Ape-Man

[eyp-man]

Ape-Man is the name of two fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.

Monk Keefer

Publication history

Monk Keefer first appeared in Avengers #12 (January 1965), and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. He first appeared as Ape-Man in Daredevil #10-11 (October, December 1965) by Stan Lee, Bob Powell, and Wally Wood.

The character subsequently appears in Daredevil #39-41 (April-June 1968), Daredevil Annual #2 (1971), Marvel Team-Up #25 (September 1974), X-Men #94-95 (August-October 1975), and Iron Man #115-116 (October-November 1978), in which he dies. The character appears posthumously in Iron Man #139 (October 1980) and Classic X-Men #3 (November 1986).

Ape-Man appeared as part of the "Ani-Men" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #16, and in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #24.

Fictional character biography

With a group of other criminals, professional criminal Gordon "Monk" Keefer attempted a robbery of a Stark warehouse, and was defeated by Captain America.

Along with Bird-Man, Cat-Man, and Frog-Man, Keefer was recruited for his great strength by a man named the Organizer to form the Ani-Men. The Organizer was secretly Abner Jonas, a candidate for mayor of New York City, who sent the Ani-Men on missions to undermine the current administration. Daredevil defeated them and the Ani-Men and Organizer all went to prison. Later, Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man formed a team called the "Unholy Three" with the Exterminator, and fought Daredevil again. The Unholy Three, as a team of independent thieves, fought Daredevil and Spider-Man and were defeated.

Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man later rejoined the Ani-Men, and the Ani-Men went to work for Count Nefaria. Nefaria's scientists submitted the unwitting Ani-Men to processes that gave them superhuman powers and animal-like forms. The Ani-Men invaded the Cheyenne Mountain missile base for Count Nefaria, and fought the X-Men.

The Ani-Men lost their superhuman powers and reverted back to normal. Nefaria sent the four original Ani-Men to kill Tony Stark, however the Spymaster detonated a bomb with which he had intended to kill Stark, and the resulting explosion killed the Ani-Men instead.

Powers and abilities

Originally, Keefer had no superhuman powers. He was an athletic man with a powerful build and considerable strength, and an excellent hand-to-hand combatant trained in boxing and wrestling techniques.

While employed by the Exterminator, Keefer wielded a "time-displacement ray" ("T-ray") gun that fired a ray which projected its victim into a limbo-like inter-dimensional void. The gun could thus "displace" a victim for a limited period of time, such as 30 minutes. A ray blast of sufficient intensity could exile a victim to the inter-dimensional void permanently.

Keefer was later subjected to an unknown mutagenic process administered by Count Nefaria's scientists which temporarily gave him a build resembling that of an ape, and gave him superhuman strength and enhanced his durability, agility, and reflexes.

Roy McVey

Publication history

The second Ape-Man appeared in Daredevil #157-158 (March, May 1979), and was created by Roger McKenzie, Mary Jo Duffy, and Gene Colan.

Ape-Man appeared as part of the "Ani-Men" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #16, and in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #24.

Fictional character biography

After the deaths of the original Ani-Men, the Death-Stalker recruits a new team of Ani-Men, with a new Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man. He sends the new Ani-Men to capture Matt Murdock. The Death-Stalker murders Ape-Man and Cat-Man by electrocution upon the completion of their mission.