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Going Mutant: The Bat Boy Exposed!: The Bat Boy Exposed!
The Weekly World News team uncovers the definitive and faux-tastic story of Bat Boy, from his hardscrabble origins in the caves of West Virginia to his global influence in the twenty-first century. Going Mutant reveals how Bat Boy has heeded a call to service that has embarrassed less forthcoming mutants: During the Gulf War, he deployed with the Special Forces. He later earned a special commendation from George W. Bush for his use of sonar, which led troops to the spider hole housing Saddam Hussein. And now Bat Boy joins forces with an unlikely crew of soldiers, scientists, and swamp mamas to battle a global pandemic that threatens to destroy our planet.
This is an intimate look at the half-bat/half-boy, who has until now been shrouded in mystery (despite countless sightings and a megahit musical). Here, Bat Boy’s life is illuminated through a series of public and private documents obtained by the equally mysterious Dr. Barry Leed of the University of Indianapolis and through Weekly World News clippings. All this information comes together in this new Bitingsroman that reveals an archetypal American trickster who has risen from his lowly origins to become America’s favorite freedom fighter.
This is an intimate look at the half-bat/half-boy, who has until now been shrouded in mystery (despite countless sightings and a megahit musical). Here, Bat Boy’s life is illuminated through a series of public and private documents obtained by the equally mysterious Dr. Barry Leed of the University of Indianapolis and through Weekly World News clippings. All this information comes together in this new Bitingsroman that reveals an archetypal American trickster who has risen from his lowly origins to become America’s favorite freedom fighter.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 30, 2021
Going Mutant: The Bat Boy Exposed! Is a parody exposé written by Dr. Barry Leed, Neil McGinness, and Weekly World News editors.
The book collects experts from the tabloid Weekly World News (WWN) of Bat Boy, a half-human, half-bat mutant child discovered in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. Bat Boy continuously escapes captures, goes on nation-wide mauling sprees, battles in the War on Terror, joins NASA, dates Britney Spears, and more before mysteriously disappearing. World renowned bat scientist Dr. Leed hunts for our nation's most famous mutant in order to help save a new bat pandemic.
I first saw Bat Boy on the cover of a Weekly World News magazine at probably 6 or 7 years old while in the checkout line of ourocal grocery store. Being a child with a wild imagination, for years I believed that WWN was real and therefore Bat Boy was really out there. I was worried why our nightly news channels and newspapers never covered these stories. Over the years I learned what WWN actually was but still had a fascination with the Bat Boy character who popped up regularly.
This book collects many of the articles from those WWN issues and actually has the scanned copies (Though pixelated to preserve the "narrative" of the story) and presents the story of a scientist who reads through his predecessor's, the scientist who discovered Bat Boy, files on the mutant creature. It then weaves an original story to tie in all the articles and explain why he Bat Boy is constantly flipping between hero and villain in the WWN. The book is written with the same flare of ridiculously over the top articles and photoshopped images from WWN, so if you are fan of that style of humor, you will find a lot to enjoy here. It probably goes on for about 25 pages too long, but it is still an entertaining read. Long live Bat Boy, an American Hero!
The book collects experts from the tabloid Weekly World News (WWN) of Bat Boy, a half-human, half-bat mutant child discovered in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. Bat Boy continuously escapes captures, goes on nation-wide mauling sprees, battles in the War on Terror, joins NASA, dates Britney Spears, and more before mysteriously disappearing. World renowned bat scientist Dr. Leed hunts for our nation's most famous mutant in order to help save a new bat pandemic.
I first saw Bat Boy on the cover of a Weekly World News magazine at probably 6 or 7 years old while in the checkout line of ourocal grocery store. Being a child with a wild imagination, for years I believed that WWN was real and therefore Bat Boy was really out there. I was worried why our nightly news channels and newspapers never covered these stories. Over the years I learned what WWN actually was but still had a fascination with the Bat Boy character who popped up regularly.
This book collects many of the articles from those WWN issues and actually has the scanned copies (Though pixelated to preserve the "narrative" of the story) and presents the story of a scientist who reads through his predecessor's, the scientist who discovered Bat Boy, files on the mutant creature. It then weaves an original story to tie in all the articles and explain why he Bat Boy is constantly flipping between hero and villain in the WWN. The book is written with the same flare of ridiculously over the top articles and photoshopped images from WWN, so if you are fan of that style of humor, you will find a lot to enjoy here. It probably goes on for about 25 pages too long, but it is still an entertaining read. Long live Bat Boy, an American Hero!
August 9, 2015
Well gosh, that was one of the worst books I've ever read, and if not given to me by a dear friend as a wedding present, I would have put it aside days ago.
In a way, it's really very brilliant how bad it is. Cheaply printed with pixelated text, reprinting pulpy Weekly World News Bat Boy stories across swaths of pages, interspersing bits of racism with reinvented history and actual issues like the seriousness of white nose syndrome, only to crush that small ray of plausibility with Viagra being bat panacea.
I guess I was entertained, and so I should give it more stars, but I really think the book wants me to give it 1 star. Looking at Bat Boy's gaping face printed all over the front cover only reinforces that inclination.
In a way, it's really very brilliant how bad it is. Cheaply printed with pixelated text, reprinting pulpy Weekly World News Bat Boy stories across swaths of pages, interspersing bits of racism with reinvented history and actual issues like the seriousness of white nose syndrome, only to crush that small ray of plausibility with Viagra being bat panacea.
I guess I was entertained, and so I should give it more stars, but I really think the book wants me to give it 1 star. Looking at Bat Boy's gaping face printed all over the front cover only reinforces that inclination.
September 29, 2011
I bought this book for $1 in a clearance bin because of my love the macabre and eccentric..it's sorta entertaining and has its funny parts but it's not memorable. A fun book to scan through but seriously reading it has been hard, I'm 3/4ths through and I'm not sure if I'll actually finish it. The silly wackiness of the weekly world news stretches thin when it's applied to a whole book, i'm afraid.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews