CATMAN
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Normal human (World War II era)
Occupation: Patient at a mental institution
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Dr. Kale, used as a pawn by Dr. Francis
Enemies: Human Torch, Toro, Dr. Francis
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Kindly Hand Hospital in an unrevealed US city
First Appearance: Captain America Comics#60/4 (January, 1947)
Powers/Abilities: The Catman had no inherent superhuman powers. He was deranged and believed himself to be a cat and showed a below average level of intelligence, being only able to say a few minor words. As the Catman, he showed great athletic abilities and was quite a savage fighter. He was also very skilled in quietly stalking his prey and was overly eager in killing his targets. His costume had razor sharp claws on each finger, as well as being bulletproof and flame resistant. The Catman was not able to swim, which proved his downfall.
History:
(Captain America Comics#60/4 (fb) - BTS) – A man believed himself to be a cat and was placed within a mental institution to be treated as a patient. Unable to get proper help, the Catman was admitted into the Kindly Hand charity hospital and placed in the care of Dr. Kale and Dr. Francis. His condition steadily worsened and he was forcibly chained up in order to protect others from his now murderous impulses. Progressing slowly, he befriended Dr. Kale, believing him to be his master. However, Dr. Francis murdered his associate Dr. Kale, and used a disguise to assume his identity. The charity hospital did not profit from his abilities and Dr. Francis set out to convince his patients to sign over their life insurance policies with him as the beneficiary.
(Captain America Comics#60/4) - Dr. Francis sent the murderous Catman into the heart of the city at night to hunt those patients down in order to get their insurance money. The Catman began prowling the city streets at night and after successfully murdering five surprised victims, he returned to the hospital and was placed into a restraint. The local police were baffled by the attack as it looked like the victims were slashed to death by a cat. This piqued the Human Torch’s curiosity and he began to investigate the case alongside his partner, Toro. The next night, the Catman was once again let loose and began his murderous mission for Dr. Kale (Dr. Francis) but was discovered by the Human Torch and Toro, who drive him off.
The Catman, once again in restraints inside the hospital alongside the disguised Dr. Francis, discussed the next night’s upcoming activities but were discovered by the Human Torch and Toro. The Catman snapped his chains and tossed a large crate at the two flaming heroes as Dr. Francis made his escape. The Human Torch and Toro quickly followed after him and learnt that Dr. Francis had been impersonating Dr. Kale and this fact forced the villain to threaten to blow up the hospital using a bomb. The Catman arrived on the scene and went berserk, fearing that the blast would kill his master, Dr. Kale, and he jumped on him, knocking both out a window and into the harbor below. Dr. Francis survived the fall but the Catman, who did not know how to swim, quickly drowned. His body was soon recovered by the local harbor patrol where he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Comments: Created by unknown writer and Syd Shores (?) (art).
There could be a link between Cat-Man and Miss Fury---perhaps their costumes come from the same source. Isn't Miss Fury's costume supposed to bring her bad luck? Perhaps Cat-Man had his costume longer and its bad luck drove him insane.
--Gammatotem
Profile by AvatarWarlord72.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Catman has no known connections to:
Dr. Francis was a practicing physician at the Kindly Hands Hospital, a charity clinic and dormitory for the mentally ill. Growing despondent that he was not going to earn a decent living, he murdered his associate, Dr. Kale, and assumed his identity. Using Dr. Kale’s identity, he then proceeded to convince his patients to sign him over as the beneficiary of their insurance polices and then conned the insane Catman to hunt them down and murder them. His plans were foiled by the arrival of the Human Torch and Toro, who discovered his ruse. Threatening to blow up the hospital with a bomb, the Catman leaped on Dr. Francis fearing the life of his master, Dr. Kale, and the two of them tumbled out a window and into a harbor below. The Catman drowned and Dr. Francis was taken away by the police who fished them both out of the water.
--Captain America Comics#60/4
images:
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Captain America Comics#60/4, p30, pan1 (Catman)
Other Appearances: None
Last updated: 11/01/07
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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