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][2]
The second Ani-Men debuted in Daredevil #157 (March 1979) and were created by Roger McKenzie (co-writer), 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).
Fictional team history
Original Ani-Men
The original lineup of the Ani-Men (consisting of Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, and Frog-Man) are recruited by a man calling himself the Organizer, who gives them costumes themed after their codenames. The Organizer is secretly Abner Jonas, a candidate running to become mayor of New York City, and sends the Ani-Men to undermine the standing of the current administration. Daredevil defeats them and the Ani-Men and the Organizer are all imprisoned.[3][2][4][5]
Count Nefaria has Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man, and new member Dragonfly be submitted to a processes at the hands of Dr. Kenneth Sturdy that gives them superhuman powers and animalistic appearances. Following an assault on the NORAD base at Mount Valhalla, they are all captured by the X-Men.[6]
The Ani-Men, having returned to their normal forms, are sent to kill Tony Stark. However, they are killed by a bomb that Spymaster had intended to kill Stark with.[2][7]
Death-Stalker's Ani-Men
Death-Stalker recruits a new team of Ani-Men and gives them the costumes of the original Ani-Men members. Death-Stalker sends the new Ani-Men to capture Daredevil. The Black Widow defeats Bird-Man, and the Death-Stalker kills Ape-Man and Cat-Man after the completion of their mission.[8] Bird-Man survives, but is later killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.[9]
High Evolutionary's Ani-Men
The third incarnation of the Ani-Men (also spelled Animen) are a group of New Men that consist of Buzzard (an evolved hawk), Crushtacean (an evolved crab), Flying Fox (an evolved bat), Komodo (an evolved Komodo dragon), and Spinneret (an evolved spider). The High 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 learns 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.[10][2][4][5][11]
Hammerhead's Ani-Men
During the Secret Wars storyline, a new version of the Ani-Men (consisting of 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.[12]
These Ani-Men (consisting of Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and a new 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. Unknown 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.[13]
Independent Ani-Men
This Ani-Men consists of anthropomorphic animals and has no known connection to any prior incarnations of the group. This group consists of Giraffe-Man, Great Horned Owl-Man, Pig-Man, and Rabbit-Woman. 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 have arrived to stop the Ani-Men.[14]
