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Ani-Men

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Ani-Men
Uncanny95.jpg
The cover to X-Men #95, featuring the original Ani-Men fighting the X-Men. Art by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceDaredevil #10 (October, 1965)
Created byWally Wood
Bob Powell
In-story information
Member(s)Ape-Man
Bird-Man
Cat-Man
Dragonfly
Frog-Man

The Ani-Men is the name of several fictional teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Four of them are villain groups, while one of them was introduced as a team of agents serving the High Evolutionary.

Publication history

The first Ani-Men debuted in Daredevil #10 (October, 1965) and were created by Wally Wood (writer, co-artist) and Bob Powell (co-artist).[1]

The second Ani-Men debuted in Daredevil #157 (March, 1979) and were created by Roger McKenzie (co-writer), Mary Jo Duffy (co-writer), Gene Colan (artist), and Klaus Janson (inker).

The third Ani-Men debuted in Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1 (November, 1995) and were created by Glenn Herdling (writer), Todd Smith (artist), and John Nyberg (inker).

The fourth Ani-Men debuted in Code of Honor #3 (April, 1997) and were created by Chuck Dixon (writer), Bob Wakelin (co-artist), and Dærick Gröss, Sr. (co-artist).

The fifth Ani-Men debuted in GLA #1 (June, 2005) and were created by Dan Slott (writer) and Paul Pelletier (artist).

Discover more about Publication history related topics

Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)

Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)

Daredevil is the name of several comic book titles featuring the character Daredevil and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original Daredevil comic book series which debuted in 1964.

Wally Wood

Wally Wood

Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, and MAD Magazine from its inception in 1952 until 1964, as well as for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and work for Warren Publishing's Creepy. He drew a few early issues of Marvel's Daredevil and established the title character's distinctive red costume. Wood created and owned the long-running characters Sally Forth and Cannon.

Bob Powell

Bob Powell

Bob Powell was an American comic book artist known for his work during the 1930–1940s Golden Age of comic books, including on the features "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle" and "Mr. Mystic". He received a belated credit in 1999 for co-writing the debut of the popular feature "Blackhawk". Powell also did the pencil art for the bubble gum trading card series Mars Attacks. He officially changed his name to S. Robert Powell in 1943.

Roger McKenzie (comics)

Roger McKenzie (comics)

Roger McKenzie is an American comic book writer best known for his work on Daredevil with Frank Miller. McKenzie has also written for a variety of independent comics publishers, such as Pacific Comics, Comico Comics, Sirius Comics, Pied Piper Comics, and Eclipse Comics.

Gene Colan

Gene Colan

Eugene Jules Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series. He co-created the Falcon, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics; Carol Danvers, who would become Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel; and the non-costumed, supernatural vampire hunter Blade.

Klaus Janson

Klaus Janson

Klaus Janson is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penciller and colorist.

Chuck Dixon

Chuck Dixon

Charles Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Dan Slott

Dan Slott

Dan Slott is an American comic book writer, known for his work on Marvel Comics books such as The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, The Superior Spider-Man, Tony Stark: Iron Man, The Mighty Avengers, and Fantastic Four. His work for DC Comics includes the books Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and Batman Adventures.

Paul Pelletier

Paul Pelletier

Paul Pelletier is an American comic book penciller.

Fictional team history

Original Ani-Men

The original lineup of Ani-Men (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man and Frog-Man) are recruited by a man named the Organizer. The Organizer is secretly Abner Jonas, a candidate for mayor of New York City, who sends the Ani-Men on missions to undermine the current administration. Daredevil defeats them and the Ani-Men and the Organizer all go to prison.[2]

Later, Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man form a team called the "Unholy Three" and work with the Exterminator.[3]

Count Nefaria has Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man, and their new female member Dragonfly be submitted to a processes at the hands of Dr. Kenneth Sturdy that gives them superhuman powers. Following an assault on the NORAD base at Mount Valhalla, they are all captured by the X-Men.[4]

Count Nefaria sends Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, and Frog-Man to kill Tony Stark. However, Spymaster had intended to kill Stark with a bomb, which kills the Ani-Men instead.[5]

Death-Stalker's Ani-Men

The Exterminator, now known as the Death-Stalker, recruits a new team of Ani-Men, with a new Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man.[6] He sends the new Ani-Men to capture Matt Murdock. The Black Widow defeats Bird-Man, and the Death-Stalker murders Ape-Man and Cat-Man upon the completion of their mission.[7]

Bird-Man is later murdered by the Scourge of the Underworld in the "Bar with No Name" incident.[8]

High Evolutionary's Ani-Men

A new group wearing the name Ani-Men are a bunch of New Men created by the High Evolutionary that carries out his orders. The High Evolutionary's Ani-Men included Buzzard (an evolved hawk), Crushtacean (an evolved crab), Flying Fox (an evolved bat), Komodo (an evolved Komodo dragon), and Spinneret (an evolved spider). The Evolutionary dispatches the Ani-Men to a laboratory operated by his former assistant Miles Warren (the Jackal) to clean up Warren's files. After three weeks, the Ani-Men are almost done with their cleanup and have spread a virus into all of Warren's files, but they are discovered by the Scarlet Spider. When the High Evolutionary teleports the Ani-Men back to his home base at Wundagore, the Scarlet Spider is accidentally brought with them, having stuck himself to Crushtacean with his webbing. Later, the Scarlet Spider joins members of the Cult of the Jackal in sneaking into the citadel of the High Evolutionary in an attempt to learn the truth about Warren's involvement with the High Evolutionary. The Ani-Men come to face the cult members and the Scarlet Spider, but the fight is brought to an end after the Scarlet Spider is able to learn the truth from the High Evolutionary. The High Evolutionary sends the Scarlet Spider home, but Crushtacean foolishly touches a ball of impact webbing the hero has left behind, covering himself and the other Ani-Men with webbing, much to their embarrassment.[9]

Hammerhead's Ani-Men

During the Secret Wars storyline, a new version of the Ani-Men (consisting of a new Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Frog Man) commit crimes while the heroes are on Battleworld. They obtain the equipment of the original Ani-Men and use it to rob a vault wagon only to be opposed by the NYPD.[10]

A new set of these Ani-Men (consisting of a new Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man) are among the many criminals hired by Hammerhead during the "Civil War" in an effort to take over the underworld while the Kingpin is incarcerated. Unbeknownst to them, the Kingpin has tricked Iron Man into leading a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit to the warehouse where they are meeting, which Iron Man believes to be the headquarters of Captain America's Secret Avengers. Iron Man and the S.H.I.E.L.D. unit break in, and a huge fight breaks out. The battle results in arrests, injuries and death, but it is unrevealed if any of those apply to the new Ani-Men.[11]

Independent Ani-Men

This Ani-Men assemblage has no known connection to any prior incarnations or any info on their history. This group consists of Giraffe-Man (a humanoid giraffe), Great Horned Owl-Man (a humanoid great horned owl), Pig-Man (a humanoid pig), and Rabbit-Woman (a humanoid rabbit). The history of this incarnation of the Ani-Men are unknown except for the fact that they resemble humanoid animals of what each one is based on. They attack the Milwaukee Convention Center, holding humans responsible for transgressions against the animal kingdom. Model Ashley Crawford (a.k.a. Big Bertha) is at a modeling shoot there and phones her teammates in the Great Lakes Avengers for help. By the time the Great Lakes Avengers show up, the actual Avengers are there and tell them to sit this one out so that they will not get hurt. The Ani-Men are defeated by the Avengers.[12]

Discover more about Fictional team history related topics

Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)

Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)

Daredevil is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Daredevil #1. Writer/artist Frank Miller's influential tenure on the title in the early 1980s cemented the character as a popular and influential part of the Marvel Universe. Daredevil is commonly known by such epithets as "Hornhead", "The Man Without Fear", and "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen".

Count Nefaria

Count Nefaria

Count Luchino Nefaria is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

NORAD

NORAD

North American Aerospace Defense Command, known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Canada, the continental United States, and Alaska.

Iron Man

Iron Man

Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The character made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39, and received his own title in Iron Man #1. In 1963, the character founded the Avengers superhero team with Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and the Hulk.

Black Widow (Natasha Romanova)

Black Widow (Natasha Romanova)

Black Widow is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editor and plotter Stan Lee, scripter Don Rico, and artist Don Heck, the character debuted in Tales of Suspense #52. The character was introduced as a Russian spy, an antagonist of the superhero Iron Man. She later defected to the United States, becoming an agent of the fictional spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and a member of the superhero team the Avengers.

New Men (Marvel Comics)

New Men (Marvel Comics)

The New Men are a fictional group of characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are depicted as uplifted animals created by the High Evolutionary.

High Evolutionary

High Evolutionary

High Evolutionary is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Hawk

Hawk

Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily are mainly woodland birds with long tails and high visual acuity. They hunt by dashing suddenly from a concealed perch. In America, members of the Buteo group are also called hawks; this group is called buzzards in other parts of the world. Generally, buteos have broad wings and sturdy builds. They are relatively larger-winged, shorter-tailed and fly further distances in open areas than accipiters. Buteos descend or pounce on their prey rather than hunting in a fast horizontal pursuit.

Crab

Crab

Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of pincers. They first appeared during the Jurassic Period.

Bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera. With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium. The smallest bat, and arguably the smallest extant mammal, is Kitti's hog-nosed bat, which is 29–34 millimetres in length, 150 mm (6 in) across the wings and 2–2.6 g in mass. The largest bats are the flying foxes, with the giant golden-crowned flying fox, reaching a weight of 1.6 kg and having a wingspan of 1.7 m.

Komodo (comics)

Komodo (comics)

Komodo is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Komodo was created by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli. The character's first appearance was in Avengers: The Initiative #1.

Komodo dragon

Komodo dragon

The Komodo dragon, also known as the Komodo monitor, is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 m (9.8 ft), and weighing up to 70 kg (150 lb).

Other versions

Earth X

In the Earth X universe, the Ani-Men were animals in the Wakandan preserve that were mutated when the Terrigen Crystals were detonated in the atmosphere.[13]

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, there is a group called the Ani-Men who are associated with Dr. Arthur Molekevic.[14]

Source: "Ani-Men", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2021, December 23rd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani-Men.

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References
  1. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 385. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  2. ^ Daredevil #10-11. Marvel Comics.
  3. ^ Daredevil #39. Marvel Comics.
  4. ^ X-Men #94-95. Marvel Comics.
  5. ^ Iron Man #115. Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ Daredevil #157. Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ Daredevil #157-158. Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ Captain America #319. Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1 (November, 1995). Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ Code of Honor #3. Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Civil War: War Crimes #1. Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ Great Lakes Avengers #1 (June 2005). Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ Earth X #4. Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ Ultimate Fantastic Four #3. Marvel Comics.
External links

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