Bat Boy (character)

Bat Boy
Weekly World News character
Created by	Dick Kulpa
Information
Aliases	bat child
Species	Half-Bat, Half-Human
Gender	Male
Family	Herbert Sr. (grandfather) Susan Boy (mother) Ruth Carter Cash Boy (sister)
Born	1982 (age 33–34)

Bat Boy is a creature who made several appearances in the defunct American supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. The Weekly World News published patently fabricated stories which were purported to be factual. Within the pages of the paper, Bat Boy is described as a creature who is 'half human and half bat'. His pursuers, according to Weekly World News, are scientists and United States government officials; he is frequently captured, then later makes a daring escape. The original scientist who found him was named Dr. Ron Dillon. Matthew Daemon, S.O.S. (Seeker of Obscure Supernaturals) crossed paths with him on several occasions.

Bat Boy was created by former Weekly World News Editor Dick Kulpa. He debuted as a cover story on June 23, 1992. The original front-page photo of Bat Boy, showing his grotesque screaming face, was the second-best selling issue in the tabloid's history, and he has since evolved into a pop-culture icon. He became the tabloid's de facto mascot of sorts. The story of Bat Boy was turned into an Off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy: The Musical.

Fictional background

According to Weekly World News, Bat Boy has a chaotic sense of morality. He has been said to steal cars and not to come to the aid of the needy. According to the mythos, the only person who cares about the chiropteran child is Dr. Ron Dillon, who discovered him in a West Virginia cave (Hellhole Cave in Pendleton County, WV). Origins of Bat Boy are sometimes credited to being in Lost World Caverns in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The original Weekly World News article lists "Hellhole Cave in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia". At the time of capture, he was two feet tall and weighed nineteen pounds. By February 2001, he was 2' 6". In 2004, he was five feet tall and his weight was unknown. He sheds his wings every three years, and regenerates a new pair.^[1]

On August 14, 2003, WWN reported he was running in the California gubernatorial election.^[2]

In October 2006, Weekly World News posted a video of Bat Boy "captured" on film riding on top of a New York City subway car. Bat Boy was said to be living in the subway system's tunnels during this time. This story was converted into a "documentary" video on the Weekly World News website.^[3]

In October 2008, Bat Boy supposedly endorsed John McCain but switched to Barack Obama soon after.^[4]

In November 2008, Bat Boy was allegedly seen protesting the passing of Proposition 8.^[5]

Genealogy

According to the Weekly World News, the discovery of Bat Boy's family tree on a genealogy chart recently "stunned" evolutionary scientists who used to think the famed imp was a pitiful, one-of-a-kind mutant - but now believe he belongs to a race of creatures who have interacted with humans for at least 400 years. In the tabloid's account, the chart itself was written on vellum and found in the same Ozark Mountains cave where Dr. Ron Dillon, a biologist, rescued Bat Boy after he was trapped by a falling rock in 1992 (it should be noted, however, that the Ozark Mountains are nowhere near West Virginia). Carbon dating supposedly revealed the chart to be over a hundred years old.

Name	Lifespan	Alleged background
Artemis "Pip" Boee	1591-1622	Little is known of his life. Arrived in the New World days after the landing of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock on the lesser known vessel, The June Bug. Was a successful jet airliner conductor of the underground railroad.
Charles Alexander "Cotton" Boee	1612-1691	The son of Artemis, he was a prosperous farmer in Massachusetts.
John "Little Cotton Joe Bundy" Boee	1658-1722	The deeply religious firstborn of Charles who was devoted to his wife Rebecca. It is noted that her own birth was hard and long, resulting in slightly elongated ears.
Susannah Boee	1661-1692	John and Rebecca's daughter; she gave birth to two children, Alexander and David. The townspeople, perhaps frightened by her pointy ears, accused the woman of "consorting with Satan" during the Salem witch trials. She was burned at the stake; however, her children were not (in reality none of the victims of the Salem witch trials were burned at the stake).
Alexander Boee	1679-1769	The shortest family member on record, standing at thirteen inches tall. Remembered for having changed the spelling of his last name to "Boie" ("because he wanted people to think he was French").
David Boee	1682-1776	The younger brother of Alexander Boee. He is revered as the oldest soldier to fight for American independence. He was killed the day the British surrendered. He will be remembered by his one hit wonder "magic pants dance."
Catherine Boie	1735-1815	Alexander's daughter who was best known for her work with wildlife. She studied animals and kept many unusual species as pets, including bats. Her oldest child, Andrew, was fascinated with the nocturnal critters but became a gourmet chef.
Andrew Jackson Boie	1785-1866	Made delicious meals out of nocturnal creatures, but soon became a cannibal and ate his ears.
Rodney Boe	1787-1869	Was Catherine's youngest child, an inattentive speller who inadvertently dropped the "i" from the family name. Family friends presume Rodney's poor scholarship was an attempt to focus attention on his smarter siblings, to divert eyes from his short stature, oversized eyes and pointed ears.
Archibald Boe	1825-1911	Rodney's firstborn, he left the family's ancestral home in Massachusetts and moved to California, where people were "more tolerant" of unusual looking people.
Marcus Boe	1875-1930	Eldest son of Archibald, he established himself as respected "bug man" with a successful exterminating business. There were rumors that he did not use flypaper or traps, but caught them with his mouth.
Horace "Joe Ears" Boe	1890-1931	Archibald's youngest son who left California at age thirteen, hopping an eastbound train to Chicago. Horace was shot dead in a shootout with famed federal agent Eliot Ness in 1931.
Margaret Boy	1910-1983	Horace's only child. She dropped the "e" from the family name and added a "y" so people would not associate her with her mobster dad. She left Chicago and moved to West Virginia.
Herbert Hoover Boy	1944-1972	Worked in the coal mines of West Virginia as a child of 12, not of financial need, but because he liked caves and the job.
Susan Boy	1954-?	Herbert Sr.'s daughter. She achieved regional success as a country singer with a persona that has been likened to that of mountain songbird Dolly Parton. Susan's liaisons with an unnamed country legend produced two children: Ruth Carter Cash Boy and "the one they call Bat".
Ruth Carter Cash Boy	1972-?	"a quick learner who was able to quit school after the sixth grade." She now lives in Wayne, West Virginia, Wayne Middle School.
Bat Boy	1982-?	The brother of Ruth Carter Cash Boy. He is a decorated U.S. Marine who has confounded the authorities by stealing cars and biting children after serving his country as a "super patriot" on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq. After the nuclear fallout as a result of the Cuban-Jamaican War, he now wanders the wastelands of Jamaica searching for hippopotamus droppings to sell on the white market.

Adventures of Batboy

Cartoonist Peter Bagge originally penned the "Adventures of Batboy" for the Weekly World News. According to the cartoon, Bat Boy is currently hitchhiking with a typical American family after resigning from being the President of the United States (and King), has placed Weekly World News columnist Ed Anger under arrest and saying goodbyes to Beyoncé Knowles, a half sasquatch (with whom he was romantically involved), and Dr. Ron. According to past issues of WWN, Bat Boy has joined a death metal/thrash metal band as their lead singer. On a side note if ever spotted offer him eggs and he won't suck your blood through a crazy straw. Cartoonist Danielle Corsetto took over from Bagge in 2006.

Bat Boy: The Musical

A musical based on the Bat Boy character premiered at Tim Robbins' Actors Gang Theatre on Halloween, 1997 and has since been produced Off Broadway, in London's West End, and in scores of productions throughout the world. Music and lyrics are by Laurence O'Keefe, with a book by Brian Flemming and Keythe Farley.

Bibliography

• "Bat Boy Found in West Virginia Cave!" by Bill Creighton, Weekly World News, June 23, 1992, pp 46–47. Reprinted July 16, 1999, pp. 46–47. Reprinted June 20, 2005 pp. 58–59.
• "Bat Boy Escapes!" by Dack Kennedy, October 6, 1992, p. 5.
• "U.S. Govt. to Blame for Letting Bat Boy Escape!" by Ed Anger, October 6, 1992, p. 17.
• "New Wave of Bat Boy Sightings" anonymous, December 8, 1992, pp. 4–5.
• "Bat Boy Attacks Girl, 10!" by Joe Berger, March 9, 1993, pp. 4–5.
• "Bat Boy on the Loose!" Weekly World News Special 76-Page Collector's Edition, May 1993 pp 38–39.
• "'I've Captured Bat Boy'" by Jack Alexander, July 27, 1993, p. 29.
• "FBI Captures Bat Boy!" by Conrad Morse, August 31, 1993, pp. 24–25.
• "Bat Boy Saga Heats Up" Anonymous, January 4–11, 1994, p. 51.
• "Bat Boy Dead, Claims U.S. Govt." by Nick Mann, January 31, 1995, p. 46.
• "Escaped Bat Boy Sighted in Texas!" by Global News Service, April 11, 1995, p. 3.
• "New Jersey Lovebirds Getting Married – Thanks to Elvis and Bat Boy" by Tanya Broder, February 20, 1996, p. 39.
• "Bat Boy Captured!" by Joe Berger, September 16, 1997, pp. 8–9.
• "Bat Boy Is Learning How to Talk!" by Mike Foster, March 24, 1998, p. 13.
• "Second Bat Child Captured in West Virginia, Confirms Researcher," by Alex Morgan, September 15, 1998, p. 25.
• "Half-Human Half-Bat Locked Up in Secret Medical Lab!" by Kevin Creed, August 31, 1999, p. 13.
• "Bat Boy on the Loose!" by Wolf Landrum, September 7, 1999, pp. 36–37.
• "Bat Child Attacks Girl" by Ernst Craven, September 19, 2000, pp 40–41.
• "'I Will Hunt Down Bat Boy and Kill Him!'" by Rex Wolfe, October 9, 2001, p. 20.
• "Stay Tuned—Something BIG Is Brewing for Bat Boy" by Ernst Craven, October 30, 2001, p. 8.
• "Pentagon Mum on Bat Boy Whereabouts" by Mary Kingston, November 6, 2001, p. 7.
• "It's a Bird... It's a Plane... No – It's Bat Boy... Training with the U.S. Army!" by Andi Cretel, November 20, 2001, p. 45.
• "Bat Boy Meets with Bush at Camp David" by Tomaso Focata, November 27, 2001, p. 9.
• "Bat Boy Storms Afghanistan with U.S. Marines" by Alicia Bousch, December 15, 2001, pp. 18–19.
• "Bat Boy Bites Santa Claus!" by Brett Anniston, December 18, 2001, p. 10.
• "'Bring Us the Head of Bat Boy!'" by Lois Castini, January 8, 2002, p. 8.
• "Batty-Mitzvah" by Anonymous, January 15, 2002, p. 69.
• Letters to the Editor by Hans Schrierst of William Morris Agency and Alfred E. Newman of Mad Magazine, January 9, 2002.
• "Bat Boy Behind Bars!" by Miguel Figueroa, February 19, 2002, p. 42.
• "Bat Boy Escapes Terrorists: Now He's on the Lam in South America!" by Joan Ryan, February 26, 2002, pp. 42–43.
• "FBI Warns: Don't Be Fooled by This Bat Boy Impersonator!" by Vincenzo Sardi, March 5, 2002, pp. 2–3.
• "Yes, Jacob, There Is a Bat Boy," Sound Off, July 23, 2002, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy Saves Washington from 'Dirty Bomb' Disaster... & You Won't Believe How!" by Miguel Figueroa, April 30, 2002, pp. 12–13.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Joseph B., August 20, 2002, p. 4.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by "Draff" and "Unicorn," August 27, 2002, p. 4.
• "Half Bat—Half Amazing" by Anonymous, September 10, 2002, p. 42.
• "Mutant Fruit" by Rick Kirk, October 8, 2002, p. 16.
• "Bat Boy Is Missing!" by Miguel Figueroa, October 15, 2002, p. 9.
• "Bat Boy Sightings!" Anonymous, November 19, 2002, p. 6-7.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Blake S., December 3, 2002, p. 4.
• "Police Seek Hero Mystery Boy in Capture of Child Molestor" by Mike Foster, December 17, 2002, p. 5.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor from Worried, December 24, 2002, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy Steals Car—And Goes on Three State Joy Ride!" by Wayne Diaz, January 14, 2003, pp. 6–7.
• "Bat Boy Still on the Lam!" by Brett Anniston, January 21, 2003, p. 37.
• "Bat Boy Still on the Lam" by Mike Foster, January 28, 2003, p. 37.
• "Bat Boy Abandons Stolen Car - & Vanishes" by Mike Foster, February 4, 2003, pp. 30–31.
• Weirdo Letter of the Week by Amanda W., February 18, 2003, p. 4.
• "Is J.Lo Seeing Bat Boy Behind Ben's Back?" by Martha S., February 25, 2003, p. 4.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Anonymous, March 4, 2003, p. 4.
• Newsmakers letter from Anthony and Elizabeth M., April 1, 2003, p. 2.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Albert P., April 15, 2003, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy Goes International!" by Dick Kulpo, April 15, 2003, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy Goes to War!" by Larry Mulder, April 22, 2003, pp. 24–25.
• "Thank God We Sent Bat Boy Into Iraq" by Martin T., May 6, 2003, p. 4.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Sandra M., June 3, 2003, p. 4.
• Letter of the Week by Beth L., July 15, 2003, p. 4.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Dr. Natalie P., July 29, 2003, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy to Fly Space Shuttle" by Deuce Collins, September 23, 2003, pp. 30–31.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor form Andy H., September 30, 2003, p. 4.
• Bat Boy Mask, October 28, 2003, p. 72.
• "Bat Boy Xmas Card!" December 2, 2003, p. 12.
• "Freaks, Geeks & Weirdos" by Kay Callahan, December 2, 2003, p. 26.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Harvey P. of Cleveland, Ohio, December 23, 2003, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy Led U.S. Troops to Saddam... Gotcha!" by Mike Foster, January 13, 2004, pp. 24–25.
• "The Bat Got the Rat" by Steven H., February 3, 2004, p. 4.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Clark D., February 17, 2004, p. 4.
• "New Adventures of Bat Boy!" by Peter Bagge, March 2, 2004, p. 9.(introduction to weekly Bat Boy comic strip)
• "Bat Boy: He's 50% Bat—100% Amazing" by Kate McClare, March 8, 2004, p. 9.
• "U.S. Plans to Clone Army of Bat Boys to Fight Terrorism!" by Ian Merkins, March 15, 2004, p. 9.
• Sound Off! Letters to the Editor by Gary G. and Bernie Q., March 22, 2004, p. 4.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor from Anthony L., March 29, 2004, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy to Be Knighted" by Michael Chiron, April 5, 2004, p. 8.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Ray L. Winder, May 3, 2004, p. 4.
• "Dynamic Duo! Bat Boy Lobbying Hard for Kerry's No. 2 Spot." by Nick Mann, May 31, 2004, pp. 2–3.
• "Bat Boy to Try Out for American Idol" by Paul Chiron, June 21, 2004, p. 8.
• Sound Off! Letter to the Editor by Staci M., June 28, 2004, p. 4.
• "Happy Birthday, America!" July 4, 2005, pp. 30–31.
• "Britney Is My Bride!" by Will Shivers, July 12, 2004, p. 9.
• "Fat Britney Fan Goes on Hunger Strike Over Reports She Married Bat Boy" by Brett Anniston, August 2, 2004, p. 37.
• "'I Can Cure Bat Boy!'" by Michael Forsyth, September 20, 2004, pp. 8–9.
• "Terrorists Kidnap Bat Boy!" by Nikki Long, October 11, 2004, p. 9.
• "Bat Boy Musical Knocks 'Em Dead in London" by Norv Keener, November 8, 2004, p. 9.
• "My Neighbor's Kid Looks Like Bat Boy—Can You Help Him?" by Mary Guevara, December 6, 2004, p. 4.; reprinted December 27, 2004.
• "Dating Service for Freaks" by Darren Davenport, January 3, 2005, pp. 26–27.
• "Are James Carville & Bat Boy Kin?" by Mike Foster, January 17, 2005, pp. 8–9.
• "Kid Saving Up for Plastic Surgery—to Look Like Bat Boy!" Anonymous, April 25, 2005, p. 15.
• "Bat Boy to Join the Cast of Deadwood!" by Mark Miller, July 18, 2005, pp. 4–5.
• "Miss Adventure's Male Bag" by Drew Sullivan (letter attributed to Jeremy Lovett), December 5, 2005, p. 18.
• "Daemon Rushes to Save Boy-Bat Trapped in Cave" by Dick Siegel, December 12, 2005, p. 40-41.
• "Are Boy-Bat and Bat Boy Fraternal Twins Separated at Birth?" by Sammy Robin, January 2, 2006, p. 4.
• "Bat Boy in the Belfry" by Robert Greenberger, April 10, 2006, pp 12–13.
• "Protect Bat Boy at All Costs" by Robert Greenberger, April 17, 2006, pp. 12–13.
• Sound Off! Letters to the Editor by Richard Graysonne and Charlie Kane, May 1, 2006, p. 47.; reprinted June 19, 2006, p. 47.
• Sound Off! Letters to the Editor from K. Bates and Matt Tell, May 8, 2006, p. 47.
• "Candidate Visits Bat Boy's Home! Romney Promises to Protect Spelunkers from Monsters" by D. Patrick, March 26, 2007, p. 7.
• "Police Arrest 'Bat Boy': Elusive Creature Sighted in Upstate New York," by Dick Siegel, June 11, 2007, p. 4.
• "Kids' Letters to Bat Boy" by Dick Siegel, August 6, 2007, p. 12.

References

• Leed, Barry; McGinness, Neil; News, Weekly World; Bat Boy LLC (2010-09-14). Going Mutant: The Bat Boy Exposed!. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-5700-8. Retrieved 21 December 2010.

References

1. Weekly World News: Five things you don't know about Bat Boy!, December 10, 2002
2. Weekly World News: BATBOY ANNOUNCES RUN FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP!, August 14, 2003.
4. Cunningham, Reginald, III (October 22, 2008). "BAT BOY BACKS OBAMA". Weekly World News. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
5. Allie, Pruitt (November 19, 2008). "BAT BOY HATES PROP 8". Weekly World News. Retrieved 2008-12-26.