Wildcat

Current Events

In the reboot of the DC Universe in The New 52, Wildcat is yet to appear. However, his picture was seen on a billboard promoting a boxing match, this may hint to a future appearance in Earth-2.

Origin

In the first issue of Sensation Comics of 1942, where he heard about Green Lantern, he was inspired by him and wished to become a hero himself. Even though Wonder Woman was the main star, Wildcat was in the back pages and that’s where he gained his popularity. Henry Grant was a good man but a push over as well as a risk taker. He took it upon himself to make sure his son Ted would never be taken advantage. Henry taught Ted how to box and when he reached maturity, Ted had become a wildcat in the sport of boxing. Unfortunately, Henry’s shortcomings left him penniless and he was unable to put Ted through college. Ted had no other choice but to take on the loading jobs in the East End warehouse district.

It was on one fateful night at the warehouse that Ted’s life would change forever. One of the warehouse unloaders was being ambushed by a couple of thugs. Ted fights off the thugs and the unloader is astonished by how Ted is able to read each thug’s move before they make it. The thugs run off in fear and Ted recognizes the unloader as Mike “Socker Smith” Muldoon, a washed up prize fighter. Muldoon decides to promote Ted as the next heavyweight champion of the world. After a string of knockouts in pro bouts, Ted was eventually hailed as Wildcat.

Ted inspired Muldoon to take up boxing again and soon both men gained even more notoriety. Fans of both Muldoon and Grant wanted to see who would come out on top in a match up. A local crime boss named Victor Moretti wanted Muldoon to take a dive but Muldoon refused after Grant backed him up. Left with only one option, Moretti decided to buy the loyalty of Ted’s manager Flint “The Skinner” Fain. Fain put a poisoned needle in one of Ted’s boxing mitts. The needle was triggered to spring with the push of a remote control button in Fain’s possession.

During the fight, Moretti gives Fain the signal and Fain activates the trigger. Within a few seconds, Muldoon began staggering around the arena until he finally collapsed. The authorities found the needle and Ted was placed under arrest. Moretti began to panic because Grant could implicate him in what had happened in the ring. Moretti tells Fain to fix the problem by making sure Ted doesn’t get to the precinct. Fain uses his car to run Ted’s police transport off the road. The cops were killed but Ted survives.

All of this was blamed on Ted himself and that’s where he heard about Green Lantern and soon took on the name Wildcat. After the poisonous needle event, he cleared his name and his adventures began as Wildcat, using a dual identity and keeping his name Ted Grant as well. As Wildcat, Ted made Fain confess to the poison needle. Fain was arrested for murder of Muldoon and Moretti followed soon after.

Wildcat had gained popularity but stayed mostly in the back pages. His most popular adventure was with the Justice Society of America where he was a replacement member. He had also appeared in Comics Cavalcade. He had never made it on to the front cover of Sensation Comics but had remained for nine years in the back pages, where only he and Wonder Woman were left as the characters.

In the 60s, he became a regular member of the Justice Society of America and had many crossovers with the Justice League of America. He also starred with Batman in The Brave and the Bold. His origin story had also taken an updating, as he had become an undefeated champion and retired, training Black Canary, Jack Knight and Batman in boxing. In the 70s, he was back on again with the Justice Society of America and in the 80s, a new Wildcat had emerged. She was named Yolanda Montez, and she had the same fighting skills as Ted Grant, as she was the daughter of one of Ted Grant’s boxing friends. she was also Ted’s goddaughter. She spent several years happily being Wildcat II until she was killed by Eclipso.

Character Creation

Ted Grant made his first appearance in 1942 in Sensation Comics #1. He was created by Bill Finger and Irwin Hasen.

Character Evolution

Father and Son

Wildcat along with Jay Garrick and Alan Scott were working together to reform the Justice Society of America with the recruitment of legacies and past members. Ted was not very interested in any of the formalities of the recruitment he did not care whom was picked he only wanted to get back in the saddle. After the recruits were adopted Ted learns that there is one more on the list a young man named Tommy Bronson this is when Alan and Jay tell Ted that this boy is his son. Ted is dumbfounded and confused but remembers the boy’s mother, Marilyn Bronson a woman who Ted had a brief relationship with. Ted goes to the boy’s home to get acquainted and catch up. Tommy is at first distant but they soon find they have allot of similarities. Ted is surprised when he finds out his boy is not a fighter and has only been in one fight in the Eighth Grade. But then the Wildcat’s family reunion is interrupted by the likes of Vandal Savage. Which it appears Vandal Savage has put together an extermination team for the JSA. He is taking out all of the legacies to wipe the JSA blood off the planet in genocide like fashion. During the resulting fight Ted learns why Tommy does not fight he is a Werecat like his mother. After a hard battle Ted is able to take down Vandal Savage with a fire truck afterward Ted convinces Tommy to join the JSA. Ted begins to train the recruits and show them the ropes in hand to hand combat scenarios. Ted joined the JSA on quest to help the new recruits and grow the bonds between the member

Major Story Arcs

Batman vs. Wildcat

Ted Grant meets with a local snitch named Flea Fitzgerald because he has heard about an underground fight club called the “The Secret Ring” in Gotham and a Wildcat wannabee was reported dead nearby. On the other side of Gotham, Bruce is made aware of this fight club thanks to his golfing rival Devlin. Devlin is a spectator of the sport and has often recorded the fights through a special satellite downlink.

As Batman, Bruce visits Gordon at the precinct to find out what the police is aware of. Gordon escorts Batman to the precinct’s morgue where they have kept the supposed Wildcat’s corpse for the last 24 hours. The body was found near a harbor in the Tri-Corner Yards with bite marks similar to that of Killer Croc’s. Gordon identifies the victim as Hector Ramierez, a high school graduate who joined the Navy and became a heavyweight boxer. Ramierez used Pugilism during his boxing matches which is a fighting style that Wildcat favors. Ramierez must have been a student of Ted’s and adopted his mentor’s mantle to keep the memory of Wildcat alive.

Bruce figures the only way to get in to the Secret Ring is to pose as Matches Malone. As Malone, Bruce pays Penguin a visit and inquires about the fight club but their conversation is interrupted by Wildcat. It turns out Flea has gone missing and Wildcat demands to where he is. Penguin agrees to assist Wildcat in order to prevent him from inflicting any more damage to the Iceberg Lounge.

Meanwhile, Ernie Chubb, the operator of the Secret Ring, organizes his next fight. In the second bout, KGBeast is scheduled to fight a Venom addict named Willis Danko. Ernie Chubb has been working with Lock-Up in order to detain all the heavy hitters for his fight club. Chubb gained Lock-Up’s obedience by promising Bolton that he would fulfill his need to exact justice on the scum of Gotham by putting them through these death matches in the “Secret Ring”. Chubb also guaranteed that he would share the revenues of the fights with Bolton in order to fund his latest incarceration venture. Lock-Up has designed a new prison within the bowels of Gotham which he has dubbed the Sewer of Life.

Chubb on other hand, wants to settle his own personal blood lust. Chubb was once a prized heavyweight boxer but his violent tendencies caused the deaths of numerous fighters. The promoters at first, warned Chubb to restrain his anger but when he refused to let up, they had him dismissed from the sport permanently. Chubb felt that the promoters and fighters were simply envious of his talents because their human frailty and lack of stamina was no match for Chubb’s superior abilities, education and raw power. Chubb believes that the sport of boxing is his birthright and he intends to take it back with the “Secret Ring”.

Wildcat catches up with Flea and decides to interrogate him at the Tri-Corner Landfill. Wildcat straps Flea to front of a motorcycle with his face facing the handle bars as well as Wildcat. After the grueling torture of heat and friction from the motorcycle, Flea finally divulges the actual location of the Secret Ring. The Secret Ring is located in the canal zone nearby the Union Railyard.

Oracle comes up with a homing device that tracks down pirated transmissions from satellites or transponders like the Secret Ring broadcast. Batman begins tracing the broadcast when the fight between KGBeast and Willis Danko initiates. KGBeast’s automatic sniper rifle is removed from his severed left hand and replaced with a crudely fashioned sledge hammer. As for Willis Danko, Chubb feeds Danko’s addiction by giving him a replica of Bane’s Venom modular. On a side note: Willis Danko may have some connection to Danko Twag (the supposedly first Killer Moth) since Willis exclaims that he wrap KGBeast in his “cocoon of terror”.

Batman races against time in the Batmobile as he heads east on Havelock then south on Bank Street near the canal zone’s hundred block. Batman reaches the source of the broadcast and has Oracle cancel the transmission. Wildcat makes his own brash entrance into the Secret Ring but Chubb’s men had masks and used knockout gas to sedate Wildcat. The fight between Danko and KGBeast ends bloody as KGBeast uses the sharp end of his sledgehammer hand to sever the connection between Danko and the Venom modular. Danko becomes fatigued from the Venom withdrawal and KGBeast ends Danko by slamming his head repeatedly into the ground with his sledgehammer hand.

Chubb orders Lock-Up to calm KGBeast down by using tranquilizer darts and then has him greet Batman with his electrical billy club. Batman is unconscious for a short while until he is thrown into the Secret Ring blindfolded. Chubb informs Batman that audience wants a little more excitement so Batman and his contender will not be able to see and will have to depend on their other senses to fight each other to the death. Both Batman and Wildcat have no idea that they are fighting each other nor do they realize that their boxing mitts have been spiked.

Chubb is pleased by the ferocity that Batman and Wildcat are exhibiting towards each other. Chubb figures he should increase the fees for the subscriptions since the audience turn out is escalating. However, Chubb’s internet tech Charlie, informs him that the transmission has been cancelled wirelessly but the video feed remains undisturbed. Chubb is of course furious at Lock-Up for failing to anticipate this move of Batman’s but he still maintains his composure as the fight ensues.

Wildcat and Batman finally realize that they are fighting each other after they had exchanged some familiar moves. Wildcat unmasks Batman and Batman makes a pass at the announcer. Batman grabs the remote control that unlocks the door to the arena and the heroes make their way to Chubb. As for Lock-Up, he is unable to track Oracle’s signal since it piggy backs on decoy locations that appear in transit. Chubb decides to cut his losses by telling Lock-Up to release the convicts/ contenders. Lock-Up at first is hesitant but Chubb convinces him that the heroes will dispense their own justice on the criminals and the video feed is still rolling thus revenues will still flow when they sell copies of tonight’s fights.

Wildcat and Batman reach the Sewer of Life where the criminals are being kept. Unfortunately, the locks on their cells are unlocked and the criminals escape. Now, the heroes are at the mercy of Steel Jacket, Monsoon, King Snake, Trog, Killer Croc, Panara, Cassidy and KGBeast. Panara’s savage nature causes her to attack Cassidy and Trog while the other criminals are left to combat the masked heroes. King Snake tries to attack Batman but he is tossed across the room by Monsoon. Batman counters Monsoon by using his momentum to fling the behemoth over his shoulders and have him fall right on top of KGBeast.

As for Wildcat, he is momentarily immobilized by Steel Jacket until Killer Croc tries to sucker punch Ted but Ted dodges the punch and Steel Jacket is knocked out. Wildcat then goes to work on delivering a punishment that Croc will not soon forget. Ted wants Croc to suffer for what he did to Hector Ramierez. Croc gets a beating from Wildcat that was far worst than what he got from Bane. Fortunately, for him, Wildcat let Croc live with the shame of what he had done.

Wildcat then turns and sees Chubb stepping into the arena. Wildcat provokes Chubb on the mockery of boxing that he calls the Secret Ring and allows Chubb to vent his anger. Wildcat intends to tire out Chubb and let his frustration get the better of him then Wildcat goes to work. Wildcat lays down a brutal tidal wave of jabs and uppercuts on Chubb. In the end, Chubb is down for the count and Wildcat delivers the final mock to Chubb by saying “You’re just another bum that didn’t make it to the big time.” Wildcat and Batman catch their breath after a night’s work but they are interrupted by Lock-Up. Both heroes sucker punch Lock-Up for a total knockout.

Enter Gog

While on a routine mission to save an apartment building in flames fellow JSA member Starman opens up a black hole in which Earth 22 Superman appears through. Superman warns of the coming destruction of the world by a deity known as Gog and his prophet. Wildcat is one of the few members of the JSA who trust this Superman. Gog’s prophet uses Sandman to transport him to the Brownstone where he engages in combat with the JSA and Wildcat than they are transported to Gog’s temple in Africa where Gog is resurrected. Ted does not trust Gog and encourages the JSA to destroy him before it is to late but Gog is promoting peace so the team leaves him be. Gog makes a new JSA recruit Lance his new Prophet taking on the title of Magog and Wildcat and Lance get into multiple skirmishes over what to do with Gog; Magog is supportive of Gog while Wildcat is not. Eventually the team does destroy Gog.

Haunting Past

Wildcat along with Liberty Belle, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott are trapped inside The Brownstone when Obsidian puts it on lock down Ted is angry and is telling Alan to get his kid under control this creates a mix of interests. Eventually Alan uses the Green Light to fade out Obsidian’s shadows and it is revealed why the lock down happened a ghost known as Kung has entered the Brownstone and teleports Wildcat, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Liberty Belle, and Hour Man back in time. It is revealed that Kung fought against Jay, Alan and Ted in WW2. Ted takes this rough because he finds out he is defenseless and does not like the feeling of uselessness. Kung eventually bring them to a beach in the Pacific where physical manifestations of dead Japanese soldiers appear this please Ted because he can hit them and he then engages them in combat. They are than rescued by Spectre who banishes away Kung and sends them back to the Brownstone.

Don’t Stand for no Disrespect

Eventually Magog begins to become more and more rebellious and start challenge Jay, Alan, and Ted’s leadership. This angers Ted more than it does any of the other elder Society members and he attacks Magog and they have a brief skirmish which ends in Magog blasting Ted in the chest. The fight is than broken up by Power Girl who seems to be on Magog side. This upsets Ted even more because of the close bond he and Power Girl share. As Magog continues to question the leadership of the Senior Society members this just fuels Teds rage and causes him and Magog to continue fighting in words. As the team is slowly being divided they are attacked by a large group of super villains led by Johnny Sorrow who destroy The Brownstone. The team is being destroyed by the Villains until Dr. Fate shows up and uses scare tactics to frighten the attackers away. With the Brownstone destroyed the team separates into two groups those led by Power girl and Magog and Those led by the Senior Society Members.

Mordru Attacks

Ted’s new team moves into an old JLA base on the outskirts of the City where Ted begins to become close friends with Mr. America. It is here that The Sorcerer Mordru comes in a astral form and posses the body of Dr. Fate he then sends the JSA into pocket Universes where they are all faced with challenges created specifically for them. Ted is sent to a dimension filled with monster sized Teddy Bears that when Ted punches them they just absorb his punches and begin to smother him. As Ted say “A fight he can’t punch his way out of”. Ted and the rest of The JSA are eventually saved by Dr. Fate who over comes Mordru and defeats him.

Nazi Fight

The team was infiltrated by The Fourth Reich who begins to attack and destroy their new base. Ted confronts and attacks Captain Nazi who in results kills him. Ted is revived due to his meta abilities and saved by Mr. Terrific who defeats Captain Nazi. The Fourth Reich reveal The Darkness Engine that was crafted to subdue any form of meta powers they then trap the team in Shadow of War‘s cloak. As of now The JSA are positioned in the future where it is revealed Ted was killed in the Nazi extermination camps

Blackest Night

Ted was in New York City during Blackest Night where he was defending STAR Labs while Mr. Terrific tried to come up with a plan to destroy the Black Lanterns. Ted stood by Mr. Terrific’s side with Power Girl in case the base was infiltrated. Ted’s real compassion for Kara showed when he comforted her while Mr. Terrific autopsied on her cousin. Then Ma Hunkel screamed and Ted and Kara went to investigate and it was Kara’s step mother Lane Lois of Earth 2 as a Black Lantern. She wanted Kara’s help and Ted went along with it as long as she staid inside the Labs under Ted’s surveillance. It is than that it is revealed that it was a trap Ted does not blame Power Girl for her actions and understands. He than continues to fight off the Black Lantern horde until Mr. Terrific completes his weapon and takes out the Black Lanterns in the Tri-State area.

Powers and Abilities

Wildcat, before living the life of a super hero, was a professional boxer. Fighting crime using his Boxing skill, Ted is an expert hand-to-hand combatant. Besides being considered the World’s Greatest boxer to ever live Ted is a master in Krav Maga, Muay Thai, Hapkaido, and Capoeira. He has trained the likes of Batman, Barbara Gordon, Superman, Mr. Terrific, Black Canary and numerous others. Ted is known for being able to knock out highly trained fighters in one hard hit. As well Ted has in circumstances has shown the ability to read body movement and predict and know where his opponent will strike before they do allowing himself to defend against it.

Wildcat has extra lives, as seen in the brief skirmish between Power Girl, Wild Cat and the new Crimson Avenger in which Wildcat was shot several times but did not die. It has recently been revealed that Ted has an endless number of extra lives as well his other meta abilities include slowed aging, and heightened senses his eyes are sharp enough to see farther than any other human and he can see perfectly in pitch black. All this powers were granted to him by Zatara who countered King Inferno’s curse to turn him into a cat because he refused to throw a fight.

Ted though aged has the body and strength of a man in his twenties who engages in constant workout as well Ted’s physically attributes are all peak human.

Ted is also an Ace fighter pilot able to pilot all form of air craft he was a pilot in WW2 and is the JSA’s resident pilot.

Personal Data

• Real Name: Ted Grant
• Height: 6’1″
• Weight: 250 lbs.
• Eyes: Blue
• Hair: Black

Status

• Citizenship: American
• Marital Status: Single
• Occupation: Adventurer, boxer, vigilante
• Known Relatives: Henry Grant (father, deceased), Jake Grant (son, deceased), Tom Bronson

Other Media

Justice League Unlimited

Wildcat, voiced by Dennis Farina, appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode “The Cat and the Canary” alongside Black Canary. Bruce Timm originally planned to use Catwoman in the episode, but due to the ban of using Batman characters in animation at the time, he was stuck with Wildcat. Wildcat, as in the comics, trained Black Canary.

Spending most of his time fighting metahuman criminals in the villain Roulette‘s underground casino/fight club gets Dinah a bit worried about him. She, along with Green Arrow tries to rescue him. Canary is then set up to fight Wildcat, but Arrow steps in and fights him for her. Ollie is almost killed by Ted, but manages to survive. Black Canary then lets loose a sonic scream, which destroys the House and allows them to escape with Wildcat. At the end of the episode, Wildcat goes for a therapy session with the Martian Manhunter.

Batman: The Brave And The Bold

Wildcat has made a number of appearances on Batman: the Brave and the Bold. This version is voiced by R. Lee Ermey.

Young Justice

Wildcat had a brief appearance in the Young Justice episode “Humanity,” in a flashback of the Justice Society of America.

Smallville

Wildcat was shown in Smallville: Season 9. played by actor Roger Haskett. Wildcat was framed by the Government Agency but later on he was eventually released. At the time of Icicle’s defeat, Carter Hall A.K.A Hawkman, had mentioned of Ted and all the other old JSA team, may still in fact be alive and may have children or prodigies. So in conclusion, Ted may in fact have a daughter or a son (prodigy).

Arrow

A young version of Ted Grant appears in the CW show Arrow, played by J.R. Ramirez. Ted is shown to be an ex-boxer who now owns a gym in Starling City. Many of the men in his gym are troubled kids from the street, including a Tom Bronson. Laurel Lance turns to him after the death of her sister to teach herself how to fight, on the way to establishing her vigilante career.