WILDCAT II (Ted Grant)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Bill Finger and Irwin Hasen

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Ted Grant
Occupation: Former heavyweight boxing champion, former owner Grant's Gym, now adventurer
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Dr. Henry Grant (father, deceased), unnamed mother (deceased); Jake (son, presumed deceased), Yolanda Montez (goddaughter, deceased); Tommy Bronson (son)
Base of Operation: mobile, but mostly New York City, NY
Group Affiliation(s): All-Star Squadron, Justice Society of America
Gender: Male
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 171 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black, now greying at temples
First Appearance: Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942)
Creators: Bill Finger and Irwin Hasen

OVERVIEW

Inspired by the original Green Lantern, ex-boxer Ted Grant became the crime-fighting Wildcat in 1942. He was a member of the war-time All-Star Squadron, worked with the Justice Society of America once in 1945, and then functioned as a JSA reserve until permanently joining the team in recent years. Thanks to having gained nine lives (under still unrecorded circumstances), Wildcat seems to be in his early middle age today, even though he is over 80 years old. He is still active in the JSA, and also worked briefly with Guy Gardner's gang at Warriors. Wildcat has trained several younger heroes, including the Batman, Black Canary II, Catwoman, Wildcat III-IV, and Starman (Jack Knight). Wildcat is a kinda rough hero, a brawler, who enjoys using his fists and drinking beer. Ted had a son named Jake who was kidnapped by the Yellow Wasp and never seen again.

HISTORY

Dr. Henry Grant was a successful doctor, but frail and weak. As his son was born, he made a vow that young Theodore, or Ted, would grow up to be a healthy, physical boy. Training from a young age, Ted went to college interested in many sports, but his collegiate career ended too soon as his father's trust ran out of money and he was left penniless.

Ready to pass out from hunger, he saw several men beating a larger man. Coming to his aid and fighting off the attackers, the victim was none other than the World Heavyweight boxing champion, 'Socker' Smith.

Wanting to reward the young man, Smith gave him a job as a sparring partner, sharpening his already considerable skills. Smith's manager, Skinner, saw the potential in young Grant and set him up in his own career as a boxer. Over several months, Ted won his way to the top of his division, the only fighter left was his own mentor, Socker. The public's expectations of the coming bout led Skinner to bet on the underdog, Grant, and hoping to make a fortune, decided to even the odds by placing a needle laced with poison in Grant's glove. As it hit repeatedly during the bout, Smith succumbed to the poison and Grant was immediately arrested for killing the Champ. Grant was taken away, and Skinner thought he was home free.

During a transfer to another jail cell, the police car Grant was in crashed and Ted escaped. Figuring that the manager Skinner must have been behind the poisoning of the champ, Grant decided to find Skinner and make him confess. He was a hunted man, however and overheard some kids talking about the masked hero, the Green Lantern. Deciding to create a diversion, Grant took a black body suit and a cats-head mask and stormed the hideout of Skinner and his thugs. Soundly beating them, he coerced a confession and turned them in to the police, where they confessed to the crime, exonerating Grant. Soon afterward, Grant rightfully won the Heavyweight Boxing title, which he held onto for many years.

Only weeks after beginning to fight crime as Wildcat, Ted met a hillbilly named Hiram 'Stretch' Skinner (no relation to the crooked manager), who had come to the big city to become a private detective. Ted took him on as his assistant, and he aided Wildcat on several cases, never knowing that Ted was indeed the masked hero. Early in his crimefighting career, Wildcat also met up with both The Flash and his inspiration, the Green Lantern, aiding them at a benefit against Polio. He would also meet the heroes again as a member of the All-Star Squadron.

Sometime before 1945, Wildcat had joined with The Justice Society of America, and had only two recorded cases with them before his semi-retirement in 1949. It was at this time that Ted and his girlfriend, Irina, had a child, Jake, who was kidnapped by one of Wildcat's villains, The Golden Wasp. Jake was never seen again and Ted spent several years searching for him. Ted retired undefeated as World Heavyweight Champion and was somewhat comfortable in his retirement.

Ted continued to be an important part of the boxing world, opening up a gym in Gotham City, training the next generations of boxing champions, even helping out the children of his super-heroic colleagues, such as Dinah Lance (the second Black Canary) and Yolanda Montez (who later became his successor as Wildcat), and it has been rumored that a young Bruce Wayne also briefly trained with the former Champ.

But as soon as his former teammates began to actively adventure again, he closed his Gymnasium and devoted his full time to crime fighting.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

Wildcat is a fighter. Merciless with his fists, he is acquainted with dozens of boxing styles from around the world due to his training and years of professional boxing. Wildcat is also capable of using acrobatics in his fighting, due to his holistic training by Joe Morgan (see also The Guardian and The Atom). His tenacity and never-give-up spirit is an inspiration to those around him as is his skills in teaching what he has learned to his fellow teammates.

Wildcat is also gifted with the ability of having more than one 'life', not unlike the mythical properties of a real cat. The circumstances of his acquiring this ability are rather complex (suffice to say that were it not for fellow mystery man Zatara, Ted would now be a cat rather than having a cat's lives), and exactly how many 'lives' he has used up is not entirely clear, but this contributes to his continued vitality into his 80's (he moves and acts like someone in their late 40s).

Ted is also proficient in motorcycle riding, using a special 'Cat-Cycle', a modified stunt cycle in his crime fighting.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Wildcat in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #25 (March 1987)

DCU Heroes Secret Files #1 (February 1999)