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NORMAN VAN GRAET

Real Name: Norman van Graet

Identity/Class: Normal human (early 1950s era)

Occupation: Wealthy tycoon

Known Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Harlow Cranford, Henrik Schmitt

Enemies: Leopard woman (possibly were-leopard) (name unrevealed)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile internationally

First Appearance: Suspense#17/3 (April, 1952)

Powers/Abilities: Norman van Graet is a wealthy man who is charming, handsome and overconfident. He takes pleasure in seducing a chain of women without regard for consequences.

Height: 5'10"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:

(Suspense#17/3 (fb) - BTS) - Wealthy Norman van Graet had a privileged life. Growing into a man, he was confident in his good looks and charm, and enjoyed seducing women, apparently leading to five marriages and three women committing suicide over him.

(Suspense#17/3) - At a fancy dress party, van Graet wore a skintight skeleton costume and chatted with millionaire friends Harlow Cranford and Henrik Schmitt; one challenged him to lure an enigmatic new woman in a seeming black leopard suit and mask to dance with him. Enamored with her curvaceous figure and mystery, he accepted the wager and quickly engaged her in apparent playful banter. She admitted she responded only because she felt he was a challenge and not boring like others at the party. Despite not knowing her name, van Graet presented her to his two friends and the pair then went outside into the sprawling gardens with van Graet hopeful for romance. Hidden in an alcove and in each other's arms, the leopard woman invited van Graet to remove her mask; it was only then that the millionaire realized she was not in a costume but instead had the dangerous characteristics of a leopard.

(Suspense#17/3 (fb) - BTS) - The leopard woman killed van Graet and discarded his body amongst the shrubbery.

(Suspense#17/3) - Soon after, Cranford and Schmitt went looking for their friend. Not finding him, they concluded he had successfully seduced her away.

Comments: Creators not credited.

So who and what is the enigmatic black leopard woman? I think the most likely answer is a roving were-leopard, perhaps triggered at night with a full moon. Maybe she's a mutant or mutate. However, black leopards are also known as black panthers; is there a connection to the goddess Bast and her Black Panthers?

So black panthers are actually black leopards. Interestingly, in Fantastic Four I#119 (February, 1972), the Black Panther (T'Challa) used the name "Black Leopard", apparently to avoid connotations with the human rights group Black Panther Party, but that name didn't stick.

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Norman van Graet has no known connections to:

The leopard woman has no known connections to:

Leopard Woman

The black leopard woman's name was unrevealed. She enjoyed hunting for fresh meat, especially human meat, and relished the chase hunting men. She used her svelte figure, mixed with sleeved gloves to cover her claws, to appear as if she was wearing a costume so she could attend a costume party. Bored with many advances from party-goers, she noted the millionaire playboy Norman van Graet as a challenge and accepted his advances. After banter and dancing, she successfully lured him outside into the large garden and a hidden alcove where she revealed her true leopard self and killed van Graet.

   She had a long neck but no apparent tail (unless she tucked it between her legs under her tight dress). Her victim displayed no ripped throat or torn ribcage from the front, and he seems to have given no scream, so it may be that she used her claws to rip his spine at the back of his neck. The reader cannot see any more of van Graet's corpse than his head and upper torso, so we can only guess how much "fresh meat" she ate of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--Suspense#17/3

images: (without ads)
Suspense#17/3, p2, pan1 (main image)
   p2, pan2 (headshot)
   p4, pan3 (in arms of leopard woman)
   p3, pan6 (leopard woman headshot)
   p1, pan1 (leopard woman body shot)

Appearances:
Suspense#17/3 (April, 1952) - uncredited writer, pencils, inks, Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 06/13/2025 - happy Friday 13th!
Last updated: 06/13/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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