Frank Z. Temerson (1890–1963) was a comic book publisher from the Golden Age of Comic Books . Temerson's imprints included Ultem Publications , Helnit Publishing , Et-Es-Go Magazines , and Continental Magazines .
31-529: Notable titles published by Temerson included Captain Aero Comics , Cat-Man Comics , and Suspense Comics ; notable characters included Cat-Man and Kitten and Miss Victory . L. B. Cole worked as an art director for many of Temerson's earliest comics; other notable creators associated with Temerson included Tony DiPreta , Irwin Hasen , Gil Kane , Don Rico , and Charles M. Quinlan. Temerson often used
62-400: A pilot for an animated web series on YouTube titled The Sensational Cat-Man based on the public-domain comic. Ray Herman Ray Herman (b. Ruth Rae Hermann, June 9, 1920 – December 26, 1996), also known as Rae Herman or Ray Mann , was a publisher, editor, writer, penciller, and inker whose career spanned from 1940 to 1955. Her company, Orbit Publications ,
93-768: A lost city of the Aztecs, ghouls, and the runty Nazi crime-master Doctor Sinister". Cat-Man Comics vol. 2 #13 (#8 on cover), began a new feature called "Little Leaders", again illustrated by Quinlan with an unknown writer. Cat-Man sent Katie to a summer camp where she ran into Mickey Mathews, sidekick of the Deacon, another hero featured in Cat-Man Comics . When Cat-Man and Kitten moved to Central City (the Deacon's home town) they continued having adventures both in and out of costume. The "Little Leaders" feature lasted until Cat-Man Comics' cancellation. Cat-Man would appear in
124-546: A radically altered, black-and-white version by Australian publisher Gordon & Gotch when American import laws during World War II hindered access to the Holyoke comics. In this Australian revision, Cat-Man had no secret identity or powers, and continued to wear the Crash Comics outfit. However, Cat-Man was a superb fighter and a brilliant inventor , armed with a Luger pistol , a pair of night vision goggles with
155-516: A similar state and the teen heroes had to snare Cat-Man like a wild beast. Cat-Man and Kitten become pivotal characters in one of the side stories throughout this series. By series end, Cat-Man regains enough of his senses for Kitten to know the man is still inside the beast. A new series titled Cat-man and Kitten was announced July 2022 and the creative team is Jeff Parker & Joseph Cooper. In September 2023, YouTuber Austin McConnell released
186-645: A threat to the Merryweathers. AC Comics has printed modern stories of Cat-Man and Kitten in its Men of Mystery anthology; it also reprints some of the Holyoke stories that do not contradict its current continuity . Due to the female -oriented nature of the AC Comics universe, the duo is sometimes billed as Kitten and Cat-Man . In 2008, Cat-Man and Kitten appeared in flashbacks in Dynamite Entertainment 's Project Superpowers . In
217-422: A young girl to an adult was given an explanation: mortally wounded by one of their enemies, Katie's life was saved when Cat-Man transferred one of his 9 lives into her. However, this had the effect of automatically aging her into adulthood, although she still retained a child's mentality, causing Cat-Man some consternation in his secret identity. Eventually, her emotional maturity caught up with her physical form, and
248-626: The Comics Magazine Company 's titles Funny Pages and Funny Picture Stories , retaining Chesler as the packager for both his own previous titles and the two that were continued from the Comics Magazine Co. Financial difficulties forced Ultem to sell some of its properties, including The Clock , to Everett M. "Busy" Arnold 's Quality Comics . By January 1938, Ultem was bought out by Centaur Publications . Beginning in 1939, Temerson went solo, publishing comics during
279-614: The Project Superpowers: Chapter Two Prelude one-shot, it was stated that the two heroes would appear in future issues in this line — Cat-Man as a feral being called Man-Cat and Kitten as part of a team of kid heroes and sidekicks. Project Superpowers: Chapter Two showcased an increasing line of public domain superheroes including Cat-Man and Kitten. After being freed from the urn, the Kitten finds herself allied with several teen sidekicks, including
310-595: The United Nations ; and her father, Professor West, a famous scientist. The Australian Cat-Man would run for a shorter period than its predecessor, spanning twelve issues. In the 1950s, Tricho would reprint them as Catman Comics #13–22. The characters also appeared in the Giant Phantom Comics series. In the 1980s, publisher AC Comics created a retconned version of the characters as part of their universe. In this version, Katie's change from
341-489: The "Our Publishing" imprint). Hermann was also the rare actually female writer of a romance comic advice column. (Most advice columnists for other romance comics were male staff members using a female pseudonym.) In 1948, she also pencilled and inked crime comics for D.S. Publishing . Also in 1948, Herman helped found the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) in response to the rising anti-comics sentiment in
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#1732801937372372-469: The Boy King and his Giant. The group of young heroes sets out to find some of their missing mentors and begin to discover they were not just blessed with increased abilities, but in some instances cursed by them. Kitten discovers Cat-Man living like a feral beast in the jungle. His senses, strength and agility increased to the level of the great cats he emulated, but his intelligence and demeanor regressed to
403-600: The Chattanooga College of Law or passed the state bar exam). Temerson worked as an attorney in Birmingham for a couple of years before moving to Detroit in 1917. Shortly thereafter he registered with the draft board (where he was described as "short, stout, with brown eyes, brown hair, and partly bald"). Temerson served overseas with the Army during World War I from 1918 to 1919. Returning to Birmingham after
434-475: The Kitten. At first, David tried to keep her from helping him, but Katie eventually proved herself as his sidekick and the two became partners. As the series continued, Katie matured and David was promoted to the rank of captain . According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes , Cat-Man "fights everything from jungle natives, ordinary criminals, and Nazis to the Bridge Destroyer,
465-643: The United States. The ACMP created the first Publication Code for policing the content of comics, but comics were not subject to formal review to use their seal of approval, and it was largely ignored. By 1950, the ACMP was virtually defunct, though a few publishers continued to use the seal. However, its Publication Code formed the backbone of the later Comics Code . In issue #23 of Cat-Man Comics (December 1943) (published by Frank Z. Temerson's Holyoke Publishing ), superhero The Hood's blonde girlfriend's name
496-499: The ability to temporarily blind foes with a light that emanated from the goggles, and a utility belt similar to Batman 's. Cat-Man was based in a mountaintop headquarters, with his primary area of operations being that of the Australian outback . However, when situations needed, he would range all over the globe to fight crime. When he did so, he was assisted by his male sidekick, Kit; his fiancée, Terri West, an employee of
527-452: The cover), Cat-Man encountered Katie Conn, an 11-year-old circus acrobat who fell under the guardianship of her unscrupulous uncle after her parents died in a fire. The uncle forced Katie to steal things for him. Cat-Man intervened on her behalf and made sure her uncle was brought to justice. Since she no longer had a guardian, David adopted Katie. She tried to help him fight crime, sewing a matching red and yellow costume and calling herself
558-482: The last issue being numbered 32 due to some numbering inconsistencies, through 1946, when Temerson's Continental Magazines folded. Eventually, the characters fell into the public domain . David Merrywether (Cat-Man) was raised in Burma by a tigress after his parents had been killed. From living with tigers for years, he gained superhuman abilities, such as super-strength, enhanced agility, natural night vision , and
589-468: The legendary "nine lives" of cats. Eventually, David returned to the U.S. where he was horrified by criminals preying on the innocent. To stop this, he became a private investigator . Later, he would become an officer in the US Army . Assigned to stateside duties, he donned an olive and orange costume with a black cat-head symbol and became Cat-Man. In Cat-Man Comics vol. 1, issue #10 (#5 on
620-658: The names of family members and associates as proxies for companies which he actually owned and operated. Temerson was born in Warsaw , Poland , the third child of Jacob (a dry goods merchant) and Mindel Temerson. In 1892, when Frank was two years old, his family moved to the United States, settling in Birmingham, Alabama . Frank's parents subsequently had four additional children, including Frank's younger sisters Esther, Goldie, and Ethel. The family were members of Birmingham's Temple Emanu-El synagogue , whose founding president
651-525: The origin and first appearance of the Cat-Man. Crash Comics was replaced by Cat-Man Comics in May 1941, although, like its predecessor, this new title was a superhero and adventure anthology merely headlined by the titular character. In 1942, Holyoke Publishing acquired the character, and continued publishing Cat-Man Comics . Cat-Man Comics ran for 33 issues (12 published by Holyoke Publishing ) with
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#1732801937372682-537: The pair were married. They soon after decided to enter the Vault of Superheroes, a suspended animation program being run by the US government to preserve heroes should they be needed in the future. Released from the Vault in the 1980s, they adapted to modern life and became allies to Miss Victory and the members of Femforce . Their primary nemesis , Dr. Macabre, was also revived from a similar hibernation and continues to pose
713-636: The period 1939–1941 under the names Tem Publishing , Nita Publishing , and, most prominently, Helnit Publishing . Helnit published six issues of Green Hornet Comics , with the writing attributed to Fran Striker , starting in December 1940. Assets from Helnit — including the superhero series Cat-Man Comics and the war comics series Captain Aero Comics — were acquired by Holyoke Publishing in late 1941, with comics cover-dated January 1942 and February 1942. Temerson's staff, including artist Charles Quinlan, continued to produce both series. In 1943,
744-483: The syndicated comic Hep Cats , before taking over as publisher, business manager, and co-owner (with Marjorie May ) of Orbit Publications in 1946. Orbit's titles included The Westerner (featuring Wild Bill Pecos), Love Diary , Patches , and Wanted Comics , and contributing artists included Syd Shores , Bernard Krigstein and Mort Leav . She wrote for their Western comics , as well as Love Diary and another romance comic , Love Journal (both published under
775-477: The two titles acquired from Heinit reverted to Temerson's new company Et-Es-Go Magazines (likely named after Temerson's younger sisters Ethel, Esther, and Goldie), which soon transitioned to Continental Magazines . Pioneering female publisher, editor, and cartoonist Ray Herman started her career as an assistant to Temerson in 1943. Other titles published by Temerson in the period 1943–1946 were Suspense Comics and Terrific Comics . Some sources indicate Temerson
806-474: The war, he soon connected with his old synagogue's president's nephew, I. W. (Isaac Wise) Ullman (1873–1947), who was also in the distribution business. Temerson and Ullman became business partners, moving into pulp magazine printing and distribution. Companies they jointly owned, under the name Ultem Publications (a combination of the first syllables from both names, Ullman and Temerson), included Vamos Color Printing and Inspirational Publications. By 1935, Ultem
837-506: Was businessman, poet, and humanitarian Samuel Ullman . Temerson finished school after the eighth grade, going to work at his father's dry goods store. In 1913, despite never having gone to high school or college, Temerson was enrolled at the Chattanooga College of Law , which was not an accredited law school but which offered courses in legal studies. In 1914 Temerson was working as a "lawyer" (although he never graduated from
868-459: Was a founding member of the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers , for which she served as secretary and board director. She started her career as an assistant to Frank Z. Temerson , publisher for Helnit, Et-Es-Go Magazines, and other loosely affiliated companies. From 1943 to 1944, she was managing editor and co-owner (with Esther Temerson) of Continental Magazines, publishers of Cat-Man Comics and Terrific Comics . In 1945 she wrote for
899-457: Was behind Continental Publications in 1950. Temerson died in 1963 at age 73. Cat-Man Comics Cat-Man and Kitten (also Catman and Kitten ) are a pair of fictional superhero characters created by artists Irwin Hasen (Cat-Man) and Charles M. Quinlan (Kitten) with unknown writers. Cat-Man was first published in 1940 by various Frank Z. Temerson companies. Due to circumstances during World War II , an altered version of Cat-Man
930-490: Was headquartered in New York City, at 381 Fourth Avenue, and in 1937 the company was located at 404 Fourth Avenue. Ultem published Modern Movies , Movie Stars Handies , Movie Humor , High Heel Magazine , and Silk Stocking . In 1937, Ultem moved into the burgeoning comic book business. That year Ultem bought out Harry "A" Chesler 's comic book titles Star Comics and Star Ranger . In September 1937, Ultem acquired
961-538: Was published in Australia and reprinted in the 1950s. AC Comics later revived the characters in the 1980s. Raised in the Burmese jungle by tigers and then returning to America to fight crime in the big city, the character has been described as "an odd amalgam of Batman and Tarzan ". In 1940, Tem Publishing Co. (one of Temerson's several companies) published a periodical titled Crash Comics . Issue #4 featured