Ani-Men

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.

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

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.^[2][3][4] 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.^[5]

Some time after that, Count Nefaria subjects Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man, and Dragonfly to a process that transforms them into superpowered animal hybrids.^[6][7] They later return to their human forms before being killed by a bomb that Spymaster intended to use to kill Iron Man.^[2][8]

Death-Stalker's Ani-Men

The Death-Stalker recruits a new team of Ani-Men and gives them the costumes of the original Ani-Men members. He sends the new Ani-Men to capture Daredevil. Black Widow defeats Bird-Man, and the Death-Stalker kills Ape-Man and Cat-Man upon the completion of their mission.^[9] Bird-Man survives, but is later killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.^[10]

High Evolutionary's Ani-Men

The third incarnation of the Ani-Men are a group of evolved animals created by the High Evolutionary.^{[2][3][4][11]} They 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).^[12]

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.^[13]

Independent Ani-Men

This Ani-Men assemblage has no known connection to any prior incarnations or any info on their history except for the fact that they resemble humanoid versions of the animals they represent. This group consists of Giraffe-Man (a humanoid giraffe), Great Horned Owl-Man (a humanoid owl), Pig-Man (a humanoid pig), and Rabbit-Woman (a humanoid rabbit).^[14]

Sixth Ani-Men

A sixth incarnation of the Ani-Men appears in Carnage: Black, White & Blood, where they are killed by the Carnage symbiote. The group consists of Elephant Man, Giraffe Man, and Boar-Man.^[2]

Other versions

Earth X

An original incarnation of the Ani-Men appear in Earth X. These versions are animals from a Wakandan preserve who Black Panther accidentally mutated into anthropomorphic forms using the Cosmic Cube. After the Wendigo attacks Wakanda, Black Panther brings the Ani-Men to live in the Savage Land.^[15][16][17]

Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe incarnation of the Ani-Men from Earth-1610 appear in the Ultimate Marvel universe.^[18]