ANI-MEN

Membership: Ape-Man (Gordon "Monk" Keefer), Bird-Man (Henry Hawk), Cat-Man (Townshend Horgan), Dragonfly (Veronica Dultry), Frog-Man (Francois "Frog" LeBlanc);
(with Organization) Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man;
(as Unholy Three) Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man

Purpose: Profit (Criminal team for hire)

Affiliations: Count Nefaria, Madame Masque (Whitney Frost), Organizer (Abner Jonas), Dr. Hellen Rachelson, Dr. Archibald Stancheck, Kenneth Sturdy;
formerly Debbie Harris

Enemies: Gail Callan, Chuck, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Death-Stalker/Exterminator (Philip Sterling), Bernard Harris, Debbie Harris, Joe Harris, Herbert, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spymaster, X-Men (Banshee/Sean Cassidy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Thunderbird/John Proudstar, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett)

Aliases: Organization, Unholy Three

Base of Operations: New York City, New York

First Appearance: Daredevil I#10 (October, 1965)

History:
(Daredevil I#10 (fb) - BTS) - Abner Jonas desired to obtain as much political power as possible and to take over the local government. He was nominated as the Reform Party's candidate for mayor of New York City, and he put together a complex plot that would give him complete control of the Reform Party. He developed a costumed identity as the Organizer and selected four henchmen who could serve him, creating criminal identities for each of them. He secured a secret ally in Debbie Harris, daughter of Bernard Harris, the political candidate for borough president.

(Daredevil I#10) - Jonas sent the first recruit, Cat-Man, to liberate Monk Keefer from prison, then contacted Frog LeBlanc and Henry Hawk. The three met up with Organizer and Cat-Man and were equipped as Ape-Man, Frog-Man, and Bird-Man respectively; they were told that they could keep all their proceeds from crime as long as they served the Organizer. Frog-Man fired a spear at Jonas during a Reform Party event and narrowly escaped the attacking Daredevil. Organizer was concerned, but determined that if Daredevil continued to be a problem, they would make him their top priority. He then ordered Bird-Man to rob the Reform Party's campaign funds, but Daredevil foiled the plan, so Organizer set up a plot to trap the hero. Cat-Man and Frog-Man robbed a bank in their civilian identities, and by pretending there was a victim trapped inside the bank's vault, they convinced Daredevil to open the vault for them. They got away with the cash and Daredevil was implicated. Favor toward the Reform Party continued growing, so Organizer decided to tighten control over the Party's members. Bird-Man and Cat-Man went to kidnap Debbie Harris to turn favor to their side, but Cat-Man was captured. Organizer sent Ape-Man to silence Cat-Man, but Daredevil fought off Ape-Man and followed him to the Organization's headquarters; however, Bird-Man spotted Daredevil hiding on the ledge.

(Daredevil I#11) - Daredevil successfully "rescued" Debbie, who turned her attentions back to Franklin "Foggy" Nelson. Organizer heard claims that Murdock and Nelson were keeping damaging information about the Organizer's true identity in their personal safe, so he sent his three remaining operatives to investigate. Debbie refused to take part in the Organizer's scheme to assassinate the mayor, infuriating him; she aided Daredevil in apprehending Frog-Man, with whom Daredevil switched costumes. Daredevil then had Frog-Man arrested in his Daredevil costume, leading Organizer to believe that the hero had been vanquished. Daredevil, in Frog-Man's costume, then returned to the headquarters. The Organizer prepared to go ahead and assassinate the mayor before realizing "Frog-Man" was an imposter and was broadcasting his words to the public over the television. Organizer tripped a trapdoor for the disguised hero to fall through, while he escaped with Bird-Man and Ape-Man through a prepared escape route. Jonas later attended a press conference with Nelson and Harris to resign from the Reform Party, and Jonas publicly accused Milton Monroe of being the Organizer. He then had Ape-Man and Bird-Man publicly kidnap him to throw suspicion off himself, but Daredevil stopped them and exposed Jonas, and Debbie's testimony helped convict him.

(Daredevil I#39 (fb) - BTS) - Cat-Man, Bird-Man, and Ape-Man escaped from prison and reunited as the Unholy Three. They were recruited by the Exterminator and started on a crime spree.

(Daredevil I#39) - While the Unholy Three committed a robbery, Daredevil attacked the trio, managing to repel them and deliver several blows while only being hit a few times himself. Cat-Man managed to kick Daredevil through a plate glass window, and the Unholy Three fled. The Exterminator was furious with the three of them for their failure. He then demonstrated his dangerous T-Ray gun, which would knock its victims temporarily out of the timestream. He demonstrated the gun on Ape-Man, who disappeared for a half-hour. The Exterminator then sent them to use the device on Debbie Harris, in order for the Unholy Three to get their revenge and for Exterminator to have clout against potential district attorney Nelson. They used the device on the doorman and a patron as well as Harris, sending the crowd running for it.

(Daredevil I#40) - The trio continued their crime spree, using the T-Ray to vanquish a bank guard and to even open the vault. Daredevil attacked again, getting the best of the villains while taking a few shots of his own, until Ape-Man managed to hit the hero with the T-Ray. The villains triumphantly departed with their money. They fired upon Chuck, a pursuing policeman, with another discharge of the ray.

(Daredevil I#41) - Foggy Nelson initiated a smear campaign against the Unholy Three, so they hunted him down. Though Nelson tried to stand against the trio, they easily captured him and returned him to the Exterminator. The Exterminator planned to use the maximum setting on Nelson, but Daredevil attacked yet again and swiftly defeated the Three with powerful blows. The Exterminator's equipment exploded, but both Daredevil and Nelson survived.

(Marvel Team-Up I#25 (fb) - BTS) - The Unholy Three started high-profile kidnappings, ransoming their captives for large amounts of money.

(Marvel Team-Up I#25 (fb)) - Bird-Man swooped down on Gail Callan, daughter of a wealthy industrialist, kidnapping her from her bodyguards. The Unholy Three demanded that Callan's blind attorney, Matt Murdock, deliver the ransom money to Cat-Man in an alley, and Cat-Man soon collected.

(Marvel Team-Up I#25) - While walking with the ransom money, Cat-Man was attacked by Spider-Man. After managing to evade several blows, though the money was webbed to the ground, Cat-Man was shocked when Daredevil attacked Spider-Man, not knowing the hero was secretly Murdock himself. Cat-Man could not pry the money loose, so he made a run for it to their hideout in Coney Island; Ape-Man and Bird-Man were furious that the money was gone. Ape-Man threatened Gail, who was tied to a chair, but didn't plan on harming her. When Daredevil and Spider-Man attacked, Bird-Man swore to kill Gail. Daredevil kicked Cat-Man while Spider-Man saved Gail and put up a web wall, which Ape-Man tore through. Daredevil traded blows with Cat-Man and Ape-Man, who soon went running for it, while Bird-Man went after Gail. Spider-Man managed to rip Bird-Man's wings from him, then webbed him to a lamppost. Cat-Man fled into the House of Horror, where he figured his infra-red lenses would give him the advantage, but Daredevil easily knocked him out and left him unconscious in a giant spider web prop. Ape-Man grabbed Gail and threatened to throw her off the top of the roller coaster, but the heroes started the cars and saved Gail while Ape-Man went crashing to the ground. The Unholy Three were soon arrested.

(X-Men I#94 (fb) - BTS) - Using his Maggia connections, Count Nefaria had Ape-Man (who began calling himself Gort), Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man, and new ally Dragonfly mutated by Professor Sturdy, Dr. Stancheck, and Dr. Rachelson  to become more animal-like. Calling them his Ani-Men, Nefaria put together a plot to blackmail the world.

(X-Men I#94) - The Ani-Men were transported into NORAD's Rocky Mountain Valhalla Base when Joe Harris inadvertently activated the teleporting technology. They defeated the soldiers in the room before Count Nefaria joined them and flooded the rest of the military installation with anesthetic gas. Nefaria then released a media message, demanding a ransom from every country in the world, otherwise he would launch nuclear missiles at them. Dragonfly soon notified Nefaria that the X-Men's aircraft was approaching, and Nefaria was thrilled to get revenge on his old foes, launching missiles at them; when the mutant heroes evaded the missiles, he used a sonic disruptor on them, destroying their aircraft.

(X-Men I#95) - But the X-Men (Banshee, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Thunderbird, Wolverine) survived, and Nightcrawler teleported into Valhalla Base, where Frog-Man kicked him. Frog-Man chased Nightcrawler around the tunnel, incensed at being called a mutant, until the hero knocked him unconscious with a punch. Nefaria was furious at Frog-Man, but left him to his fate as he prepared to deal with the rest of the mutants. Nefaria tried gassing the X-Men, then had Dragonfly hypnotize a group of soldiers to go after the heroes, who easily persevered. The Ani-Men, with a revived Frog-Man, then attacked. Ape-Man jumped on Thunderbird and tossed him into Banshee. Cyclops fired on an evading Bird-Man. Nightcrawler jumped at Frog-Man. Colossus punched Ape-Man. Storm launched lightning at an evading Dragonfly. Cat-Man leapt on Wolverine, who fell back until Colossus knocked Cat-Man out with a punch. As Frog-Man leapt over Nightcrawler, Cyclops hit him with an optic blast; Bird-Man picked up Cyclops until Nightcrawler knocked him out of the air. Storm zapped Ape-Man with lightning, but it took combined punches from Wolverine and Nightcrawler to down him. Dragonfly tried hypnotizing Cyclops, but his visor opened and his optic blast downed her. The X-Men soon defeated Nefaria, though Thunderbird was killed in the battle.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#16: Ani-Men) - At some point after the NORAD missile adventure, the Ani-Men (with the exception of Dragonfly) reverted to normal human form.

(Iron Man I#115 (fb) - BTS) - When Count Nefaria was prematurely aged to an elderly man, he had his daughter, Madame Masque, recruit the four Ani-Men. They were tasked to capture Tony Stark, who would be ordered to help de-age Nefaria back to normal.




(Iron Man I#115) - The Ani-Men waited at Stark's penthouse until he returned. Ape-Man knocked him backward into Frog-Man, who kicked him into Bird-Man, then Cat-Man knocked him back with a punch. When Stark rushed for his briefcase, Frog-Man kicked him back again, but Stark knocked Cat-Man out with a punch. Madame Masque and the elderly Count Nefaria then revealed themselves.

(Iron Man I#116) - The Ani-Men continued beating up on Stark while Nefaria and Masque watched. After Ape-Man struck Stark, Stark ducked under Cat-Man's leap and grabbed a gun from a secret wall compartment. Stark fired several stray shots until Frog-Man knocked him out. When Stark awoke, he was tossed by Ape-Man near his briefcase, so Stark opened it and quickly donned his Iron Man armor contained in the case, shocking the Ani-Men. Iron Man swiftly defeated Frog-Man, knocking him into Cat-Man and through the wall. When Bird-Man tried to fly away, Iron Man quickly grounded him. Ape-Man then launched himself at Iron Man, who knocked him back. Then an unexpected explosion set by the Spymaster killed all four Ani-Men.

(Daredevil I#158 (fb)) - Death-Stalker stopped by the morgue to examine the corpses of the deceased Ani-Men (see comments).

Comments: Created by Wally Wood and Bob Powell.

This team of villains switched its name three times, from the Organization (working for Organizer) to the Unholy Three, to the Ani-Men.

Thanks to Per Degaton for the addition from their Deluxe Edition entry.

When Death-Stalker viewed the bodies of the Ani-Men, only three corpses were shown--since he was unfamiliar with Frog-Man, who wasn't a member of the Unholy Three, he probably just neglected to open that morgue drawer...or maybe he saw no need for another Frog-Man in his scheme...or maybe the original Frog-Man survived that explosion and is still alive.--Ron Fredricks

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Chadman.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Unholy Three/Ani-Men/Organization have no known connections to:

Chuck

(Daredevil I#40) - A policeman, Chuck pursued the Unholy Three after they robbed a bank, but they hit him with the T-Ray, temporarily displacing him in time.

Presumably, he returned after the effects of the T-Ray wore off.

--Daredevil I#40

Herbert

(Daredevil I#41) - Herbert and his unidentified female companion witnessed Foggy Nelson get kidnapped by the Unholy Three, but Herbert was reluctant to get involved.

--Daredevil I#41

images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#10, p1, pan1 (Organization)
Daredevil I#10, p5, pan3 (headshots - Organization)
Daredevil I#39, p9, pan1 (Unholy Three)
X-Men I#94, p10, pan5 (mutated Ani-Men, with Dragonfly, invade Valhalla Base)
Iron Man I#115, p14, pan3 (Ani-Men in Tony Stark's penthouse)
Iron Man I#116, p1, pan1 (Ani-Men, attacking Tony Stark)
Daredevil I#158, p8, pan1 (in flashback, Death-Stalker views bodies of three Ani-Men)
Daredevil I#40, p15, pan2 (Chuck fires at Unholy Three)
Daredevil I#40, p15, pan4 (Chuck vanishes after being hit by T-Ray)
Daredevil I#41, p8, pan1 (Herbert and female companion)

Appearances:
Daredevil I#10 (October, 1965) - Wally Wood (writer/inker), Bob Powell (penciler), Stan Lee (editor)
Daredevil I#11 (December, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Bob Powell (penciler), Wally Wood (inker)
Daredevil I#39 (April, 1968) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (penciler), Artie Simek (inker)
Daredevil I#40-41 (May-June, 1968) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (penciler), John Tartaglione (inker)
Marvel Team-Up I#25 (September, 1974) - Len Wein (writer), Jim Mooney (penciler), Frank Giacoia (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
X-Men I#94 (August, 1975) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Bob McLeod (inker), Len Wein (editor)
X-Men I#95 (October, 1975) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Sam Grainger (inker), Len Wein (editor)
Iron Man I#115 (October, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), John Romita Jr. (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Roger Stern (editor)
Iron Man I#116 (November, 1978) - Dave Michelinie (writer), John Romita Jr. (penciler), Bob Layton (inker), Roger Stern (editor)
Daredevil I#158 (May, 1979) - Roger Mackenzie (writer), Frank Miller (penciler), Klaus Janson (inker), Allen Milgrom (editor)

First Posted: 02/26/2009
Last updated: 09/29/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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