere and make total sense
Deep down, we all love goofy villains. In my opinion, every villain started out as a ridiculous villain. Lex Luthor was just a bald evil scientist, but still, he was and is big blue's greatest rival, Magneto really started out as your generic villain who makes the stupidest decisions even though he has incredible power, and yet, we still got to a great villain, with believable and understandable motivations, but unjustifiable methods. Obviously there are villains who started out fearsome from day one, like the Joker as a ruthless killer or the Red Skull being... a German general from WWII, but I hope my point is understood. And on the other side of the spectrum, there are the goofy villains, who stay goofy. Maybe they're ridiculous villains and through that ridiculousness a tragic story is told, or maybe they're a villain who wants to be taken seriously but never quite gets around to it. The truth is, they are all valid as villains. From the fearsome Dr. Doom to Paste-Pote-Pete, and of course, Kite-Man, they all deserve to be considered villains, loved and feared alike. Edit: 616 likes lol
@@halfmettlealchemist8076 not exactly what you're asking for but "The color of Revenge" is a really good episode of Batman the brave and the bold, and it involves crazy quilt. It has a nice message, though crazy quilt himself isn't fleshed out.
The first half had me rolling my eyes and then the second half with the Ballad of Kiteman kicked in and I was like "okay, yeah, I see it now". Kite man. Hell yeah.
After watching his character in the Harley Quinn animated series and reading some of his comic appearances, including his origin, I genuinely believe Kiteman might be one of my favourite DC villains.
He probably says "Hell yeah" every time because in the slight chance that his son is in hell, he'll be there for him. So he keeps on saying that word to ensure that he goes to hell.
"If someone's trying to pressure you into doing something you don't wanna do, choose death over anything!" Next time my sister tries to make me go to a cousin's wedding, she's cleaning my brains off the wall. Thanks, Alex!
I like how you bring up Kite Man's persistence from 3:20 to 4:55. Something I've noticed is that the portrayals of most villains (particularly Batman's) usually go from 0 to 60. Meanwhile, Kite Man learned and improved with each appearance, making his character in the New 52 feel more natural.
I want to add some extra war of Jokes and Riddles context because I think it makes Kite Man even better. At the end of the war its revealed that basically everything was planned by the Riddler (because comic book genius) from the beginning of the war to its ending with Kite Man defeating the Riddler (his reasons for this are weird but long story short Joker had stopped laughing and the Riddler took it as a challenge). This means that all of Kite Man's suffering, the death of his son and the creation of his new identity, was constructed by the Riddler with the purpose of making the Joker laugh. In the comic we even see this break Batman himself, the futility of all the violence and suffering prompting him to try to kill the Riddler (sidenote I know a lot of people dislike Tom King Batman but I love it and I think the War of Jokes and Riddles is absolutely worth a read). So does Kite Man break? Does he see that his new identity was constructed to make the Joker laugh? Does he fall when he realises his beloved son dies to make the Joker laugh? No. He takes the identity, he remains Kite Man. After the war (chronologically after, it happens in earlier comics in our world but the war is a flashback) he still runs around as Kite Man committing crimes with the catchphrase Hell Yeah. Maybe the Riddler did construct him as something so absurd the Joker would have to laugh, but he made the name and the catchphrase his.
Kite-Man's given name is Charles Brown. He's literally Charlie Brown, flying his kite despite any kite-eating tree that life might throw in his path. That's why his relationship with Poison Ivy was doomed from the start: Ivy is the Kite-eating Tree and the Red-headed Girl all wrapped into one.
@@qualitycontent7854 oh right on top of publicly being ashamed to be with him as well, although they at the end of the same episode reconcile the episode after she basically goes with Harley They try to make you hate kite man but in the end we sympathize for him
@@LUCAS420BLZ It's unfortunate that she doesn't really grasp the situation. She's essentially swept up in his affection for her, and that human connection it represents. She never really loves him, but she's become so separated from her basic humanity that she doesn't realize the difference at first.
I like to think "I Hate Everything" usage of Kite Man as a sidehost to his videos back in the day got to someone's attention in DC to reinvigorate life to the character. Excellent video mate. :]
5:28 "So if someone's trying to pressure you into doing something you don't wanna do, choose death over anything" "Come on, just one toke. You'll like it. Wait! What are yo-"
Kite Man was a beautifully written character who started out as a joke but slowly developed into an absolutely amazing character I love him soo much and also your work thank you Alex
i commend you for turning Kite Mans appearance in 52 from just a offscreen casualty to a message to never back down from your morals which is genuinely inspiring! Great video as always!
Riddler's failing was getting Joker to laugh by making a Kite Man the punchline. He should've chosen to make a Mail Man the punchline. _Because it's all in the delivery!_ Either way, it's for the best. Because we are now in a Second Renaissance (though an argument could be made there wasn't even a First Renaissance) for Kite Man. HeII yeah!
I want to see a Batfamily crossover where Riddler is the main antagonist, and it ends with Kite-Man defeating him and getting justice for his son. I want Kite-Man to fold that question-mark-looking twink like a paper airplane
@@viderevero1338 The answer to the Riddle must be "Hell Yeah" And given it's Riddler, it must also be so obvious he overlooks it in the search for deeper meaning
Potato man was a joke of a villain...the laughing stock of the criminal underworld. It was only when we learned about his tragic backstory that we truly began to see the nuances and complexities behind his Potato obsessed persona.
Fionn ‘Spud’ Murphy was once just a regular son of a lineage of farmers, who alongside his elder sister, Orla, wanted to pursue greater things in the city, coming to disagreements with their family over taking over the farm. Spud studied as an engineer while Orla went into botany. However, during the time they really got into their work, their family’s crop turned useless due to a plague. Despite disagreement, they of course, loved their family, and thus sent technology and modified seeds and advice to help them out. However, as years passed, their crop consistently could not be used, droughts, floods, the worst kept coming. Even worse, the government gave minimal, near useless help to assist them through these terrible times. Thrown into poverty, the family had to sell off the farm and struggle to look for employment in the current times, only subsidised by the two siblings. However, Orla came down with lung cancer, and due to the high medical bills, the family was thrown into greater destitution. But Fionn, saw everything, how the government didn’t care about his family, how the public and workplace elitism looked down on his farming family despite keeping the country fed, how the doctors and pharmacies drained his sister dry all while she tried to survive. His mind was fracturing, he couldn’t afford therapy, he had no available support network, and he broke. Desperate, he turned to crime, all to give his loved ones a life they deserved. A second layer to this villainy came in the form of his guilt at his past. Perhaps if he stayed behind, if he was with them, his family could have avoided poverty, he could have helped find help amongst his hometown better, but he didn’t. So to make up for that, he would dedicate his villainy to the main crop they grew, potatoes, to fight for the farmers crushed by government negligence in his own flawed way, and perhaps one day, he could denounce the suffering his fellow farming brethren have gone through. As Potato Man, he would one day bring the criminal empire under his command, even if he was a laughing stock. Perhaps, his small efforts could change the world.
You're the one dude who can tell stories in the way that for some reason makes me tear up when most films can't, you tell stories in such an emotional way I love it
I really enjoy discovering these types of characters. Speedball, Kite Man, etc. At first started out as goofy characters but with the helm of some wild writers, they get turned into characters with depth, layers, and substance.
Yeah I could imagine kite-man being a god, the "Cosmic Kite" even, maybe with the world repeating over and over again theres gotta be an Earth where Kite-Man trough his determination, growth and chance-takingness he is the one person who can go through all the trials and tragedies in order to become a god, he could take all the oppurtunities he gets to become stronger and eventually have more super-powers then there are atoms in the universe
I think I'd honestly love to see a faux-biography movie based on Kite Man. Either that or a "War of Jokes & Riddles" movie with Kite Man as the POV character...
Alex while you're learning to deal with your trauma: "I hope you'll make it. Best of luck buddy, I believe in you." Alex after you've dealt with your trauma: "What, you think you're anything special? Screw you."
I think the Harley Quinn show's version of Riddler is too much of a nice guy to do the dark stuff he does in Kite-Man's origin comic. He seems like the "put someone in an elaborate death-trap themed after Jeopardy" kind of evil, not the "straight-up murder a child and mastermind a gang war just to get Batman-senpai to notice him" kind of evil.
@@SaimAli-k4v I haven't watched the show, but from what i've seen of Mr. Freeze, they pretty much treated the character with the utmost respect, as much as they could anyhow, and gave him a surprisingly quick yet somberly beautiful send-off, even though the comedy that followed afterwards kinda ruined it for me and from what i've seen of how Nora Fries is handled episodes later, eh, it could definitely have been better.
@Ggnkrsfkoqxbk well Kite Man has been potrayed well in my opinion, he is well liked by the characters who got to know him, they've mentioned his good characteristics on many occasions. If anything, the show treats the main characters worse, not giving them any actual story, just a bunch of mediocre one liners and a bunch of walking around from location to location. First season was a-mazing though. Truly some lighthearted and fun DC series. They definitely fucked it up this season.
Wtf are you talking about, Kite Man is a genuine good guy in the show, even while still being a villain. Ivy takes account that Kite Man doesn't deserve her and he initiates the justified break-up. The show balances out the joke villain aspect by making him a well-adjusted guy who tries to do the best out of the worst situation.
I saw that Kite Man was getting his own spinoff series today and I immediately thought back to this video. Crazy how some things just seem to come full circle
While I find the Harley Quinn show to be fairly average and a bit too much of a try hard at times, Kite Man genuinely surprised me with how good they made his character there even without the backstory. The show itself has its moments of good and funny but me and my girlfriend both found Kite Man to be one of our favorite characters when we watched the show together. She was pretty sad that he didn't end up getting married to Ivy but it honestly solidified him as the best written character for me by the end of the second season so it's cool to see he even got good treatment in the comics as well. I really like when writers go back to older throwaway characters to flesh them out more
@@Shizkeb What? The show? Or going back to flesh out an old and underused character? If it's the latter then I vehemently disagree. Going back to improve a throwaway character and do it well is nowhere close to being creatively bankrupt. If anything it can be a test of how skilled a writer is if they can successfully improve upon forgotten or joke characters
It's stories like Kite-Man's that really show just how shitty Batman's no kill rule can be sometimes. Like the last thing you want to hear after your son was murdered is the person who indirectly caused it say he'll catch the person who did it and lock them up, like that's gonna stop him from escaping again for the thousandth time.
Hey fun fact, Batman literally tried to kill Riddler for this by the end of this arc. Like, that's not a joke or anything - Batman was fully prepared to break his one rule, all for the sake of avenging Kite-Man's son. I just thought that was something you would like to know.
@@neevko267 It's his one moral that assures him that he is still doing the right thing, even when he isn't. A lot of people have something like that, that doesn't involve violence
Kite Man really is a great villain, and I've been a firm believer of that since I first watched the Harley Quinn series. He's genuinely in my top 3 favorite characters in that show, and there are so many good characters in that show to compete with.
Ain't it ironic that poison kills his son and yet in the Harley Quinn show he is *literally* dating "Poison Ivy" - nice character development there, Kite Man... Hell yeah.
0:35 Thank you for crediting your buddy and sending people his way. But more importantly, thanks for actually putting effort in by seeing somebody else’s video and thinking how to add more/your own views. These days, more and more communities seem to not link to another channel who made essentially the same video, or covered the same topic, and then when making the video they don’t add in more/new content. They only using their style/humor while repeating what others had said, hell it’s crazy even when they use the same examples. Just in a lot of communities now, when one topic is done by one person there’s essentially no point in watching anothers. So thanks for being different.
@@trashman3319 a hypocritical movie reviewer that is. In his review of suicide squad he said "if you love this movie with acknowledging its flaws then you have no idea what a good movie is". This implies that we should look into each objectively good and bad thing in a flick even if we enjoyed. However, in his review of the last jedi he turned 180 degrees saying that "what is art reallllyy? Everything is an opinion so whatever maaaan". When it's a film he hates we should be objective but when it's a film he loves we should be subjective???? I do agree that he was an absolute clown in his first days of youtube tho.
I found your channel literally 2 days ago and binged the crap out of literally every video. Good work, man! Im glad youve found your audience you deserve! Here's hoping for more great (and successful) videos!
Youre quickly become one of my favorite youtubers, its amazing how you can post such long, high quality, and funny videos at such a quick rate. Keep up the good work man!
This is on the same level as saying Billy Stick-up, who did two years for trying to rob a Dollar Store, is a brilliant criminal mastermind because, when he finally got out on parole, he immediately went to rob that same Dollar Store again. And got arrested again. And then did it again.
Thanks to the fine folks behind the scenes of the Harley Quinn animated show, not only am I familiar with Kite-Man (Hell Yeah), but the love that version of him and after watching your Batman video... well, here I am. So, thank you! Also, I appreciate that the respect you put on Kite-Man's (Hell Yeah) name.
I remember reading a book when I was little, I think it was based on one of the many Batman tv shows, with Kite-man in it. I don’t really remember how it went, but somehow he ended up beating killer croc with Batman despite being a villain and I’ve always liked him since
see here’s the thing about kite man: he could fight against the turbulence and winds of chaos that destroyed his life, but instead he chooses to build a big-ass kite and harness that wind, and isn’t that just beautiful?
There's an appeal with these obscure, C-list villains. That being, you can re-invent them in a very interesting direction as there's little to go on beforehand. Kite Man is a perfect example of this
What an era of comics we live in,there was literally an era where Kite Man was a better-written character than Batman was in his own series.
Tom King is just good at writing and fleshing out characters which don’t really get much of a spotlight. Vision, Supergirl, Mister Miracle, goated fucking books
That's because Kite-Man is a better character than Batman
@@halfmettlealchemist8076 ok hold tf up
@@killerbug05 I said what I said
Because Tom King can't write Batman
Ya know, hiding bombs in an inconspicuous kite to drop on people is honestly a good villain scheme
Hello there fellow Star Wars character
Nice pfp
Is Ninja Thing
Hell Yeah
hunger games
I love when writers take characters that are/were considered "joke characters" that spawned as a result of the comic era where creatives would just throw shit at the wall until something sticks, and give them some real depth and quality storytelling motives and a reason behind their gimmick.
Hell yeah.
I've been really impressed with how Sportsmaster has been reimagined
Hell yeah
totally agree, love what gunn did with polka dot man in tss
@@timzackLEGO yeah condiment king should be next
Need “The Wall” as a gritty mini series about the complex social and psychological implications of being a literal fucking wall
you know its going to be a good villain when the writers for him are named "Bill Finger" and "Dick Sprang"
"Dick Sprang", holy molly that's a name and a half!
Are we sure that's not his bedroom nickname?
kid named finger
dick sprang, dick and balls.
@@terrible666. kid named dick
Fun fact: Bill finger is almost completely responsible for what we recognize as Batman
Even in the Harley Quinn show where he's a joke to almost everyone, Kite Man still takes it all on the chin and strives to be the best person he can be. He was born powerless while his parents have superpowers, but he still feels like he can be something and makes his own power. When he finds out that Ivy cheated on him with Harley, he stands up for himself and calls off the wedding, knowing that she wouldn't be happy with him, and that he deserves better than her. Then in the next season when they meet again, he holds no ill will towards her and even cheers up Harley when she's in a bad place. He even finds a new happy relationship with Golden Glider, and in her conversation with Ivy, we learn that Kite Man puts the needs of those he cares for in front of himself. There's a reason why he's the fan favorite of the show.
Hell yeah!
He fucks Poison ivy that's enough for me to see him as a badass
Hell yeah
Hell Yeah!
Hell yeah!
Batman: "But with tech like that, you could cure cancer!"
Kite Man: "But I don't want to cure cancer, I want to fly kites."
HELL YEAH
Truly one of the quotes of all time
“I dont want to cure cancer, I want to turn people into dinosaurs”
@@Ropoidi really wanna know what spiderman comic this is from
@@deathserpent9747 the book it’s from is “Spider-Man and the X-men”
Anybody who's catchphrase involves stating his own name followed up by "Hell Yeah" is an instant 10 out of 10 villain from me
Based tbh
Arm-Fall-Off-Boy hell yeah!
Animal Vegetable Mineral Man, hell yeah!
Where would you place Duffman then? His catchphrase of "Duffman, Oh Yeah!" is similar but not exactly the same.
Kiteman was used as Plastic man's arch nemesis in the Batman: Brave and the Bold cartoon, and its honestly fitting considering that kiteman is an evil mirror of plastic man in a similar way to how Batman's rogues are to batman. He and Plastic man are both former goons who are taken as jokes despite being surprisingly dangerous characters, but where Plastic man had a change of heart and decided to become a hero, Kite man's determination was tainted by his own stubbornness and he instead turned evil.
Hell yea
HELL YEAH
Ironically fitting for plastic man to have his worst enemy to be kiteman of all people, the banter between these guys would be on doofenshmirts vs peter parker energy
@@starkiller6tothe9gaming81 now I want to hear what that would sound like
@@starkiller6tothe9gaming81 i have an amazing story to write. reply to me to see if it's ready or to remind me to get my ass moving on it.
The thing that shocked me most about this backstory is that the Joker's vengeance was a lot less twisted than the Riddler's.
To be fair, strapping a bomb to your chest and telling you to take down batman and yourself, only for it turn out to be a dud, but having to go through the guilt of actually going through with it in the first place is really messed up
@@dimsum3329 Fair, but still a few orders of magnitude better than what the Riddler did.
But at the same time... it's kind of funny, in a twisted way, isn't it?
You've reached the end of your rope. You have double, triple, quadruple crossed every side in this damned war that's tearing apart your city. You have caused an unmitigated disaster in a situation where you were just trying to stop it all; you just wanted your son to be able to grow up, safe and happy! And so, your boss tells you that enough is enough. You strap a bomb to your chest of his design, and march yourself to the hero who everybody in the city is supposed to trust. The one who failed to stop this war.
You are angry. You are sad. You are so, so incredibly tired. You are broken. You just want this war to end. You want your son to walk away from this- even if he thinks you're the worst, that you'll end up in hell when you die. You don't care. So long as he lives, you can make peace with that. You stand before the hero, accept your death, and hit the switch.
"What goes 'Ha, ha, thump'? A man laughing his head off."
You are alive.
You will see your son again tomorrow.
Your boss, renowned across the world- across continuities- for his wanton cruelty, for his callous disregard of life, for his insanity- has made you a joke of a suicide bomber.
...Personally, I think that's one of the greatest jokes that he's ever played.
@@Shamiynlover1Ain't that deep lil bro 💀💀💀
@@archiemcpherson4677shut up, i love reading this, go away
Kiteman, Peacemaker, Vigilante, Ratcatcher, Poka-Dot man, Blue Beatle. DC has taken so many forgotten or minor characters these past decades and given them in depth and incredible stories making them memorable for the next few decades.
I remember hearing about Polka-Dot Man way back when, and I thought "this guy's a complete loser!"
Then James Gunn changed my perspective by making Polka-Dot Man have a better backstory, better powers, and a personality that befits his experiences. You think that changing all that would make a different character, but it somehow feels like a Polka-Dot Man that I could see in a modern comic.
"Charles Brown", huh? An ever-determined, kite-loving individual with an infamously tragic life?
Good grief, this is incredible 👏
WAIT HOLY SHIT THE DOTS ARE CONNECTING
Dang. That's incredible.
OHMYGOD-
Reminds me of Señor Pink from One Piece lol
Hell yeah
I swear if this man told me Polka-Dot Man is the the greatest comic book antihero in existence I would believe him.
Wait he isn’t?
I mean polkadot man is one of the best characters in the suicide squad movie
@@dingdongbingbongboi6531 Oh yeah forgot he appears in it.
@@carlostgmeytdxd8794 THATS YOUR MOM
He is
Kite Man is my favorite DC villain because I relate to his struggles of feeling like a joke or not being good enough and the character proved to me no matter how silly a concept can be if given to a good writer they can craft an excellent character.
Lmao
@@realcoolcreepergamer2464 What's so funny?
@@Malachi_Risinger that someone relates to a guy who flies in a kite
@@Malachi_Risinger a php like that who has the “struggles of feeling like a joke” is just funny lmao
Hell yeah
This is a lesson for any prospective storytellers. There's no such thing as dumb, unworkable ideas. If something you came up with is cringe, your challenge as a writer is to use your creativity skills to come up with a way to make it interesting, and perhaps even relatable. If Kite Man can become a compelling character, any character can with the right writer behind them.
I never heard of this guy in my life. Now I want him to have a solo movie.
I was going to reply to this video with a joke comment, talking about waiting for a Kite-Man movie or something silly like that. Much like you could've done with this video. But no, instead, you chose to treat the character and his history with genuine respect and hindsight, and took away an honest lesson about overcoming your challenges no matter how traumatic, and learning to be happy with who you are. You took what could have been a silly concept and made it into a work of genius. Much like Kite-Man himself. And that's why you're the most based comic-book channel on the entirety of TH-cam, Alex, and don't you ever forget it.
I mean we could get a kiteman story if they animate the whole joker-riddler war into a movie
Like it may not focused on him totally but what better way to represnt him while many of others don't know his character development in that war
Expecting a character arc of Kiteman would come out of nowhere and make total sense
I would accept a War of Jokes and Riddles movie if Kite-Man was the focal character
fuck it i want a kiteman movie now
Hell yeah
Kite Man.
The one liner of his “Kite Man. Hell Yeah” has me dying in respecting him for the confidence in saying so
Deep down, we all love goofy villains. In my opinion, every villain started out as a ridiculous villain. Lex Luthor was just a bald evil scientist, but still, he was and is big blue's greatest rival, Magneto really started out as your generic villain who makes the stupidest decisions even though he has incredible power, and yet, we still got to a great villain, with believable and understandable motivations, but unjustifiable methods. Obviously there are villains who started out fearsome from day one, like the Joker as a ruthless killer or the Red Skull being... a German general from WWII, but I hope my point is understood. And on the other side of the spectrum, there are the goofy villains, who stay goofy. Maybe they're ridiculous villains and through that ridiculousness a tragic story is told, or maybe they're a villain who wants to be taken seriously but never quite gets around to it. The truth is, they are all valid as villains. From the fearsome Dr. Doom to Paste-Pote-Pete, and of course, Kite-Man, they all deserve to be considered villains, loved and feared alike.
Edit: 616 likes lol
Couldn’t have said it better myself
@@harmen98 agree
Still waiting for my award-winning Crazy Quilt comic, when will DC finally put some respect on my boy's name
@@halfmettlealchemist8076 not exactly what you're asking for but "The color of Revenge" is a really good episode of Batman the brave and the bold, and it involves crazy quilt. It has a nice message, though crazy quilt himself isn't fleshed out.
Joker was not fearsome from day one, he is literally a goofy clown. Other than that I agree
The first half had me rolling my eyes and then the second half with the Ballad of Kiteman kicked in and I was like "okay, yeah, I see it now". Kite man. Hell yeah.
and now he has his own TV show literally called Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
After watching his character in the Harley Quinn animated series and reading some of his comic appearances, including his origin, I genuinely believe Kiteman might be one of my favourite DC villains.
Hell yeah
He probably says "Hell yeah" every time because in the slight chance that his son is in hell, he'll be there for him. So he keeps on saying that word to ensure that he goes to hell.
This is nice in a sad way
Exactly what I was thinking
@Anonymous-nd3kw underrated comment ❤
"If someone's trying to pressure you into doing something you don't wanna do, choose death over anything!"
Next time my sister tries to make me go to a cousin's wedding, she's cleaning my brains off the wall. Thanks, Alex!
Glad to help
yeah, I used this tactic and died last night
@@alexlennen Man keep it up and you're gonna be mentioned in some psycho's manifesto one day
@@PotatoObliteratorGD wait...
@@deveshmahajan4151 Don't worry, he had a Dead Ringer handy.
I like how you bring up Kite Man's persistence from 3:20 to 4:55. Something I've noticed is that the portrayals of most villains (particularly Batman's) usually go from 0 to 60. Meanwhile, Kite Man learned and improved with each appearance, making his character in the New 52 feel more natural.
I want to add some extra war of Jokes and Riddles context because I think it makes Kite Man even better. At the end of the war its revealed that basically everything was planned by the Riddler (because comic book genius) from the beginning of the war to its ending with Kite Man defeating the Riddler (his reasons for this are weird but long story short Joker had stopped laughing and the Riddler took it as a challenge). This means that all of Kite Man's suffering, the death of his son and the creation of his new identity, was constructed by the Riddler with the purpose of making the Joker laugh. In the comic we even see this break Batman himself, the futility of all the violence and suffering prompting him to try to kill the Riddler (sidenote I know a lot of people dislike Tom King Batman but I love it and I think the War of Jokes and Riddles is absolutely worth a read). So does Kite Man break? Does he see that his new identity was constructed to make the Joker laugh? Does he fall when he realises his beloved son dies to make the Joker laugh? No. He takes the identity, he remains Kite Man. After the war (chronologically after, it happens in earlier comics in our world but the war is a flashback) he still runs around as Kite Man committing crimes with the catchphrase Hell Yeah. Maybe the Riddler did construct him as something so absurd the Joker would have to laugh, but he made the name and the catchphrase his.
Kite-Man's given name is Charles Brown. He's literally Charlie Brown, flying his kite despite any kite-eating tree that life might throw in his path.
That's why his relationship with Poison Ivy was doomed from the start: Ivy is the Kite-eating Tree and the Red-headed Girl all wrapped into one.
She does cheat on him later on in the show unfortunately
@@LUCAS420BLZ yeah, it kinda feels like everyone just ignores that
@@qualitycontent7854 oh right on top of publicly being ashamed to be with him as well, although they at the end of the same episode reconcile the episode after she basically goes with Harley
They try to make you hate kite man but in the end we sympathize for him
Hell yea
@@LUCAS420BLZ It's unfortunate that she doesn't really grasp the situation. She's essentially swept up in his affection for her, and that human connection it represents. She never really loves him, but she's become so separated from her basic humanity that she doesn't realize the difference at first.
I like to think "I Hate Everything" usage of Kite Man as a sidehost to his videos back in the day got to someone's attention in DC to reinvigorate life to the character. Excellent video mate. :]
Hell yea
Man, I forgot about that!
Out of all of Batman's rogue's gallery, Kite Man is the one character that I want to see end up with the best possible ending. Cause Hell Yeah.
Hell yea
Hell yeah
Roll tide
Hell yeah
Hell yeah
He got his own show! I laughed so hard when I saw that.
I love when people take a silly idea seriously, because the sillynees makes the emotional points hit even harder since you aren't expecting it.
5:28 "So if someone's trying to pressure you into doing something you don't wanna do, choose death over anything"
"Come on, just one toke. You'll like it. Wait! What are yo-"
Kite Man was a beautifully written character who started out as a joke but slowly developed into an absolutely amazing character I love him soo much and also your work thank you Alex
Hell yea
"Hell yeah!"
- Sun Tzu,art of kite
i commend you for turning Kite Mans appearance in 52 from just a offscreen casualty to a message to never back down from your morals which is genuinely inspiring! Great video as always!
Riddler's failing was getting Joker to laugh by making a Kite Man the punchline. He should've chosen to make a Mail Man the punchline.
_Because it's all in the delivery!_
Either way, it's for the best. Because we are now in a Second Renaissance (though an argument could be made there wasn't even a First Renaissance) for Kite Man. HeII yeah!
I do hope they give kite-man some justice in future comics.
I want to see a Batfamily crossover where Riddler is the main antagonist, and it ends with Kite-Man defeating him and getting justice for his son. I want Kite-Man to fold that question-mark-looking twink like a paper airplane
hell yea
@@halfmettlealchemist8076 Pose a riddle, and when Riddler gets it wrong, Poison him and watch him brittle away.
Hell yeah
@@viderevero1338 The answer to the Riddle must be "Hell Yeah"
And given it's Riddler, it must also be so obvious he overlooks it in the search for deeper meaning
SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT! JUSTICE FOR KITE MAN
I want justice for sin eater
Hell uea
Potato man was a joke of a villain...the laughing stock of the criminal underworld. It was only when we learned about his tragic backstory that we truly began to see the nuances and complexities behind his Potato obsessed persona.
Hell yea
How he got cancer and why he deserved it. Potato man, a menace to the truest form.
Off shore
@@ELbabotas1 4 shore
Fionn ‘Spud’ Murphy was once just a regular son of a lineage of farmers, who alongside his elder sister, Orla, wanted to pursue greater things in the city, coming to disagreements with their family over taking over the farm. Spud studied as an engineer while Orla went into botany. However, during the time they really got into their work, their family’s crop turned useless due to a plague. Despite disagreement, they of course, loved their family, and thus sent technology and modified seeds and advice to help them out. However, as years passed, their crop consistently could not be used, droughts, floods, the worst kept coming. Even worse, the government gave minimal, near useless help to assist them through these terrible times. Thrown into poverty, the family had to sell off the farm and struggle to look for employment in the current times, only subsidised by the two siblings. However, Orla came down with lung cancer, and due to the high medical bills, the family was thrown into greater destitution.
But Fionn, saw everything, how the government didn’t care about his family, how the public and workplace elitism looked down on his farming family despite keeping the country fed, how the doctors and pharmacies drained his sister dry all while she tried to survive. His mind was fracturing, he couldn’t afford therapy, he had no available support network, and he broke. Desperate, he turned to crime, all to give his loved ones a life they deserved. A second layer to this villainy came in the form of his guilt at his past. Perhaps if he stayed behind, if he was with them, his family could have avoided poverty, he could have helped find help amongst his hometown better, but he didn’t. So to make up for that, he would dedicate his villainy to the main crop they grew, potatoes, to fight for the farmers crushed by government negligence in his own flawed way, and perhaps one day, he could denounce the suffering his fellow farming brethren have gone through. As Potato Man, he would one day bring the criminal empire under his command, even if he was a laughing stock. Perhaps, his small efforts could change the world.
It's like DC literally took IHE's roasting of Kite man to heart and completely 180'd him, like Tim Gunn did with Polka Dot man!
You're the one dude who can tell stories in the way that for some reason makes me tear up when most films can't, you tell stories in such an emotional way I love it
I really enjoy discovering these types of characters. Speedball, Kite Man, etc. At first started out as goofy characters but with the helm of some wild writers, they get turned into characters with depth, layers, and substance.
Hell Yea
Can’t believe the legend Kite Man was created by Kid named Finger
"Jokuh...put your dick away Jokuh..."
Hell yeah.
Yeah I could imagine kite-man being a god, the "Cosmic Kite" even, maybe with the world repeating over and over again theres gotta be an Earth where Kite-Man trough his determination, growth and chance-takingness he is the one person who can go through all the trials and tragedies in order to become a god, he could take all the oppurtunities he gets to become stronger and eventually have more super-powers then there are atoms in the universe
And now he even has his own show! Hell yeah!
I think I'd honestly love to see a faux-biography movie based on Kite Man. Either that or a "War of Jokes & Riddles" movie with Kite Man as the POV character...
Alex while you're learning to deal with your trauma:
"I hope you'll make it. Best of luck buddy, I believe in you."
Alex after you've dealt with your trauma:
"What, you think you're anything special? Screw you."
Hell yea
We must all strive to reach the emotions that kite man feels thank you
Hell yea
Always heard the praises for Kite Man, never knew he had this sorta depth to his character; once again a very enlightening video Alex
0:56 the true kid named Finger
Finger & Dick
*crazy*
this guy is getting his own show 🗿
I love how goofy harley quinn is, but I wish we got hints of his grim backstory in the show. Oh well, probably for the best...
I think the Harley Quinn show's version of Riddler is too much of a nice guy to do the dark stuff he does in Kite-Man's origin comic. He seems like the "put someone in an elaborate death-trap themed after Jeopardy" kind of evil, not the "straight-up murder a child and mastermind a gang war just to get Batman-senpai to notice him" kind of evil.
@Ggnkrsfkoqxbk He’s probably just pissy that the show has female main characters
@@SaimAli-k4v I haven't watched the show, but from what i've seen of Mr. Freeze, they pretty much treated the character with the utmost respect, as much as they could anyhow, and gave him a surprisingly quick yet somberly beautiful send-off, even though the comedy that followed afterwards kinda ruined it for me and from what i've seen of how Nora Fries is handled episodes later, eh, it could definitely have been better.
@Ggnkrsfkoqxbk well Kite Man has been potrayed well in my opinion, he is well liked by the characters who got to know him, they've mentioned his good characteristics on many occasions. If anything, the show treats the main characters worse, not giving them any actual story, just a bunch of mediocre one liners and a bunch of walking around from location to location. First season was a-mazing though. Truly some lighthearted and fun DC series. They definitely fucked it up this season.
Wtf are you talking about, Kite Man is a genuine good guy in the show, even while still being a villain. Ivy takes account that Kite Man doesn't deserve her and he initiates the justified break-up. The show balances out the joke villain aspect by making him a well-adjusted guy who tries to do the best out of the worst situation.
God I fucking love Kiteman. I hope more villains get the Kite Man treatment cause they 100% deserve it.
Hell yea
HELL YEAH!!!
Can we get a Frog Man story too someday?
Hell yea
‘Just start doing it and accept that you’re going to suck for a while’ -Alex Lennen 2022
I saw that Kite Man was getting his own spinoff series today and I immediately thought back to this video. Crazy how some things just seem to come full circle
"You took my son, so I took your war."
While I find the Harley Quinn show to be fairly average and a bit too much of a try hard at times, Kite Man genuinely surprised me with how good they made his character there even without the backstory. The show itself has its moments of good and funny but me and my girlfriend both found Kite Man to be one of our favorite characters when we watched the show together. She was pretty sad that he didn't end up getting married to Ivy but it honestly solidified him as the best written character for me by the end of the second season so it's cool to see he even got good treatment in the comics as well. I really like when writers go back to older throwaway characters to flesh them out more
Hell yea
Hell yeah, itbyook guts for him to say hell no
Hell yeah creative bankruptcy
@@Shizkeb What? The show? Or going back to flesh out an old and underused character? If it's the latter then I vehemently disagree. Going back to improve a throwaway character and do it well is nowhere close to being creatively bankrupt. If anything it can be a test of how skilled a writer is if they can successfully improve upon forgotten or joke characters
@@Soulferno instead of making new characters they decided to backtrack and recycle old stuff. “What if we make wacky character… serious??? Woah”
It's stories like Kite-Man's that really show just how shitty Batman's no kill rule can be sometimes. Like the last thing you want to hear after your son was murdered is the person who indirectly caused it say he'll catch the person who did it and lock them up, like that's gonna stop him from escaping again for the thousandth time.
Hey fun fact, Batman literally tried to kill Riddler for this by the end of this arc. Like, that's not a joke or anything - Batman was fully prepared to break his one rule, all for the sake of avenging Kite-Man's son. I just thought that was something you would like to know.
Riddler hadn't escaped many times yet, this was early into Batman's career.
Batman's "no kill" rule is both his greatest asset, and his biggest weakness, atleast in my opinion
@@neevko267 It's his one moral that assures him that he is still doing the right thing, even when he isn't. A lot of people have something like that, that doesn't involve violence
Now i want to see a gritty take on Kite Man in one of Matt Reeves Batman movies
Kite Man proves that even the dumbest ideas on paper can be sonething much more when approched with sincerity.
Hell yeah
It's very fitting that he's named Charlie brown since they both always bounce back when they're suffering
Kite Man really is a great villain, and I've been a firm believer of that since I first watched the Harley Quinn series. He's genuinely in my top 3 favorite characters in that show, and there are so many good characters in that show to compete with.
Ain't it ironic that poison kills his son and yet in the Harley Quinn show he is *literally* dating "Poison Ivy" - nice character development there, Kite Man... Hell yeah.
Kite Man always faced his fears directly. Hell yeah
And he moved to Golden glider
0:35 Thank you for crediting your buddy and sending people his way.
But more importantly, thanks for actually putting effort in by seeing somebody else’s video and thinking how to add more/your own views.
These days, more and more communities seem to not link to another channel who made essentially the same video, or covered the same topic, and then when making the video they don’t add in more/new content. They only using their style/humor while repeating what others had said, hell it’s crazy even when they use the same examples.
Just in a lot of communities now, when one topic is done by one person there’s essentially no point in watching anothers.
So thanks for being different.
So what your saying is that we all need to BECOME KITE MAN. HELL YEAH.
I enjoy seeing so many of IHE's legitimate hated content systematically prove itself to be way better than he presented it as.
Well, that was really the point of his channel before he got big and decided to be genuine and become a movie reviewer.
@@trashman3319 a hypocritical movie reviewer that is.
In his review of suicide squad he said "if you love this movie with acknowledging its flaws then you have no idea what a good movie is". This implies that we should look into each objectively good and bad thing in a flick even if we enjoyed. However, in his review of the last jedi he turned 180 degrees saying that "what is art reallllyy? Everything is an opinion so whatever maaaan". When it's a film he hates we should be objective but when it's a film he loves we should be subjective????
I do agree that he was an absolute clown in his first days of youtube tho.
@@N.I.A23 Do you get any other kind?
@@_S_P_A_C_E_M_A_N_ what do you mean??
@@N.I.A23 Most critics tend to be hypocritical. Especially critics who are internet celebrities.
I found your channel literally 2 days ago and binged the crap out of literally every video.
Good work, man! Im glad youve found your audience you deserve! Here's hoping for more great (and successful) videos!
Hell yea
A prime example of how generations of histories and style changes makes joke characters into great characters
Gotta love it when they finally give the obscure the villain the backstory and love they truly deserved.
I am of the stern belief that the inability to give up is the greatest superpower.
Kite Man. Hell yeah.
Youre quickly become one of my favorite youtubers, its amazing how you can post such long, high quality, and funny videos at such a quick rate. Keep up the good work man!
This is on the same level as saying Billy Stick-up, who did two years for trying to rob a Dollar Store, is a brilliant criminal mastermind because, when he finally got out on parole, he immediately went to rob that same Dollar Store again. And got arrested again.
And then did it again.
He might never achieve his goals, but god dammit he has principles, that's more than most people nowadays. Billy Stick-Up, Hell Yeah!
So... kite man is gonna be a show now...
Yes
The rise of Kite Man will be studied for years, nay, decades to come.
Hell yeah
Kite man says hell yeah in his desire to be closer, both in imitating his son, and his hope of being reunited with his son.
THANK YOU ALEX FOR BLESSING US
I clicked on this by accident and didn’t regret it, lol.
Check out his other stuff, it's beautiful.
Never expected to cry about Kite-Man yet here we are. Hell yeah.
HE GOT A TV SHOW! HELL YEAH!
Thanks to the fine folks behind the scenes of the Harley Quinn animated show, not only am I familiar with Kite-Man (Hell Yeah), but the love that version of him and after watching your Batman video... well, here I am. So, thank you! Also, I appreciate that the respect you put on Kite-Man's (Hell Yeah) name.
I remember reading a book when I was little, I think it was based on one of the many Batman tv shows, with Kite-man in it. I don’t really remember how it went, but somehow he ended up beating killer croc with Batman despite being a villain and I’ve always liked him since
see here’s the thing about kite man: he could fight against the turbulence and winds of chaos that destroyed his life, but instead he chooses to build a big-ass kite and harness that wind, and isn’t that just beautiful?
Kite man , Hell yeah!
and you right,kite man now have his own series
Imma be honest, “You took my boy. So I took your war.” IS A FUCKING RAW LINE
i cant belive this video made dc make kiteman a show
Yooooo they named a show after this video (kite man: hell yea)
Had to come back for this masterpiece. Forgot how good this was. Hoping you drop some more content soon 👍🏻👍🏻
There's an appeal with these obscure, C-list villains. That being, you can re-invent them in a very interesting direction as there's little to go on beforehand. Kite Man is a perfect example of this
I’ve always loved this video, and I just fot why. It’s like the video about The Wall except all of it is entirely canon.
He is literally Mumen Rider from One Punch Man turned supervillain and is somehow just as successful
Kite man, heck yeah
Boys will see a kite and just say "Hell yeah!"
Peacemaker mentioned his name in a class show and tell thingy, maybe Kite Man will get a live adaptation for at least a cameo hopefully.
I thought the hell yeah was a joke edited in but it's real apparently. This is my new favorite character in that universe
4:13
Kite-Man be like: after years of preparation, careful planing I have finally found your weakness batman..
*A FUCKING GUN*
Kite Man
Hell Yeah.
Kite man is straight up the joke D&D character that ends up reaching level 20 and saving/conquering the world. Hell yeah.
the human kite before the human kite: KITE MAN
DC saw this vid then made the kite man show