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Cat-Man (Marvel Comics)

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Cat-Man is the name of a number of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The first Cat-Man first appeared in Daredevil #10-11 (October, December 1965), and was created by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood. The character subsequently appears in Daredevil #39-41 (April–June 1968), Daredevil Annual #2 (1971), Marvel Team-Up #25 (September 1974), X-Men #94-95 (August–October 1975), and Iron Man #115-116 (October–November 1978), in which he dies. The character appears posthumously in Iron Man #139 (October 1980) and Classic X-Men #3 (November 1986). Cat-Man appeared as part of the "Ani-Men" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #16, and in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #27.

The second Cat-Man appeared in Daredevil #157-158 (March, May 1979), and was created by Roger McKenzie, Mary Jo Duffy, and Gene Colan. Cat-Man appeared as part of the "Ani-Men" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #16, and in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #27.

Fictional character biography

Towshend Horgan

Cat-Man
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceDaredevil #10 (Oct 1965)
Created byStan Lee
Wally Wood
Bob Powell
In-story information
Alter egoTowshend Horgan
Team affiliationsAni-Men
Unholy Three
AbilitiesConsiderable agility and reflexes
Extraordinary acrobatic skills
Use of a T-Ray gun
(Briefly):
Superhuman agility
Natural razor-sharp claws

Along with Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Frog-Man, Towshend Horgan was recruited by a man named the Organizer to form the Ani-Men. Horgan had what was described as "feline agility". The Organizer was secretly Abner Jonas, a candidate for mayor of New York City, who sent the Ani-Men on missions to undermine the current administration. Daredevil defeated them and the Ani-Men and Organizer all went to prison.[1] Later, Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man formed a team called the "Unholy Three" with the Exterminator, and fought Daredevil again.[2] The Unholy Three, as a team of independent thieves, fought Daredevil and Spider-Man and were defeated.[3]

Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man later rejoined the Ani-Men, and the Ani-Men went to work for Count Nefaria. Nefaria's scientists submitted the unwitting Ani-Men to processes that gave them superhuman powers and animal-like forms. The Ani-Men invaded the Cheyenne Mountain missile base for Count Nefaria, and fought the X-Men.[4]

The Ani-Men lost their superhuman powers and reverted to normal. Count Nefaria sent the four original Ani-Men to kill Tony Stark, however the Spymaster detonated a bomb with which he had intended to kill Stark, and the resulting explosion killed the Ani-Men instead.[5]

Sebastian Patane

Cat-Man
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceDaredevil #157 (Mar 1979)
Created byRoger McKenzie
Mary Jo Duffy
Gene Colan
In-story information
Alter egoSebastian Patane
Team affiliationsAni-Men
AbilitiesCat-like claws on his costume
Extraordinary acrobatic skills

After the deaths of the original Ani-Men, the Death-Stalker recruited a new team of Ani-Men, with a new Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man. He sent the new Ani-Men to capture Matt Murdock. The Death-Stalker murdered Ape-Man and Cat-Man by electrocution upon the completion of their mission.[6]

Unnamed replacement

Cat-Man
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceCode of Honor #3 (April, 1997)
Created byChuck Dixon (writer), Bob Wakelin (co-artist), and Dærick Gröss, Sr. (co-artist)
In-story information
Team affiliationsAni-Men

During the Secret Wars storyline, a new, unnamed, Cat-Man alongside a new Ape-Man and Frog-Man were shown committing crimes while the heroes were on Battleworld. They somehow got the equipment of the original Ani-Men and used it to rob a vault wagon only to be opposed by the NYPD.[7]

During the Civil War storyline, the unnamed Cat-Man alongside an Ape-Man and a Bird-Man were among the villains in Hammerhead's supervillain army.[8]

Powers and abilities

Originally, Horgan had no superhuman powers. He was an athletic man with considerable agility and reflexes, and extraordinary acrobatic skills. While employed by the Exterminator, Horgan wielded a "time-displacement ray" ("T-ray") gun that fired a ray which projected its victim into a limbo-like inter-dimensional void. The gun could thus "displace" a victim for a limited period of time, such as 30 minutes. A ray blast of sufficient intensity could exile a victim to the inter-dimensional void permanently. Horgan was later subjected to an unknown mutagenic process administered by Count Nefaria's scientists which temporarily gave him superhuman agility and razor-sharp claws that were actually part of his body.

Patane possessed the same abilities as the first Cat-Man, including cat-like claws on his costume and extraordinary acrobatic skills.

References

  1. ^ Iron Man #10-11
  2. ^ Daredevil #39-41
  3. ^ Marvel Team-Up #25
  4. ^ X-Men #94-95
  5. ^ Iron Man #115-116
  6. ^ Daredevil #157-158
  7. ^ Code of Honor #3
  8. ^ Civil War: War Crimes #1
  • Cat-Man I at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
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