LEAP-FROG

Real Name: Vincent "Vinnie" Patilio

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: former seller of inferior merchandise.
    former professional criminal, toy inventor

Group Membership: None; formerly Hammer's Hammers (Beetle/Abner Jenkins, Blizzard/Donald Gill, Constrictor/Frank Payne, Death-Shield/Timothy Karlskin, Discus/Timothy Stuart, Man-Killer/Katrina van Horne, Melter/Bruno Horgan, Porcupine/Roger Gocking, Spymaster, Stiletto/Thomas Stuart, Taskmaster/Tony Masters, Water Wizard/Peter Van Zante, Whiplash/Mark Scarlotti), Electro's Emissaries of Evil (Electro, Gladiator/Melvin Potter, Matador, Stilt-Man), Defenders imposters

Affiliations: Eden Abraha, Alex Benavides, Roger Hochberg, Frog-Man, Spider-Man
    formerly Beetle (Abner Jenkins, now Mach-3+), Blizzard, Boomerang, Constrictor, Discus, Joe the Gorilla, Joe Face, Justin Hammer, Marina Komarova, Libra (android Zodiac), Man-Killer, Melter, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Pecos, Porcupine, Shocker (Herman Schultz), Spymaster "I", Stiletto, Toad, Water Wizard, Whiplash

Enemies: Arcade, Avengers LMDs, Jessica Jones, Moon Knight LMD, Spider-Man LMDs, Walrus, White Rabbit, Wolverine LMDs;
    formerly Daredevil, Defenders (Nighthawk, Valkyrie), "Defenders for a Day" (Falcon, Jack of Hearts, Prowler, Stingray, Torpedo), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Known Relatives: Rose (wife, deceased), Eugene (son, Frog Man), Marie Patilio Colorito (sister), Gus Colorito (brother-in-law, deceased), unnamed father

Aliases: "Vincent Colorito", Frog-Face, Frogman, Frog-Man, Leap Frog, Leapfrog;
    Froggie (nick-names)

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York;
    Formerly Brooklyn, New York

First Appearance: Daredevil I#25 (February, 1967)

Powers/Abilities: Leap-Frog possesses no superhuman powers, though he is a talented inventor. His costume has electrically-powered coils built into his boots that enable him to leap 60' high or 100' long. The coils are powered by a power pack he wears on his back, and triggered via hidden buttons in his gloves. The boot-springs utilize an opposing-spring action to ratchet the main coils into standby position after every use.
    He later added to the costume a strength-boosting exoskeleton and a computer-guided system for leaping accuracy.

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown, graying at temples

History:
(Daredevil I#25 (fb) - BTS/Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#4: Frog-Man/Marvel Knights Encyclopedia) -
    Vincent invented novelty items for toy companies, but had never created anything popular enough to make him wealthy. Tiring of this, he devised electrically-powered coils that could be used for leaping great distances. Tired of his lack of success, Vincent designed himself a a frog-like costume incorporating the coils.

(Daredevil I#25) - Wearing a handkerchief over the lower half of his face, Vincent tested his coils at an airport as Matt Murdock was disembarking from a plane. Calling himself Leap-Frog, Patilio taunted the police, briefly using Murdock (who couldn't act out of costume) as a hostage when he needed a breather. Convinced that his coils were a success, Vincent donned his costume and embarked on a career of crime. Robbing the first jewelry store he came to, Leap-Frog accidentally set off an alarm, attracting the attention of Daredevil, but his coils enabled him to escape the hero. Leap-Frog later held up the Midtown Branch of the City National Bank, again drawing Daredevil, who confronted him in Central Park, this time subduing the criminal and turning him over to the police.

(Daredevil I#26) - Franklin "Foggy" Nelson served as Patilio's lawyer. During the trial, Patilio claimed to never have seen the Leap-Frog boots before, saying that they wouldn't even fit him. The District Attorney gave him the boots to try on, attempting to prove that they did fit him, and, of course, Leap-Frog put them on and leapt to the escape. However, the D.A. had removed the fasteners that held the boots to his feet, and one of the boots fell off after he leapt out a window. Leap-Frog injured a leg in the fall, landing at the feet of the Stilt-Man, who had planned to break him out and form a partnership. No longer seeing Leap-Frog as a worthy ally, Stilt-Man left him laying in a heap so that he could fight the approaching Daredevil.

(Daredevil Annual I#1) - Leap-Frog was recruited by Electro to serve in his Emissaries of Evil, hoping that the group could succeed in defeating Daredevil where each had failed individually. Leap-Frog staked out Central Park, but was overheard by Murdock, who ambushed him as Daredevil. Leap-Frog led Daredevil to the other Emissaries, but Daredevil stayed a few steps ahead of the unorganized team. Daredevil slipped out from under the Matador's cape and tossed Leap-Frog in his place, and the Matador, thinking it was still Daredevil, beat him senseless. Daredevil eventually overpowered the whole group and left them for the authorities.

(Defenders I#64) - Seeking to correct some perceived imbalance following a defeat by the Defenders, the android/Life Model Decoy Zodiac members Libra and Sagittarius organized a group of villains to pose as Defenders. Rampaging through the New York Stock exchange, the group attracted the attention of Nighthawk, whom they easily overpowered. Nightcrawler summoned the other Defenders (and the "Defenders for a Day") for reinforcements, but the Valkyrie overpowered the lot, taking out both Leap-Frog and the Falcon with a single swat as the two grappled.

(Spider-Man's Tangled Web#12 (fb)/OHotMU 2006#4 - BTS) - After fighting Spider-Man, Patilio became a technician for Justin Hammer.

(Iron Man I#126-127) - Leap-Frog was among the army of super-villains employed as a bodyguard by Justin Hammer. The lot was unleashed against Iron Man aboard Hammer's floating estate. Iron Man flattened Leap-Frog by hurling the Beetle into him.

(OHotMU 2006#4 - BTS) - In prison Vincent learned that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died and his son Eugene was placed into custody of his sister Rosemary.

(Spider-Man's Tangled Web#12/OHotMU 2006#4 - BTS) - Vincent served his time in Evansville Penitentiary, was paroled and went home (he moved into his sister's house), vowing to put his criminal days behind him. His son, Eugene, put up with a lot of ribbing due to his father's comical career, and Spider-Man stopped by to make sure Vincent was staying out of trouble. Vincent got a job at Bargain Bob's Used Cars, dressed as "Frog-Face," and allowing Bargain Bob to beat him with a baseball bat; after receiving a knee injury in the first commercial, he was promised that for the next time they'd get a stuntman to take the beating. When Eugene put on one of his second generation costumes and tried to earn some respect for his father's name, he received a beat down from some other high school kids. Vincent disabled his "house arrest" anklet and came to Eugene's rescue, and he and Eugene were brought closer as a result. However, when Eugene's adventure made the news, it was Vincent's turn to take the abuse from his peers.

(OHotMU 2006 - BTS/Marvel Team-Up I#121 (fb) - BTS) - Vincent moved to Manhattan and got a job working on the East Side of Manhattan selling inferior merchandise, and his money problems, past failures, and loneliness drove him deeper and deeper into depression.

(Marvel Team-Up I#121) - Vincent went on a tirade after seeing Spider-Man and the Human Torch in action. When Eugene tried to comfort him, Vincent lashed out, slapping his son across the face. Desperate to help his father regain his self-respect, Eugene donned one of his father's original-style costumes and ended up accidentally defeating the Speed Demon. Eugene took the name Frog-Man, earning his father's reluctant approval.

(Marvel Team-Up I#131 (fb) - BTS) - Not wanting his son to follow his path to failure or to risk death, Vincent made Eugene promise not to wear the costume again.

(Marvel Team-Up I#131) - Vincent was furious after catching Eugene changing out of his costume, though he calmed down and apologized, blaming the pressure of his dead end job and the bills that kept piling up. Nonetheless, he refused to allow Eugene to take a part time job, insisting that he focus on his grades so that he could got to college and make something out of himself.
    Vincent was contacted by Joe Face, a contact from his criminal days, and offered the chance to work for the criminal White Rabbit. Vincent contacted the police, wore a wire for them, and infiltrated the White Rabbit's gang. He helped to stop the White Rabbit with the aid of Spider-Man, the Frog-Man, and Roger Hochberg, splitting the sizeable reward for her capture with Hochberg. This considerably eased the stress Vincent was under.

(OHotMU 2006#4 - BTS) - Vincent moved with his son back into his sister's house in Brooklyn.

(Marvel Fanfare I#31 (fb) - BTS) - Vincent threw the costume out in an effort to force Eugene to retire, but Eugene fished the costume out of the garbage.

(Marvel Fanfare I#31) - Though upset upon learning that Eugene was still acting as the Frog-Man, Vincent dropped the subject after learning that Eugene had stumbled across a larger plot, intending to inform the police about it. Instead, Eugene investigated the plot and was captured by the Yellow Claw.

(Marvel Fanfare I#32) - Vincent contacted Spider-Man for aid after Eugene went missing, and Spider-Man recruited the Angel, Beast, and Iceman to help rescue him. Vincent told Eugene he was proud of him for helping to foil the Yellow Claw's nefarious plot.

(Venom: Lethal Protector II#5 (fb) - BTS) - Numerous powered criminals joined Justin Hammer's army after reading a flyer at the Bar With No Name to conquer a Carribean island for Hammer.

(Venom: Lethal Protector II#5 (fb)) - Leap-Frog joined a group called Hammer's Hammers in defending Justin Hammer on a remote Caribbean island. The team fought Venom, who swiftly defeated them.

 

 

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#185) - After Frog-Man invited Spider-Man to dinner, after which they saw a news bulletin in which the White Rabbit had teamed up with the Walrus and were creating mayhem which would not stop until the Frog-Man surrendered to her. After Spider-Man went after the two, Vincent ordered Eugene to stay at home while he donned his revamped costume and joined Spider-Man. However, Eugene, too donned his costume and joined the struggle, and the trio managed to put the kibosh on the criminals. Vincent announced himself as the new and improved Frog-Man.

(Marvel Year-in-Review 1992) - Renewing old acquaintances, Leap-Frog attended the Springdale branch of the Bar with no Name, sharing a table with the Stilt-Man. When the Matador was heckled as Daredevil's most ludicrous adversary by the Jester, both he and the Stilt-Man felt that the Jester must not have seen them.

(Daredevil II#16 (fb)/OHotMU 2006#4 - BTS) - A criminal named Lange stumbled upon an abondoned Leap-Frog costume and fought Daredevil, only to be electrocuted by his own autistic son, Timmy, who didn't want to see his hero, Daredevil, hurt. Lange fell into a garbage truck on the streets below and was not seen again.

SECRET WARS III HAPPEND

(Jessica Jones I#4) – At the police station, Leap-Frog sought to escape from police after an arrest, claiming he was innocent, but Jessica Jones took him down.

(Murderworld: Wolverine#1 (fb) - BTS) - Vincent did hard time in many super prisons over the years, including the Raft, Ryker's Island, and others, and he learned many hard survival skills.

(Murderworld: Wolverine#1 (fb)) - Vincent met Thumper Morgan in jail, a man who had had his hands severed in a fight with Wolverine. Thumper warned him how crazy Wolverine was.

(Murderworld: Wolverine#1 (fb)) - At some point, Vincent got a double-life sentence on a three-strikes-your-out problem. After time, he was taken out of prison and given a chance to fight against the odds for freedom in Murderworld.

(Murderworld: Avengers#1) - Vincent entered Murderworld with 199 other contestants. He made it through the first course, where he had to grab a survival bag hoping he didn't get one that would explode. In the second course, he made it through an obstacle course where they were attacked by deadly LMDs of the Avengers.

(Murderworld: Spider-Man#1) - In the next trap, the group was attacked by LMDs of Spider-Man, and Vincent destroyed one by using an exploding survival bag from the first round. After they climbed a snowy mountain, the survivors split into two groups. Vincent entered a room, meeting Eden Abraha personally and the two became allies. The groups were split and up given the chance to rest, then Arcade announced there were 61 remaining contestants, plus among them were trained assassins.

(Murderworld: Wolverine#1) - When the lights went out, Vincent immediately began fighting in the dark to protect himself from the assassins, not realizing that Arcade had lied about them. Then a group of Wolverine LMDs attacked and began slaughtering, and Eden was wounded, but Vincent and Alex got her to safety. The contestants then had to keep their heart rate down within two minutes while others were shot around them. Only 9 survived, and Arcade immediately put them into a new game. Vincent recognized how to identify the boundaries of the altered reality, and proposed to Alex, Eden, and Marina that the four of them work together to win, ensuring that Eden got medical treatment before he activated the edge of the augmented reality, allowing the group to step outside it.

(Murderworld: Moon Knight#1) - Now in the maintenance tunnels of Murderworld, Vincent made sure Maria Komarova knew his name, as he could tell she was a killer. They tracked down Arcade within and attacked, but it turned out to be an exploding robot, then a Moon Knight LMD was sent to kill the final four. After it defeated Eden, the Moon Knight LMD impaled Vincent as he leapt to a new building environment, seemingly killing him.

Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee, Gene "The Dean" Colan, and Frank Giacoia.

The Tangled Web story made little effort to follow established continuity, and so events have to be "bent" slightly in order to make everything mesh together. It's not clear exactly when its flashbacks occured, but as there's no mention of Rose, so I'm presuming the story occurred after her death.

Dissed as a bumbler by the Stilt-Man...you don't get much lower than that!
    Oh wait, yes you can: Getting your @$$ kicked by the Matador!

A Leapfrog is BTS in Wolverine III#26-28. He was one of the resurrected Hand pawns in the Wolverine: Agent of SHIELD storyline and got killed by Mr. Howlett. It is possible that this Leap-Frog was Vince. I honestly hope it wasn't!

The Hand Leapfrog turned out to be Lange!--Markus Raymond

In his entry in OHotMU 2006#4 many things were explained and revealed about Vincent's history.

I am not sure who this Leap-Frog is supposed to be (in the Jessica Jones comic appearance). Buford Lange was last seen killed and Vince is retired. Eugene is still the heroic Frog-Man. -Markus Raymond
There was no evidence one way or another. I'd speculate that it was perhaps Vince, and that he was indeed innocent...maybe trying to help out a friend in need or something...

Leap-Frog has 2 Timely Comics prototypes:
Bullfrog in Captain America Comics#61 (March, 1947) 2nd story has a frog costume & springs
Springer in Blonde Phantom#20 (November, 1948) Blonde Phantom 2nd story looks like Leap-Frog in his first pre-frog costume appearance in Daredevil I#25
--Gammatotem

Profile by Snood, with some updates by Chadman.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Vincent should be differentiated from

images:
Daredevil I#25, p9, pan3 (main)
Daredevil I#25, p1 (test run)
Spider-Man's Tangled Web#12, p2, pan1 (vs Spider-Man)
Marvel Team-Up I#131, p9, pan6 (head shot)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#185, Cover (father & son with Spider-Man)

Appearances:
Daredevil I#25 (February, 1967) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks)
Daredevil I#26 (March, 1967) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (artist)
Daredevil Annual I#1 (September, 1967) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (pencils), John Tartaglione (inks)
Defenders I#64 (October, 1978) - David Kraft (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Don Perlin (inks), Bob Hall (editor)
Iron Man I#126-127 (September, October 1979) - David Michelinie & Bob Layton (writers), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
Marvel Team-Up I#121 (September, 1982) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Kerry Gammill (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Marvel Team-Up I#131 (July, 1983) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Kerry Gammill (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Marvel Fanfare I#31-32 (March-May, 1987) - Kerry Gammill & J.M. DeMatteis (writers), Kerry Gammill (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#185 (February, 1992) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Sal Buscema (artist), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Daredevil II#16 (2001) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), David Mack (pencils), Mark Morales & David Mack (inks), Nanci Dakesian & Stuart Moore (editors)
Spider-Man's Tangled Web#12 (May, 2002) - Zeb Wells (writer), Duncan Fegredo (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
Jessica Jones I#4 (March, 2018) – Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Michael Gaydos (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Venom: Lethal Protector II#5 (July, 2022) - David Michelinie (writer), Ivan Fiorelli (artist), Devin Lewis (editor)
Murderworld: Avengers#1 (January, 2023) - Jim Zub (writer), Jethro Morales (artist), Anita Okoye (editor)
Murderworld: Spider-Man#1 (February, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes (writers), Farid Karami (artist), Anita Okoye (editor)
Murderworld: Wolverine#1 (March, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes (writers), Carlos Nieto (artist), Anita Okoye (editor)
Murderworld: Moon Knight#1 (April, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes (writers), Luca Pizzari (artist), Anita Okoye (editor)

First Posted: 08/21/2004
Last updated: 06/08/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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