(Daredevil I#10) - Milt was working as a guard stationed in a watchtower when Cat-Man dropped a "blackout bomb" on the prison, which knocked out all lights and communication in the facility.
--Daredevil I#10
CAT-MAN
Real Name: Townshend Horgan
Identity/Class: Human mutate; formerly human technology user
Occupation: Criminal
Group Membership: Ani-Men (Ape-Man/Gordon "Monk" Keefer, Bird-Man/Henry Hawk, Dragonfly/Veronica Dultry, Frog-Man/Francois LeBlanc); Organization (Ape-Man/Gordon Keefer, Bird-Man/Henry Hawk, Frog-Man/Francois LeBlanc, Organizer/Abner Jones); Unholy Three (Ape-Man/Gordon Keefer, Bird-Man/Henry Hawk)
Affiliations: Count
Nefaria, Dr.
Archibald Stancheck, Exterminator (Philip Sterling),
Madame Masque (Whitney Frost), Organizer (Abner Jonas), Dr.
Hellen Rachelson, Kenneth
Sturdy;
formerly Debbie
Harris
Enemies: Gail Callan, Chuck, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Debbie Harris, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Milt, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), X-Men (Banshee/Sean Cassidy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Thunderbird/John Proudstar, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Catman
Base of Operations: New York City, New York
First Appearance: Daredevil I#10 (December, 1965)
Powers/Abilities: After his mutation into an cat-like being by the Maggia, Cat-Man possessed claws, enhanced strength, and enhanced agility. Previously, Cat-Man wore a suit that granted him claws, infra-red vision, and enhanced strength. While working for the Exterminator, Cat-Man wore antennae that allowed him to communicate with his teammates, and wielded a T-ray (time displacement ray) that would temporarily transport its victims to a limbo-like void.
Height: 6'
Weight: 190 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Red
History:
(Daredevil I#10 (fb) - BTS) - The
Organizer sought to form the Organization, a cabal of criminals he could
use to control the city government. He designed four costumes for
specially selected criminals--one of his operatives became Cat-Man, who
had infra-red vision.
(Daredevil I#10) - At Organizer's orders, Cat-Man rode in a helicopter at night to a local prison and dropped a "blackout bomb," which knocked out all lights and communication in the facility, startling the guards, including Milt. Cat-Man put the copter on autopilot, and using his infra-red vision, he jumped down in the ensuing darkness and knocked out the guards as he passed. He soon found Monk Keefer, who'd been contacted prior and was waiting for him. Cat-Man and Keefer then took the helicopter back to the Organization's headquarters, where they met up with Frog LeBlanc and Henry Hawk. The Organizer hired them to serve as costumed criminals and dressed them as Ape-Man, Frog-Man, and Bird-Man. Cat-Man was soon sent to rob the city's treasury, which he did successfully. Frog-Man was attacked by Daredevil during a mission and the Organizer was concerned. When Daredevil foiled one of Bird-Man's missions, the Organizer determined that they would eliminate Daredevil now and put another plan in place. Cat-Man and Frog-Man robbed a bank in their civilian identities, and by pretending there was a victim inside, convinced Daredevil to open the vault for them. They got away with the cash and Daredevil was implicated. Cat-Man and Bird-Man were sent to kidnap Debbie Harris, who was secretly an accomplice of the Organizer, and Cat-Man was apprehended by Daredevil. The police identified the unmasked Cat-Man as Horgan and tried coercing him into revealing information, but he knew little worth sharing. Soon Ape-Man attacked, sent by Organizer to silence Cat-Man, but Daredevil interrupted and fought off Ape-Man.
(Daredevil I#11) - His loyalty to Organizer dissolved, Cat-Man told the police everything he knew about the Organization's plots.
(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 temporarily knock its victims out of the timestream. He demonstrated the gun on Ape-Man, who disappeared for a half-hour. After Ape-Man returned, 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 Franklin "Foggy" 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 even to open the vault. Daredevil attacked again, getting the best of the villains while taking 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 also hit pursuing policeman Chuck with another shot from 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 them, 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 and 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) - 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. While walking with the ransom money, Cat-Man was attacked by Spider-Man--although Cat-Man managed to evade several blows, the money was webbed to the ground; but 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 back to their hideout on Coney Island, and Ape-Man and Bird-Man were furious to learn 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.
(Classic X-Men#3) - Cat-Man expressed concern that Nefaria was going to allow nuclear destruction.
(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 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 (formerly the Exterminator) stopped by the morgue to examine the corpses of the deceased Ani-Men.
Comments: Created by Wally Wood and Bob Powell.
Cat-Man received an entry in OHOTMU: Master Edition.
New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Cat-Man (Townshend Horgan) has no known connections to:
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|
(Daredevil I#10) - Milt was working as a guard stationed in a watchtower when Cat-Man dropped a "blackout bomb" on the prison, which knocked out all lights and communication in the facility. --Daredevil I#10 |
images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#10, cover (main image - Cat-Man)
Daredevil I#10, p18, pan6 (Townshend Horgan being interrogated by police)
X-Men I#95, p11, pan3 (mutated Cat-Man attacks Wolverine)
Iron Man I#116, p2, pan2 (Cat-Man attacks Tony Stark)
Daredevil I#10, p2, pan3 (Milt in watchtower sees blackout bomb)
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: 09/02/2021
Last updated: 07/31/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
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