In these entries, we look back at the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition #16-20 from 1987 to 1988 – the ‘Book of the Dead’ issues – and venture into the Marvel Universe to find out if anyone has had the courtesy to stay dead since those OHOTMU issues were released!
Our third entry features a quartet of animal-themed villains empowered by the crooked Mayor of New York, Abner Jones, and have gone up against Daredevil, Iron Man, Spider-Man and the X-Men. So you get four for the price of one in this entry – well, technically seven – as we continue to look back at Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition #16.
See our BOOK OF THE DEAD: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? INDEX for more.
Note: These entries aren’t like our usual CHARACTER READING ORDERS with every appearance of each listed – it’s just the key stories as per their Handbook entry.
| Death & Return | Issue |
| Ani-Men I – Death: | Iron Man #116 (1978) |
| Ani-Men II – Death: | Daredevil #158 (1979) – Ape-Man & Cat-Man Captain America #319 (1986) – Bird-Man |
| Ani-Men II – Return: | Punisher #5 (2009) – Bird-Man |
| Years Dead: | Ani-Men I – 47 Ani-Men II – 46 Bird-Man II – 23 |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/ Crossover |
| Avengers #12 (1965) Gordon ‘Monk’ Keefer was employed to rob supplies from Stark Industries but was apprehended by Captain America and Rick Jones. | |
| Daredevil #10-11 (1965) Keefer was later employed by the sinister Organization alongside Henry Hawk, Townsend Morgan and Francois Le Blanc to start a crime wave. The four criminals were given costumed identities, becoming Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man and Frog-Man, but exhibited no superhuman powers. Daredevil stopped the quartet and unmasked the Organizer as Abner Jones, the Mayor of New York Mayor. | |
| Daredevil #39-41 (1968) Ape-Man, Bird-Man and Cat-Man continued to operate as the Unholy Three under the direction of the Exterminator, but were defeated by Daredevil once again. | |
| Marvel Team-Up #25 (1974) The group are defeated once more at the hands of Daredevil and Spider-Man. | |
| X-Men #94-95 (1975) Reunited with Frog-Man and joined by Dragonfly (Veronica Dultry), the Ani-Men are granted superhuman powers relating to their costumed identities by Count Nefaria. His bid to take over a NORAD base is thwarted by the X-Men. | SECOND GENESIS |
| Iron Man #115-116 (1978) Despite their failure, Nefaria’s daughter Madame Masque recruits them again to attack Iron Man and force him to cure her rapidly-aging father. Spymaster’s efforts to kill Tony Stark with a bomb go awry and the four Ani-Men are killed in the blast, instead. |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Daredevil #157-158 (1979) The former-Exterminator, now known as Death-Stalker, took the costumes of the original Ani-Men and gave them to a new Unholy Three. The second Ape-Man (Roy McVey), Bird-Man (Achille DiBacco) and Cat-Man (Sebastian Patane) succeeded in kidnapping Matt Murdock, though Death-stalker’s idea of a reward was to kill Ape-Man and Cat-Man with his death-touch. |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/ Crossover |
| Captain America #319 (1986) Though Bird-Man survived, his luck would run out when he attends a meeting of costumed criminals at the Bar With No Name to discuss the ongoing threat of the murderous Scourge of the Underworld. The Scourge had disguises himself as the barman and opens fire on the villains, killing almost all of them including the second Bird-Man. | SCOURGE OF THE UNDERWORLD |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/ Crossover |
| Marvel Team-Up #121 (1982) Another costumed Frog-Man appears, initially taking his father’s villainous Leap-Frog identity and using it for good. Eugene Patilio quickly takes on the new identity Frog-Man to forge his own path. | |
| Code of Honor #3 (1997) A third Ape-Man, Cat-Man and Frog-Man form a new Ani-Men line-up and start taking advantage of the disappearance of Earth’s heroes to Battleworld by robbing an armoured car. | |
| Deadpool #0 (1998) Arnim Zola uses the DNA of a number of deceased villains – including the second Bird-Man – to create the Corpse Corps. Deadpool kills all of the Corpse Corps, including the Bird-Man Proto Husk, though this doesn’t count as a resurrection for Achille DiBacco. | |
| 1985 #3 (2008) Frog-Man III is among the gathered villains being lured to Earth-1219. | |
| Civil War: War Crimes #1 (2007) Ape-Man and Cat-Man are joined by a third Bird-Man as the new Ani-Men join Hammerhead’s army of villains. | CIVIL WAR |
| Avengers: The Initiative #18-19 (2008-2009) Eugene Patilio is replaced by a shapeshifting alien Skrull impostor who joins the Action Pack under the Frog-Man identity until the Skrull invasion is ended by Earths heroes. | SECRET INVASION |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event / Crossover |
| Punisher #5 (2008) The second Bird-Man (Achille DiBacco), along with a number of other victims of the Scourge of the Underworld, are brought back to life by the crime boss known as the Hood using the power granted to him by Dormammu. | DARK REIGN |
| Punisher #6-8, 2009) The Hood promises Bird-Man II and his resurrected cronies that they can remain among the living as long as they kill the Punisher for him, though he barely survives his encounter with the vigilante, the Hood doesn’t return him to the grave. As far as we know, at least! So, in theory, Bird-Man is still out there among the living… maybe. | DEAD END |
| War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery #4 (2019) Cat-Man helps Virgo organise the HenchFest event for costumed criminals. Very little is known about this line-up of the Ani-Men, though they appear to be new rather than either of the previous line-ups brought back to life – but at this point, it’s almost impossible to keep track! | WAR OF THE REALMS |
| Interior Art | Credits |
| Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #16 – Baron Blood | Art: Luke McDonnell, Josef Rubinstein |
| Iron Man #116 | Story: David Michelinie, Bob Layton Art: John Romita Jr, Bob Layton, George Roussos |
| Daredevil #158 | Story: Roger McKenzie Art: Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, George Roussos |
| Captain America #319 | Story: Mark Gruenwald Art: Paul Neary, Dennis Janke, Ken Feduniewicz |
| Punisher #5 | Story: Rick Remender Art: Jerome Opeña, Dan Brown |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2025
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