''Keluang Man'' is a Malaysian comedy

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

who is based on the

fruit bat Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera ''Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—flying foxes. They are the only member of the sup ...

( ms, keluang). His costume and appearance is based on

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

. The ''Keluang Man'' cartoon series was very popular since his first appearance back in 1998 through Malaysian local TV channel, TV1 (

Radio Televisyen Malaysia Radio Televisyen Malaysia ( en, Radio Television of Malaysia, abbreviated as RTM, stylised as rtm), also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia ( ms, Jabatan Penyiaran Malaysia) is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia. Establi ...

). However, production stopped for a while due to the economic crisis in 1997 and 1998, but later continued in 2000 until the series finally ended in 2005. In 2008, ''Keluang Man'' was re-aired on TV9. A live-action film adaptation is announced to be in development.

Plot

Set in Tampoi,

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

(near

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. T ...

), Keluang Man made his first appearance in an alley where a man is trying to rob a girl. Since then, Keluang Man has been media's most wanted. Keluang Man's real name is 'Borhan' and he is actually one of the mental patients in Tampoi Mental Hospital. The hospital security makes it hard for Keluang Man to act during daylight, so he decided only to fight for justice at night. However, the existence of Keluang Man as a justice fighter did not make Inspector Shahab, the local police chief sit very well in his position. He sees Keluang Man as an annoying hero who always disturbs the police's business. In the second episode of the first season, Tiong Man makes his first appearance in Keluang Man as a counterpart, holding a similar role as Robin in the Batman series. Both superheroes work together to fight supervillains such as Badut (The Clown), Mata Batu Johan Hitam, Samsir, Majid Kilat, Meow The Cat Girl and many more with the hope that the town of Tumpoi will turn back into a peaceful place for everyone.

Production

''Keluang Man'' was created by Kamn Ismail and his team of animators in June 1997 because former wanted the presence of "National Hero" at the moment. The pioneer team members were Kamn Ismail (Director), Wan Ayumi Wan Yusof (Asst. Production Director), Amir Hamzah Hashim (Chief Compositting Dept.) Mohd Azizi Amsam (Chief Animator), Raja Zaharuddin Shah (Chief Storyboards), Azhar Saad, Karim Wahab (Storyboard Artist), Razali Talib, Azman Ahad, Jamaluddin Shaadon (Compositt Artist) Arifin Sharif, Bibi, Norzana, Zawawi Zaid, Khairil Azwa, Asmawi, Hafidh Hassan, Shaharuddin Salleh (Animators) Anes Wardati, Asro (BG Artist) and Siti Zahrah Mat Zin (PA Cum Production Secretary). A few months later, the team was augmented by a group of new junior animators.

Trivia

Keluang (alternately

Kluang Kluang ( Jawi: كلواڠ), formerly Keluang, is a town in Kluang District, Johor, Malaysia. Kluang was founded in 1915 as the administrative capital of central Johor by the British. It is located in the centre of the state and is within 90 min ...

) is also the name of a town in central Johor. It is 75 km northwest from Tampoi.

References

{{Malaysian Animation 1998 Malaysian television series debuts 2005 Malaysian television series endings 1990s Malaysian television series 2000s Malaysian television series Malaysian children's animated action television series Malaysian children's animated adventure television series Radio Televisyen Malaysia original programming