Publisher Marvel Comics Team affiliations Ani-Men | Alter ego Francois LeBlanc Creators Wally Wood, Bob Powell | |
First appearance Daredevil #10 (Oct 1965) Created by Stan Lee
Wally Wood
Bob Powell Notable aliases "Frog" LeBlanc, Croaker Similar Cat‑Man, Ape‑Man, Bird‑Man, Death‑Stalker, Leap‑Frog | ||
Frog-Man is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Both have been members of the Ani-Men.
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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.
François LeBlanc
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.
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.
The Ani-Men lost their superhuman powers and reverted to normal. Nefaria sent the four original Ani-Men to kill Tony Stark. However, the Spymaster detonated a bomb,which was intended to kill Stark, and the resulting explosion killed the Ani-Men instead.
Frog-Man II
During the Secret Wars storyline, a second Frog-Man, alongside a third Ape-Man and a third Cat-Man, went on a crime spree when the heroes were on Battleworld. They somehow got the equipment of the original Ani-Men and used it to rob a vault wagon only to be opposed by the NYPD.
Powers and abilities
Originally, LeBlanc had no superhuman powers. He was an athletic man with an Olympic-level leaping ability. He was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and an expert in 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, as well as superhuman strength, stamina and agility.