FROG-MAN
Real Name: Francois LeBlanc
Identity/Class: Human mutate; formerly human technology user
Occupation: Criminal; formerly Navy frog-man
Group Membership: Ani-Men (Ape-Man/Gordon "Monk" Keefer, Bird-Man/Henry Hawk, Cat-Man/Townshend Horgan, Dragonfly/Veronica Dultry); Organization (Ape-Man/Gordon Keefer, Bird-Man/Henry Hawk, Cat-Man/Townshend Horgan, Organizer/Abner Jones)
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: Chuck, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Debbie Harris, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, 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: Frog LeBlanc, Croaker
Base of Operations: New York City, New York
First Appearance: Daredevil I#10 (December, 1965)
Powers/Abilities: After his mutation into an frog-like being by the Maggia, Frog-Man possessed reptilian skin, enhanced strength, and powerful jumping legs. Previously, Frog-Man wore a suit that allowed him to maneuver underwater and make large jumps. LeBlanc was previously a trained Navy frog-man.
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Bald
History:
(Daredevil I#10 (fb) - BTS) - An
ex-Navy frog-man, Francois LeBlanc was discharged from the Navy for
unspecified criminal actions and he went into hiding.
(Daredevil I#10) - LeBlanc heard news that Monk Keefer had escaped from prison just before the criminal Organizer appeared on his television, demanding that LeBlanc meet him, otherwise LeBlanc's location would be revealed to the authorities. LeBlanc attended the meeting next to Cat-Man, Keefer, and Henry Hawk. Organizer explained his plot to take over local government, using these four as costumed criminals that could keep all proceeds from their crimes. They were suited as Frog-Man (with an underwater suit), Ape-Man, and Bird-Man. Frog-Man was sent to cut all the city's power and communication lines from the sewers, which he did successfully. That night, at the Organizer's orders, Frog-Man fired a spear at a yacht, where Abner Jonas was aboard; but his shot was knocked awry by Daredevil, who leapt in the water after Frog-Man. Frog-Man tried calling for help, but Organizer didn't answer, so Frog-Man dropped a concussion grenade in the water and narrowly escaped with his life. When Daredevil foiled one of the 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 pretended that there was a victim inside, which 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 captured. Organizer sent Ape-Man to silence Cat-Man at the police station.
(Daredevil I#11) - When Daredevil attacked, Ape-Man, Frog-Man, and Bird-Man left Debbie tied up and fled. Organizer heard claims that Nelson was keeping damaging information about the Organization in his personal safe, so he sent his three operatives to investigate. Later, the Organizer sent Frog-Man to place a bomb by the current mayor's mansion; Debbie Harris, who refused to have any part in the assassination plot, warned Daredevil, who rushed to the scene and confronted Frog-Man. Daredevil quickly defeated Frog-Man in battle, then donned Frog-Man's costume; he then dressed LeBlanc in his Daredevil costume and left him tied up for the police. The Organizer was soon exposed and 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. Stanchek, 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 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 (see comments).
Comments: Created by Wally Wood and Bob Powell.
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
Frog-Man received an entry in OHOTMU: Master Edition.
New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Frog-Man (Francois LeBlanc) has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#10, p9, pan1 (main image - Frog-Man underwater)
Daredevil I#10, p4, pan2 (Francois LeBlanc, contacted by Organizer)
X-Men I#94, p10, pan5 (mutated Frog-Man invades Valhalla Base)
Iron Man I#116, p3, pan2 (Frog-Man leaps to evade gunfire)
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)
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.
Non-Marvel
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