The Fox and The Feline Part 1: Animal Avengers

The Canine and the cat or, if you will, the Fox and the feline. Two superior warriors masked from head to toe in clothing that exhibits their bestial natures. Disciplined in the combat styles of the far-East, they bring their own spin on time honed techniques to a western society. One for good, the other for evil. And they are not alone as others orbit their own careers originating during the dark days of World War II.

The Fox first appeared in Blue Ribbon Comics #4, published in 1940. He was photo journalist Paul Patton, who felt that adopting a costumed identity would help his career. He had a modest career, appearing in that comic title until issue #22. His son first appeared in Mighty Crusaders #4 under the title "Too Many Heroes" and then returned the next issue as a member (alongside the Web and Captain Flag) of the Ultra-Men in issue #5. It was in Mighty Comics #49 that we learned of the unmasked life of the second Fox. He was also named Paul Patton (Jr) and was also a photo-journalist and also decided to adopt the Fox alias from dad!

Introduced in this issue were two key figures in the Fox mythos, his arch-enemy the Gasser, and the alluring Delilah Monaco. The former was a gimmick villain with a gang which was all in vogue past in the 60's, while the latter was the love interest of Paul and the scorned object of Fox's affection. Obviously the Fox had some serious issues to work out if he gets hung up on her NOT liking him in costume when she ADORES him as normal old' Paul. More on them tomorrow in Team-Up Tuesdays.

The Cat was an adversary of Judomaster who first appeared in  that hero's 91 issue. He then reappeared (inexplicably, you will note towards the end of this blog posting) in issue #95 alongside fellow Imperial Japanese agents Mountain Storm and Acrobat (with Smiling Skull) thrown in for good measure. This cat didn't care about honor as had his countrymen, only about being top dog. But his bark was far worse than his bite, as you will see below as he faces the Judo G.I. in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming:

 Meanwhile, Judomaster resumed his life in the Pacific theatre after this conflict while training the young lad who would soon become his sidekick Tiger). He had other members of his extended social circle that were of a similar heritage...not temperament....to the Cat. Tomorrow we investigate these two sets of fighting friends and foes of our featured ferals.