The Ani-Men is the name of several fictional teams appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Four of them are villain groups, while one of them was introduced as a team of agents serving the

High Evolutionary The High Evolutionary (Herbert Edgar Wyndham) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is depicted as a scientist who seeks to evolve different life forms such as the New Men. The High Evolutionary ...

Publication history

The first Ani-Men debuted in '' Daredevil'' #10 (October, 1965) and were created by

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

(writer, co-artist) and Bob Powell (co-artist). The second Ani-Men debuted in ''Daredevil'' #157 (March, 1979) and were created by Roger McKenzie (co-writer), Jo Duffy (co-writer),

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

(artist), and

Klaus Janson Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952) is an 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 co ...

(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 Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) 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. Early life D ...

(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 Daniel "Dan" Slott (born July 3, 1967) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on Marvel Comics books such as ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', as well as ''The Superior Spider-Man'', ''She-Hulk'', ''Silver Surfer (comic book), Silver Surfe ...

(writer) and

Paul Pelletier Paul Pelletier is an American comic book penciller. Career Pelletier began working as a professional comic artist in the late 1980s. His first work appeared in Cosmic Steller Rebellers (hammac publications) and Wayward Warrior (Hammac Public ...

(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 The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

, 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. Some time after that, Count Nefaria subjects Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man, and

Dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

to a process that transforms them into superpowered animal hybrids. They later return to their human forms before being killed by a bomb that Spymaster intended to use to kill

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

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. Bird-Man survives, but is later killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.

High Evolutionary's Ani-Men

The third incarnation of the Ani-Men are a group of evolved animals created by the

. 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).

Hammerhead's Ani-Men

During the ''

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'', is a 12-issue American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter ...

'' 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 The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

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).

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.

Other versions

Earth X

An original incarnation of the Ani-Men appear in ''

Earth X ''Earth X'' is a 1999 comic book Limited series (comics), limited series published by American company Marvel Comics. ''Earth X'' was written by Jim Krueger with art by John Paul Leon. Based on Alex Ross' notes, the series features a dystopian v ...

''. These versions are animals from a Wakandan preserve who Black Panther accidentally mutated into anthropomorphic forms using the

Cosmic Cube The Cosmic Cube is a fictional object appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. There are multiple Cubes in the Marvel Universe, all of which are depicted as containment devices that can empower whoever wields them. Although th ...

. After the Wendigo attacks Wakanda, Black Panther brings the Ani-Men to live in the

Savage Land The Savage Land is a fictional prehistoric land that features in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is a tropical preserve, hidden in Antarctica. It has appeared in many story arcs in '' Uncanny X-Men'' as well as other relate ...

Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe incarnation of the Ani-Men from Earth-1610 appear in the

Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the ...

universe.''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' #3 (April 2004)

References

External links

Ani-Men (disambiguation)
at Marvel.com
Ani-Men I
at Marvel.com * * * * *
Ani-Men
at Comic Vine {{X-Men characters Characters created by Chuck Dixon Characters created by Dan Slott Characters created by Gene Colan Characters created by Roger McKenzie Characters created by Wally Wood Comics characters introduced in 1965 Comics characters introduced in 1979 Comics characters introduced in 1995 Comics characters introduced in 1997 Comics characters introduced in 2005 Comics characters introduced in 2007 Transians