Cat-Man and Kitten
Cat-Man | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Frank Z. Temerson Holyoke Publishing |
First appearance | Crash Comics Adventures #4 (Sept. 1940) |
Created by | Artist Irwin Hasen and an unknown writer[1] |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | David Merryweather |
Partnerships | Kitten |
Abilities | Super-strength, agility, night vision, nine lives |
Kitten | |
---|---|
acrobat |
Cat-Man and Kitten (also Catman and Kitten) are a pair of fictional superhero characters created by artists Irwin Hasen (Cat-Man)[1][3] and Charles M. Quinlan (Kitten)[2] with unknown writers. Cat-Man was first published in 1940 by various Frank Z. Temerson companies. Due to circumstances during World War II, an altered version of Cat-Man was published in Australia and reprinted in the 1950s. AC Comics later revived the characters in the 1980s.
Raised in the Burmese jungle by tigers and then returning to America to fight crime in the big city, the character has been described as "an odd amalgam of Batman and Tarzan".[4]
Golden Age
Publishing history
In 1940, Tem Publishing Co. (one of Temerson's several companies)[5] published a periodical titled Crash Comics. Issue #4 featured the origin and first appearance of the Cat-Man.[1]
Crash Comics was replaced by Cat-Man Comics in May 1941, although, like its predecessor, this new title was a superhero and adventure anthology merely headlined by the titular character.[6] In 1942, Holyoke Publishing acquired the character, and continued publishing Cat-Man Comics.[7]
Cat-Man Comics ran for 33 issues (12 published by Holyoke Publishing) with the last issue being numbered 32 due to some numbering inconsistencies, through 1946, when Temerson's Continental Magazines folded.[8] Eventually, the characters fell into the public domain.
Fictional character biography
David Merrywether (Cat-Man) was raised in
In Cat-Man Comics vol. 1, issue #10 (#5 on the cover), Cat-Man encountered Katie Conn,[2] an 11-year-old circus acrobat who fell under the guardianship of her unscrupulous uncle after her parents died in a fire. The uncle forced Katie to steal things for him. Cat-Man intervened on her behalf and made sure her uncle was brought to justice. Since she no longer had a guardian, David adopted Katie. She tried to help him fight crime, sewing a matching red and yellow costume and calling herself the Kitten.[11] At first, David tried to keep her from helping him, but Katie eventually proved herself as his sidekick and the two became partners. As the series continued, Katie matured and David was promoted to the rank of captain.
According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, Cat-Man "fights everything from jungle natives, ordinary criminals, and Nazis to the Bridge Destroyer, a lost city of the Aztecs, ghouls, and the runty Nazi crime-master Doctor Sinister".[12]
Cat-Man Comics vol. 2 #13 (#8 on cover), began a new feature called "Little Leaders", again illustrated by Quinlan with an unknown writer.[13] Cat-Man sent Katie to a summer camp where she ran into Mickey Mathews, sidekick of the Deacon, another hero featured in Cat-Man Comics. When Cat-Man and Kitten moved to Central City (the Deacon's home town) they continued having adventures both in and out of costume. The "Little Leaders" feature lasted until Cat-Man Comics' cancellation.
Australian revision
Cat-Man would appear in a radically altered,
Cat-Man was based in a mountaintop headquarters, with his primary
The Australian Cat-Man would run for a shorter period than its predecessor, spanning twelve issues. In the 1950s,
Modern Age
AC Comics
In the 1980s, publisher
Released from the Vault in the 1980s, they adapted to modern life and became allies to Miss Victory and the members of Femforce. Their primary nemesis, Dr. Macabre, was also revived from a similar hibernation and continues to pose a threat to the Merryweathers.
AC Comics has printed modern stories of Cat-Man and Kitten in its Men of Mystery anthology; it also reprints some of the Holyoke stories that do not contradict its current continuity.
Due to the female-oriented nature of the AC Comics universe, the duo is sometimes billed as Kitten and Cat-Man.
Dynamite Entertainment
In 2008, Cat-Man and Kitten appeared in flashbacks in Dynamite Entertainment's Project Superpowers.[14] In the Project Superpowers: Chapter Two Prelude one-shot,[15] it was stated that the two heroes would appear in future issues in this line — Cat-Man as a feral being called Man-Cat[16] and Kitten as part of a team of kid heroes and sidekicks.
Project Superpowers: Chapter Two showcased an increasing line of public domain superheroes including Cat-Man and Kitten. After being freed from the urn, the Kitten finds herself allied with several teen sidekicks, including the Boy King and his Giant. The group of young heroes sets out to find some of their missing mentors and begin to discover they were not just blessed with increased abilities, but in some instances cursed by them. Kitten discovers Cat-Man living like a feral beast in the jungle. His senses, strength and agility increased to the level of the great cats he emulated, but his intelligence and demeanor regressed to a similar state and the teen heroes had to snare Cat-Man like a wild beast.
Cat-Man and Kitten become pivotal characters in one of the side stories throughout this series. By series end, Cat-Man regains enough of his senses for Kitten to know the man is still inside the beast.
A new series titled Cat-man and Kitten was announced July 2022 and the creative team is Jeff Parker & Joseph Cooper.[17]
In other media
Webseries
In September 2023, YouTuber Austin McConnell released a
References
- ^ a b c Crash Comics Adventures #4, Cat-Man story at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ a b c Cat-Man Comics v1#10 (5), Cat-Man story at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ "Alter Ego #1 – Irwin Hasen Interview". TwoMorrows.com. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ISBN 978-1605490892.
- ^ Temerson / Helnit / Continental indicia publishers at the Grand Comics Database
- ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-1605490892.
- ^ Continental Magazines, Inc. at the Grand Comics Database
- ISBN 9781476638607.
- ISBN 978-1631407451.
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Cat-Man and Kitten". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
- ^ Cat-Man Comics v2#13 (8), Little Leaders story at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Project Superpowers #0 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- ^ Project Superpowers: Chapter Two Prelude at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- ^ Cat-Man at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- ^ Johnston, Rich (2022-07-19). "Jeff Parker & Joseph Cooper Bring Back Cat-Man & Kitten". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
- ^ "Cat-Man Animated Series Launches on YouTube". Anime. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
External links
- Golden Age Cat-Man and Australian Cat-Man at the International Catalog of Superheroes
- Black, Bill (1997). The Official Golden Age Hero and Heroine Directory. ISBN 1-56225-017-5.