Ani-Men
Encyclopedia
The Ani-Men is the name of several fictional teams within the Marvel Universe
. Four of them are villain groups, while one of them was introduced as a team of agents serving the High Evolutionary
.
, Bird-Man
, Cat-Man
, 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 Organizer all go to prison. Later, Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man form a team called the "Unholy Three" and work with the Exterminator
.
Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man later rejoin the Ani-Men, and the group goes to work for Count Nefaria
. Nefaria also recruits a new member for the group, Dragonfly
. Nefaria's scientists submit the unwilling Ani-Men to processes that give them superhuman powers and animal-like forms, although eventually they revert back to normal after their fight with the X-Men
.
Nefaria sends the four original Ani-Men to kill Tony Stark
; however the Spymaster
had intended to kill Stark with a bomb, which kills the Ani-Men instead.
Dragonfly has continued her career as a villain, both on her own and as part of a team, such as the Femizons and the Masters of Evil
.
. The Black Widow defeats Bird-Man, and the Death-Stalker murders Ape-Man and Cat-Man upon the completion of their mission.
The Bird-Man is later murdered by the Scourge of the Underworld
in the "Bar with No Name" incident.
and 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 lizard
), 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.
#1 (June 2005). This assemblage has no known connection to any prior incarnations or any info on their history. This group consisted 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
). They attacked the Milwaukee Convention Center, holding humans responsible for their trangressions against the animal kingdom. Model Ashley Crawford
(AKA Big Bertha) was at a modeling shoot there at the time and phoned her teammates in the GLA for help. By the time the Great Lakes Avengers showed up, the actual Avengers
also showed up telling them to sit this one out so that they won't get hurt. The Ani-Men were defeated by the Avengers.
storyline, a new version of the Ani-Men (consisting of a new Ape-Man
, Bird-Man
, and Frog Man
) were shown committing crimes while the heroes were on Battleworld. They somehow got the equipment of the original Ani-Men and used it to rob a vault wagon only to be opposed by the NYPD.
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.
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. Four of them are villain groups, while one of them was introduced as a team of agents serving the High Evolutionary
High Evolutionary
The High Evolutionary is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The High Evolutionary was first mentioned in The Mighty Thor vol. 1 #133 , and first appears in The Mighty Thor vol. 1 #134 , and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
.
Original Ani-Men
The original lineup of Ani-Men (Ape-ManApe-Man
Ape-Man is the name of four fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:Monk Keefer first appeared in Avengers #12 , and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. He first appeared as Ape-Man in Daredevil #10-11 by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood...
, Bird-Man
Bird-Man
Bird-Man is the name of two fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. Both have similar powers and appearance, and both appeared primarily as a member of the villain team the Ani-Men.-Publication history:...
, Cat-Man
Cat-Man (Marvel Comics)
Cat-Man is the name of a number of fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:The first Cat-Man first appeared in Daredevil #10-11 , and was created by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood...
, Frog-Man
Frog-Man (Ani-Men)
Frog-Man is the name of two fictional characters in Marvel Comics. Both have been members of the Ani-Men.-Publication history:Frog-Man first appeared in Daredevil #10-11 , and was created by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood...
) 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
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
defeats them and the Ani-Men and Organizer all go to prison. Later, Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man form a team called the "Unholy Three" and work with the Exterminator
Death-Stalker
The Death-Stalker is a fictional character, a super-villain of the professional-criminal type, in the Marvel Comics universe. His real name was Philip Wallace Sterling. An enemy of Daredevil, he first appeared as the Exterminator in Daredevil Vol. 1, #39 .-Fictional character biography:Philip...
.
Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man later rejoin the Ani-Men, and the group goes to work for Count Nefaria
Count Nefaria
Count Nefaria is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Avengers #13 and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.- Fictional character biography :...
. Nefaria also recruits a new member for the group, Dragonfly
Dragonfly (Marvel Comics)
Dragonfly is a fictional supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:Dragonfly first appeared in X-Men #94-95 , and was created by Chris Claremont and Len Wein....
. Nefaria's scientists submit the unwilling Ani-Men to processes that give them superhuman powers and animal-like forms, although eventually they revert back to normal after their fight with the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
.
Nefaria sends the four original Ani-Men to kill Tony Stark
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
; however the Spymaster
Spymaster (comics)
Spymaster is a supervillain from Marvel Comics. The first appearance of the character is in Iron Man #33.-Publication history:Spymaster is a Marvel Comics supervillain, whose primary antagonist is Iron Man. He is a master of industrial espionage...
had intended to kill Stark with a bomb, which kills the Ani-Men instead.
Dragonfly has continued her career as a villain, both on her own and as part of a team, such as the Femizons and the Masters of Evil
Masters of Evil
The Masters of Evil is a name for a number of fictional supervillain teams that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in The Avengers #6 , with the lineup continually changing over the years....
.
Exterminator's Ani-Men
The Exterminator, who was now known as the Death-Stalker, sometime later recruits a new team of Ani-Men, with a new Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man. He sends the new Ani-Men to capture Matt MurdockDaredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
. The Black Widow defeats Bird-Man, and the Death-Stalker murders Ape-Man and Cat-Man upon the completion of their mission.
The Bird-Man is later murdered by the Scourge of the Underworld
Scourge of the Underworld
The Scourge of the Underworld is the name of a series of fictional characters that have appeared in various series set in the Marvel Comics universe....
in the "Bar with No Name" incident.
High Evolutionary's Ani-Men
A new group wearing the name Ani-Men is created by the High EvolutionaryHigh Evolutionary
The High Evolutionary is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The High Evolutionary was first mentioned in The Mighty Thor vol. 1 #133 , and first appears in The Mighty Thor vol. 1 #134 , and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
and carries out his orders. The High Evolutionary's Ani-Men included Buzzard (an evolved hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
), Crushtacean (an evolved crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
), Flying Fox (an evolved bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
), Komodo
Komodo (comics)
Komodo is the name of two fictional characters in the Marvel Comics Universe.-New Men:The first Komodo is one of the New Men, creatures evolved by the High Evolutionary from a lizard. He accompanied the Ani-Men on their clean-up mission at the Jackal's laboratory and fought the Scarlet Spider...
(an evolved lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
), and Spinneret (an evolved spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
). The Evolutionary dispatches the Ani-Men to a laboratory operated by his former assistant Miles Warren (the Jackal
Jackal (Marvel Comics)
The Jackal is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 , and was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Ross Andru. In The Amazing Spider-Man #148 The Jackal is a fictional character that appears in...
) 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
Scarlet Spider
Scarlet Spider is a fictional character who appeared in the Marvel Comics series Spider-Man. His costume was designed by Tom Lyle. The identity of the Scarlet Spider has been used by several characters: Ben Reilly, Peter Parker , Joe Wade , a group of three Michael Van Patrick clones working with...
. 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.
Ani-Men IV
A new group of Ani-Men surfaced in Great Lakes AvengersGreat Lakes Avengers
The Great Lakes Initiative, originally known as The Great Lakes Avengers , are a fictional superhero team that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters were first introduced in West Coast Avengers vol. 2, #46 , and were created by John Byrne.-Publication history:The team...
#1 (June 2005). This assemblage has no known connection to any prior incarnations or any info on their history. This group consisted of Giraffe-Man (a humanoid giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
), Great Horned Owl-Man (a humanoid Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
The Great Horned Owl, , also known as the Tiger Owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas.-Description:...
), Pig-Man (a humanoid pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
), and Rabbit-Woman (a humanoid rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
). They attacked the Milwaukee Convention Center, holding humans responsible for their trangressions against the animal kingdom. Model Ashley Crawford
Big Bertha (comics)
Big Bertha is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics, notably as a member of the Great Lakes Avengers. The character was created by John Byrne and first appeared in West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #46 .-Fictional character biography:Not a lot is known of...
(AKA Big Bertha) was at a modeling shoot there at the time and phoned her teammates in the GLA for help. By the time the Great Lakes Avengers showed up, the actual Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
also showed up telling them to sit this one out so that they won't get hurt. The Ani-Men were defeated by the Avengers.
Hammerhead's Ani-Men
During the Secret WarsSecret Wars
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars is a twelve-issue comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter with art by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton...
storyline, a new version of the Ani-Men (consisting of a new Ape-Man
Ape-Man
Ape-Man is the name of four fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:Monk Keefer first appeared in Avengers #12 , and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. He first appeared as Ape-Man in Daredevil #10-11 by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood...
, Bird-Man
Bird-Man
Bird-Man is the name of two fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. Both have similar powers and appearance, and both appeared primarily as a member of the villain team the Ani-Men.-Publication history:...
, and Frog Man
Frog-Man (Ani-Men)
Frog-Man is the name of two fictional characters in Marvel Comics. Both have been members of the Ani-Men.-Publication history:Frog-Man first appeared in Daredevil #10-11 , and was created by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood...
) were shown committing crimes while the heroes were on Battleworld. They somehow got the equipment of the original Ani-Men and used it to rob a vault wagon only to be opposed by the NYPD.
A new set of these Ani-Men (consisting of a new Ape-Man
Ape-Man
Ape-Man is the name of four fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:Monk Keefer first appeared in Avengers #12 , and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. He first appeared as Ape-Man in Daredevil #10-11 by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood...
, Bird-Man
Bird-Man
Bird-Man is the name of two fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. Both have similar powers and appearance, and both appeared primarily as a member of the villain team the Ani-Men.-Publication history:...
, Cat-Man
Cat-Man (Marvel Comics)
Cat-Man is the name of a number of fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:The first Cat-Man first appeared in Daredevil #10-11 , and was created by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood...
) are among the many criminals hired by Hammerhead
Hammerhead (comics)
Hammerhead is a fictional character, a supervillain that has appeared in various comic book series published by Marvel Comics. He is primarily an enemy of Spider-Man and a member of organized crime who exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe...
during the Civil War
Civil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
in an effort to take over the underworld while the Kingpin
Kingpin (comics)
The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...
is incarcerated. Unbeknownst to them, the Kingpin has tricked Iron Man into leading a S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
unit to the warehouse where they are meeting, which Iron Man believes to be the headquarters of Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
'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.
External links
- Ani-Men (disambiguation) at Marvel.com
- Ani-Men I at Marvel.com