Title: (The Origin of Wildcat)
Pages: 10
Feature(s):
Wildcat (of Earth-2)
Writer: Bill Finger
Artist: Irwin Hasen
Reprinted From:
Sensation Comics #1 (1942)
Feature Character(s)
Supporting Character(s)
Villain(s)
- Flint and Skinner (boxing managers; no further appearances)
- Fain (a henchman; no further appearances)
- Two unnamed hoodlums (no further appearances)
Other Character(s)
- Joe Morgan (identity revealed in All-Star Squadron Annual #1; next appearance in All-Star Squadron Annual #1)
- Socker Smith (a boxing champ; dies in this story; no further appearances)
- Henry Grant (Ted's father; no further appearances)
- An unnamed boy (no further appearances)
Comments:
Wildcat’s origin is told in this story. Additional details were added, including the involvement of Joe Morgan as Ted’s trainer, in the flashback in All-Star Squadron Annual #1.
This story originally was not titled; the title shown here was given on the contents page of JSA All Star Archives Vol. 1 in which this story is reprinted.
Synopsis:
Ted Grant a promising boxer is forced to give up his college career when his parents die. However, he helps boxer Socker Smith fight off two holdup men and gets a job as Smith’s sparing partner.
Grant soon proves to be a good enough boxer to earn his own bouts. Flint and Skinner, Smith’s managers, arrange fights for Grant including a title shot against Smith himself.
During the bout, the managers plant a needle in Grant’s glove which kills Smith. Grant is accused of murder, but he escapes custody when the managers try to silence him. Inspired by Green Lantern, Ted dons a costume and forces confessions from the men responsible for Smith’s death. In doing so, he clears his own name and decides to continue as the costumed Wildcat.