CAT

Real Name: Edward Lavender

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Operative of the Shroud, former cat burglar

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Mouse, the Shroud, Spider-Man, Tigra, Wonder Man

Enemies: Crooked Man, Deacon, Galeno Gang, Scorpion

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Cat's Jazz Club, Los Angeles, California

First Appearance: Marvel Preview#21 (Spring, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Cat is a skilled cat burglar and electronics expert, and serves as a musician at the Cat's Jazz Club.

History: (Marvel Preview#21) - Cat was one of the criminals gathered by the Crooked Man to serve in his personal empire, wanting him for his skills as a cat burglar. He and Mouse witnessed the arrival of the Shroud, who convinced the Crooked Man to allow him into his gang. When the Crooked Man captured an artist to collect a ransom from his agent, Cat and Mouse aided the Shroud in collecting the ransom. The Crooked Man ordered the duo to leave the Shroud behind, but they broke his rules, and helped the Shroud escape in their car. Returning to the Crooked Man, they helped the Shroud set an ambush for the Crooked Man. The Crooked Man and all of his men wound up being captured by the police, but the Shroud hid Cat and Mouse. He then revealed to them that his motivation was to destroy crime from within, and asked them to join. Cat decided that he would rather be with the Shroud than against him, and agreed. The Shroud then presented them with wine he had taken from the Crooked Man, and held a toast.

(Marvel Team-Up I#93) - Cat and Mouse were performing at the Cat's Jazz Club, the Shroud's base of operations, when a fight broke out there between Spider-Man and the Tatterdemalion. The Shroud prevented them from becoming involved.

(Marvel Team-Up I#94) - Spider-Man, under the influence of Dansen Macabre, webbed up Cat and Mouse at the Cat's Jazz Club while looking for the Shroud. The Shroud was ultimately able to free Spider-Man from her control.

(West Coast Avengers I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Cat and Mouse were assaulted at the Cat's Jazz Club by the Galeno Gang while the Shroud was in San Francisco. The Galeno Gang, having transferred their loyalties to Graviton, wanted to send the Shroud a message.

(West Coast Avengers I#3) - Cat and Mouse were found by Tigra and Wonder Man of the Avengers, but were reluctant to tell them what happened until the Shroud appeared, and vouched for the two Avengers.

(Marvel Super-Heroes III#7/3) - Cat was sent by the Shroud to spy upon the gangster Deacon as he met with his rival, Jimmy Genova. Cat witnessed Deacon using his powers, and reported his sightings to Mouse. When Cat returned to the Cat's Jazz Club, he found it destroyed by Deacon, but the Shroud and Mouse had managed to escape safely.

(The Shroud#1) - In New York, Cat and Mouse monitored the Shroud from their van as he fought the forces of Garrick King. When he returned to the van, Cat fired a laser cannon from the rear of the van to keep King's men from pursuing them.

(The Shroud#2) - When the Shroud brought in the Scorpion as a prisoner, Cat supplied him with virtual reality devices to keep the Scorpion incapacitated. The Shroud also showed him a spider-tracer that Spider-Man had left on him, and asked him to examine it. Later, Cat monitored the phone calls of the crimelord Lassiter on behalf of the Shroud.

(The Shroud#3) - The Scorpion managed to escape his shackles and fought off the Shroud, escaping. Despite the failure of the shackles, the Shroud reminded Cat and Mouse how much he valued them both.

(The Shroud#4) - As the Shroud set off to confront the forces of Lassiter and the Cult of Kâli, Mouse demanded that they help him, and suggested that they use the spider-tracer to bring in Spider-Man. After the Shroud and Spider-Man successfully defeated Lassiter and the Cult of Kâli, the Shroud returned to Cat and Mouse to begin their next project.

(Spectacular Spider-Man Annual#14/3) - Cat and Mouse stood by as the Shroud grappled with his past, and finally determined that they would remain in Manhattan, and make it their new base of operations.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant and Steve Ditko.

His real name was revealed in Shroud's profile in OHotMU A-Z HC#10.

Profile by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Cat should not be confused with:


Images taken from:
Marvel Preview#21, page 49, panel 3
Marvel Super-Heroes III#7, page 58, panel 2


Appearances:
Marvel Preview#21 (Spring, 1980) - Mark Gruenwald & Steven Grant (writers), Steve Ditko (artist), Lynn Graeme & Ralph Macchio (editors)
Marvel Team-Up I#93 (May, 1980) - Steven Grant (writer), Tom Sutton & Carmine Infantino (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Marvel Team-Up I#94 (June, 1980) - Steven Grant (writer), Mike Zeck (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
West Coast Avengers I#3 (November, 1984) - Roger Stern (writer), Bob Hall (pencils), Brett Breeding (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#7 (October, 1991) - Steven Grant (writer), Steve Ditko (pencils), Steve Leialoha (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
The Shroud#1-4 (March-June, 1994) - Mike Barr (writer), M.C. Wyman (#1-3) & A. Williams (#4) (pencils), Malcolm Jones III & Scott Koblish (#3-4) (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man Annual#14 (1994) - James Felder (writer), Dave Chlystek (pencils), Mark Nelson (inks), Mark Powers (editor)

Last updated: 09/04/10

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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