History: 
APE-MAN
Real Name: Gordon Keefer
Identity/Class: Human mutate;
Formerly human technology user
Occupation: Criminal
Group Membership: Ani-Men (Bird-Man (Henry Hawk), Cat-Man (Townshend Horgan), Dragonfly (Veronica Dultry), Frog-Man (Francois LeBlanc)), Organization (Bird-Man (Hawk), Cat-Man (Horgan), Frog-Man (LeBlanc), Organizer (Abner Jones) ), Unholy Three (Bird-Man (Hawk), Cat-Man (Horgan))
Affiliations: Count Nefaria, Dr. Archibald Stancheck, Exterminator, Madame Masque
(Whitney Frost), Dr. Hellen Rachelson, Kenneth Sturdy;
Formerly
Debbie Harris
Enemies: Gail Callan, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Chuck, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Debbie Harris, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Rick Jones, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Adam Toomes, X-Men (Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Cyclops (Scott Summers), Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Storm (Ororo Munroe), Thunderbird (John Proudstar), Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett))
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Monk Keefer, Gort
Base of Operations: New York City, New York
First Appearance: Avengers I#12 (October, 1965); (as Ape-Man) Daredevil I#10 (December, 1965)
Powers/Abilities: After his mutation into an ape-like being by the Maggia, Ape-Man possessed super human strength and agility. Ape-Man wore a strength-enhancing suit. While working for the Exterminator, Ape-Man wore antennae that allowed him to communicate with his teammates, and wielded a T-ray (time displacement ray) that would temporarily transport its victims to a limbo-like void. Keefer was a naturally strong fighter.
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 325 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Gray
History:
(Avengers I#12) - Monk Keefer and his armed allies were robbing a Stark Industries facility when Captain America and Rick Jones tried stopping them. Cap knocked some of them down with his shield before Monk opened fire on him. Cap rushed past and knocked some of the men back before Monk punched him down. Jones then tried charging Monk, but Monk easily held him to the side, but Cap took Monk down in a series of punches.
(Daredevil I#10 (fb) - BTS) - Serving for unknown crimes in a New York prison, Monk Keefer was contacted by the Organizer and invited to join him in criminal pursuits. Keefer agreed and was told he would soon be broken out of prison.
(Daredevil I#10) - Cat-Man dropped a blackout bomb over the prison and liberated Keefer, taking him back to the Organizer via helicopter. They met Frog le Blanc and Henry Hawk. Organizer explained his plot to take over local government, using these four as costumed criminals that could keep all proceeds from their crimes. They were suited as Ape-Man, Frog-Man, and Bird-Man, forming the Organization along with Cat-Man. Ape-Man was soon sent to rob the famous Rajah Ruby from millionaire Adam Toomes, and he did so successfully. Frog-Man was attacked by Daredevil during a mission and the Organizer was concerned. When Daredevil foiled one of the Bird-Man's missions, the Organizer determined that they would eliminate Daredevil now and put another plan in place to implicate Daredevil in a crime. Cat-Man and Bird-Man were sent to kidnap Debbie Harris, who was secretly an accomplice of the Organizer, and Cat-Man was captured. Organizer sent Ape-Man to take care of Cat-Man at the police station. Ape-Man took a grenade, but Daredevil knocked it out of his grasp. Ape-Man ran for it and was knocked aside in an alley. Ape-man punched Daredevil aside and ran away.
(Daredevil I#11) - When Daredevil attacked, Ape-Man, Frog-Man, and Bird-Man left Harris tied up and fled. Organizer heard claims that Nelson was keeping damaging information about the Organization in his personal safe, so he sent his three operatives to investigate. Bird-Man and Ape-Man were shocked when Frog-Man seemingly betrayed them, not realizing that it was Daredevil in Frog-Man's costume. Organizer, whose plot to assassinate the mayor was publicly exposed, dropped "Frog-Man" through a trapdoor and led the others on a prepared escape route. The Organizer revealed himself as Abner Jonas and had Ape-Man and Bird-Man publicly kidnap him to throw suspicion off himself. Daredevil attacked them, however, and turned the villains attacks against each other. He defeated Bird-Man with a series of punches and evaded several blows from Ape-Man, who soon fell over, exhausted. The Organizer was soon exposed and arrested.
(Daredevil I#39 (fb) - BTS) - Cat-Man, Bird-Man, and Ape-Man escaped from prison and reunited as the Unholy Three. They were recruited by the Exterminator and started on a crime spree.
(Daredevil I#39) - While the Unholy Three committed a robbery, Daredevil attacked the three, managing to repel them and deliver several blows while only being hit a few times himself. Cat-Man managed to kick Daredevil through a plate glass window and the Unholy Three fled. The Exterminator was furious with the three of them for their failure. He then demonstrated his dangerous T-Ray gun, which would knock its victims out of the time stream temporarily. He demonstrated the gun on Ape-Man, who disappeared for a half hour. The Exterminator then sent them to use the device on Debbie Harris, in order for the Unholy Three to get their revenge and for Exterminator to have clout against potential district attorney Franklin "Foggy" Nelson. They used the device on the doorman and a patron as well as Harris, sending the crowd running for it.
(Daredevil I#40) - The trio continued their crime spree, using the T-Ray to vanquish a bank guard and even to open the vault. Daredevil attacked again, getting the best of the villains again while taking few shots of his own until Ape-Man managed to hit the hero with the T-Ray. The villains triumphantly departed with their money. They hit pursuing Chuck the policeman with another ray.
(Daredevil I#41) - Foggy Nelson initiated a smear campaign against the Unholy Three, so they hunted him down. Though Nelson tried to stand against them, they easily captured him and returned him to the Exterminator. The Exterminator planned to use the maximum setting on Nelson, but Daredevil attacked yet again and swiftly defeated the Three with powerful blows. The Exterminator's equipment exploded and both Daredevil and Nelson survived.
(Marvel Team-Up I#25 (fb) - BTS) - The Unholy Three started high-profile kidnappings, returning their captives for large amounts of money.
(Marvel Team-Up I#25) - Bird-Man kidnapped young Gail Callan and collected the ransom money from her blind attorney, Matt Murdock, but he lost it when Daredevil and Spider-Man attacked. From their hideout in Coney Island, Ape-Man and Bird-Man were furious that the money was gone. Ape-Man threatened Gail, who was tied to a chair, but didn't plan on harming her. When Daredevil and Spider-Man attacked, Bird-Man swore to kill Gail. Daredevil kicked Cat-Man while Spider-Man saved Gail and put up a web wall, which Ape-Man tore through. Daredevil traded blows with Cat-Man and Ape-Man, who soon went running for it, while Bird-Man went after Gail. While the others were defeated, Ape-Man grabbed Gail and threatened to throw her off the top of the Ferris wheel, but the heroes started the cars and saved Gail while Ape-Man went crashing to the ground. The Unholy Three were soon arrested.
(X-Men I#94 (fb) - BTS) - Count Nefaria, using his Maggia connections, had Ape-Man (who began calling himself Gort), Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Frog-Man, and new ally Dragonfly mutated by Dr. Kenneth Sturdy, Stanchek and Hellen to become more animal-like. Calling them his Ani-Men, he put together a plot to blackmail the world.
(X-Men I#94) - The Ani-Men teleported into the Valhalla base when Joe Harris inadvertently activated the teleporting technology. They defeated the men in the room before Count Nefaria joined them, flooding the rest of the mountain with anesthetic gas. Nefaria then released a media message, demanding a ransom from every country in the world or he would launch nuclear missiles at them. Dragonfly soon notified Nefaria that the X-Men's craft was approaching, and Nefaria was thrilled to get revenge on his old foes, launching missiles at them. When they evaded the missiles, he used a sonic disruptor on them, destroying their ship.
(X-Men I#95) - The X-Men (Banshee, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Thunderbird, Wolverine) survived and Nightcrawler teleported into Valhalla, where Frog-Man kicked him. Frog-Man chased Nightcrawler around the tunnel, incensed at being called a mutant, until the hero knocked him unconscious with a punch. Nefaria was furious at Frog-Man, but left him to his fate as he prepared to deal with the rest of the mutants. Nefaria tried gassing the X-Men, then had Dragonfly hypnotize a group of soldiers to go after the mutants, who easily persevered. The Ani-Men , with a revived Frog-Man, then attacked, Ape-Man jumped on Thunderbird and tossed him into Banshee. Cyclops fired on an evading Bird-Man. Nightcrawler jumped at Frog-Man. Colossus punched Ape-Man. Storm launched lightning at an evading Dragonfly. Cat-Man leapt on Wolverine, who fell back until Colossus knocked Cat-Man out with a punch. As Frog-Man leapt over Nightcrawler, Cyclops hit him with an optic blast, the Bird-Man picked up Cyclops until Nightcrawler knocked him out of the air. Storm zapped Ape-Man with lightning, but it took punches from Wolverine and Nightcrawler to down him. Dragonfly tried hypnotizing Cyclops, but his visor opened and the optic blast downed her. The X-Men soon defeated Nefaria, though Thunderbird was killed in the battle.
(Iron Man I#116 (fb) - BTS) - Count Nefaria, who'd been aged to an ancient man in a wheelchair, contacted the Ani-Men for help in getting revenge on Tony Stark and restoring his youth. They contacted his daughter, Madame Masque (Whitney Frost), who agreed to help them.
(Iron Man I#115) - When Stark entered
Frost's penthouse, Ape-Man punched him against the wall, the Frog-Man kicked
Stark over the balcony. Bird-Man caught Stark, tossing him back inside, where
Cat-Man mauled him. When Stark jumped for his briefcase, Frog-Man stopped him.
Just as Stark managed to knock Cat-Man back, Frost and Nefaria then revealed
themselves.
(Iron Man I#116) - Ape-Man punched Stark again, then Bird-Man barely missed him. Stark grabbed a gun and fired wildly on the Ani-Men until Frog-Man disarmed him. They continued taunting and hitting Stark as Nefaria explained his plan, then all were shocked when Stark quickly donned Iron Man armor. Iron Man defeated Frog-Man, Bird-Man, and Ape-Man in combat just before the building exploded, killing all four of the Ani-Men.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers.
Ape-Man received an entry in OHOTMU: Master Edition.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ape-Man
is not meant to be confused with:
Adam Toomes has no known connection to:
(Daredevil I#10 - BTS) - Millionaire Adam Toomes' famous Rajah Ruby was stolen by Ape-Man at Organizer's orders.
--Daredevil I#10 (Daredevil I#10 - BTS
images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#10, p7, pan1 (Ape-Man)
Daredevil I#10, p3, pan4 (Monk Keefer)
Iron Man I#115, p12, pan2
Appearances:
Avengers I#12 (January, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Don Heck (penciler), Dick Ayers (editor)
Daredevil I#10 (October, 1965) - Wally Wood (writer/inker), Bob Powell (penciler), Stan Lee (editor)
Daredevil I#11 (December, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Bob Powell (penciler), Wally Wood (inker)
Daredevil I#39 (April, 1968) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (penciler), Artie Simek (inker)
Daredevil I#40-41 (May-June, 1968) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (penciler), John Tartaglione (inker)
Marvel Team-Up I#25 (September, 1974) - Len Wein (writer), Jim Mooney (penciler), Frank Giacoia (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
X-Men I#94 (August, 1975) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Bob McLeod (inker), Len Wein (editor)
X-Men I#95 (October, 1975) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Sam Grainger (inker), Len Wein (editor)
Iron Man I#115 (October, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), John Romita, Jr. (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Roger Stern (editor)
Iron Man I#116 (November, 1978) - Dave Michelinie (writer), John Romita, Jr. (penciler), Bob Layton (inker), Roger Stern (editor)
First Posted: 02/26/2009
Last updated: 07/16/2014
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All
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