Wildcat

Origin: Grant was a college student studying medicine when his father died. Unfortunately, his father's death left him with too little money to continue his studies. Grant found himself unemployed and with little hope. His luck changed one late night when he came upon the famous boxer, "Socker" Smith, who was in the process of being mugged. Grant helped the boxer defeat his assailants. As a means of thanking the young man, Smith trained Grant to be a professional boxer, managed by the partnership of Flint and Skinner. Grant's boxing career went very well. He was eventually the undefeated, heavyweight champ.

Unfortunately for Grant, his managers were none too honest men. Both Flint and Skinner were heavily involved in the gambling industry, accepting bets on the matches in which their boxers participated. When Grant had to face Smith in the heavyweight championship, Flint and Skinner decided to improve the odds of Grant winning by inserting a tiny needle, containing a sedative,  in one of Grant's gloves. When Grant hit Smith with that particular glove, then, Smith would be "knocked out." As it turned out, however, Flint had used too much of the drug. When Grant struck Smith with the glove bearing the needle, he delivered an overdose of the sedative into Smith's system. Grant was then arrested for murder. Fearful that the boxer might reveal information that might lead to their own arrests, Flint and Skinner ran the car carrying Grant off the road. In the resulting wreck the two police officers accompanying Grant were killed, but Grant survived. Unfortunately, Grant was blamed for the deaths of the two police officers as well.

Grant was determined to clear his own name, but had no idea of how he could do it. Wandering the streets he found a child who had just had a Green Lantern comic book stolen. The child told Grant about Green Lantern, how he fought crime, and how he had a secret identity. Inspired by the child's story of Green Lantern, Grant took the name Wildcat and designed a costume that resembled just such a feline. Wildcat tracked Flint and Skinner down and forced them to confess their crimes, then turned them over to the police. Grant then turned himself into the police, only to be cleared of all charges. Grant decided to continue fighting crime as Wildcat.

Powers: As the  heavyweight champion of the world, Ted Grant is a formidable opponent. Grant is not simply a great boxer, however, but a fine athlete over all. He can climb, jump, and even walk on narrow surfaces if he has to. Although possessed of no real superpowers, Wildcat is as deadly as the animal from which he took his name.

History:  Wildcat was the creation of writer Bill Finger, the man who had created Batman with Bob Kane, and artist Irwin Hasen. In fact, Wildcat's roots could well go back to the creation of another legendary comic book character--Robin, the Boy Wonder. Legend has it that when Finger was in the process of creating a sidekick for the Caped Crusader, he considered many different names, among them Socko, Tiger, and Wildcat. Ultimately, the name Robin was chosen, inspired largely by Robin Hood, though the name Wildcat apparently stuck in Finger's mind. If there is any truth to this legend, it is then perhaps little wonder that Finger would create a character by that name.

Wildcat debuted in Sensation Comics #1, January 1942, where he became one of the most popular characters of that title.  He would also appear in Comic Cavalcade and with the Justice Society in All-Star Comics. Wildcat first appeared in All-Star Comics when a disagreement rose between National Periodical Publications and All-American Comics--he and Mr. Terrific replaced the two National members of the Justice Society, Starman and The Spectre, as guests of the group (All-Star Comics #24, spring 1945). Unlike Mr. Terrific, however, Wildcat would become a full-fledged member of the Justice Society of America. The Atom had the misfortune of losing his feature in All-American Comics. Because The Atom no longer had a comic strip of his own, it was decided to replace him with someone who did--namely Wildcat.  The Atom would receive a reprieve, however, as there were still three JSA stories with the character waiting to be printed and "A Place in the World" would be moved up in the publishing schedule. In the meantime The Atom received a new feature in Flash Comics. As a result The Atom retained his place in the Justice Society of America. When "A Place in the World" was published in All-Star Comics # 27, Fall 1945, it became Wildcat's only Golden Age appearance as a full member of the Justice Society in the pages of that magazine.

Wildcat continued to appear in the pages of Sensation Comics until issue 90, June 1949. During the Silver Age Wildcat would be re-introduced as a guest star in The Brave and the Bold #62, November-December 1965 (which featured a team-up between Starman and The Black Canary). Ironically, event though Wildcat had only appeared twice with the Justice Society of America during the Golden Age and only once as a full member, he would go onto to become one of the most featured characters in Justice Society stories. He appeared in several of the JSA-JLA team-ups and has played a large role in nearly every revival of the Justice Society of America since the Silver Age.

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 Unless otherwise stated, all text on this site is © 1999 T. L. Canote