Frog-Man (Ani-Men)

"For the Marvel superhero, see Frog-Man."

Superherobox|

caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Frog-Man
real_name=Francois LeBlanc
species=
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Daredevil" #10 (Oct 1965)
creators=Wally Wood and Bob Powell
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
status=
alliances=Ani-Men
previous_alliances=
aliases="Frog" LeBlanc, Croaker
relatives=
powers=(briefly) superhuman leaping ability|

Frog-Man is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.

Publication history

Frog-Man first appeared in "Daredevil" #10-11 (October, December 1965), and was created by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood.

The character subsequently appears in "Daredevil Annual" #2 (1971), "X-Men" #94-95 (August-October 1975), and "Iron Man" #115-116 (October-November 1978), in which he dies. The character appears posthumously in "Iron Man" #139 (October 1980) and "Classic X-Men" #3 (November 1986).

Frog-Man appeared as part of the "Ani-Men" entry in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition" #16, and in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition" #34.

Fictional character biography

François Leblanc was born in France, and later became a professional criminal.

Along with Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man, François "Frog" Leblanc was recruited for his leaping ability by a man named the Organizer to form the Ani-Men. The Organizer was secretly Abner Jonas, a candidate for mayor of New York City, who sent the Ani-Men on missions to undermine the current administration. Daredevil defeated them, and the Ani-Men and Organizer all went to prison. ["Iron Man" #10-11]

Later, the Ani-Men went to work for Count Nefaria. Nefaria's scientists submitted the unwitting Ani-Men to processes that gave them superhuman powers and animal-like forms. The Ani-Men invaded the Cheyenne Mountain missile base for Count Nefaria, and fought the X-Men. ["X-Men" #94-95]

The Ani-Men lost their superhuman powers and reverted back to normal. Nefaria sent the four original Ani-Men to kill Tony Stark, however the Spymaster detonated a bomb with which he had intended to kill Stark, and the resulting explosion killed the Ani-Men instead. ["Iron Man" #115-116]

Powers and abilities

Originally, Leblanc had no superhuman powers. He was an athletic man with Olympic-level leaping ability. He was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and an expert in "la savate" (French kickboxing).

Leblanc was later subjected to an unknown mutagenic process administered by Count Nefaria's scientists which temporarily gave him frog-like legs that gave him superhuman leaping ability, as well as superhuman strength, stamina, and agility.

References