Wildcat

Henry Grant was determined that his son Ted would not be frail, as he had been. And so, Ted was raised close to his father in a very athletic lifestyle which included the sport of boxing. Ted was a natural and and eventually decided pursue professional boxing. He was even good enough to compete in the 1936 Olympics. (Justice Society vol. 2 #7)

But for all his good intentions, Henry Grant's gambling addiction ultimately brought about the demise of his family. When his gambling debt became insurmountable, the mob killed Ted's mother and faked Henry's death as well. Henry was left alive but alone and penniless. Henry died in 1938 and Ted never forgave him for being so weak. (JSA Classified #27)

At this time of his mother's death, Ted was attending college still training in boxing. Henry's gambling left Ted destitute, and the boy he fell under the wing of boxing coach Joe Morgan (aka Nat Milligan), who also taught him gymnastics. Ted was directionless until one night when he saved boxing champ "Socker" Smith from a mugging. This renewed his interest in boxing and he quickly became a sensation.

In his first championship bout, Ted's gloves were rigged without his knowledge to poison his friend and opponent, Socker Smith, who died as a result. Ted was inspired by mystery man Green Lantern to become the vigilante called Wildcat, and forced his handlers to clear Grant’s name. (Sensation #1) After the scandal cleared, Ted was re-awarded his title as heavyweight champion of the world. (#2)

Wildcat eagerly threw in with his contemporaries in the wartime group called the All-Star Squadron. After the war, he became a core member of the Justice Society. (All-Star Comics #24) Wildcat also maintained a sexual (but apparently non-romantic) relationship with Hippolyta during her time with the JSA. (Wonder Woman vol. 2 #185) Ted has also suggested that he had a sexual relationship with his 1940s adversary, the Huntress I (Tigress II). (JSA3 #10)

Postwar

In 1945, Wildcat had a life-altering encounter with King Inferno. The villain had wagered against the demon Naedon on one of Ted Grant's boxing matches. The price for King Inferno was the nine souls in his coven. He attempted to force Grant to throw the match, but when Ted refused, Zatara stepped in to help. The magician prevented King Inferno from turning Ted into a real cat, and their intertwining spells resulted in the coven's souls being transferred to Ted. Wildcat gained a real, supernatural nine lives! (JSA #53, JSA 80-Page Giant 2010 #1)

Wildcat bore two sons, neither of which did he have the opportunity to raise. In the late 1940s, he and his girlfriend Irina had a son, Jake. Jake was kidnapped shortly after his is birth by Wildcat's enemy, the Yellow Wasp. (1st app. Sensation #20) Ted never saw the boy or the Yellow Wasp again, and Ted and Irina split up afterwards. (Secret Origins #50, JSA Secret Files #1) The Yellow Wasp retired from villainous adventuring and raised Jake as his own son. But the Wasp's other son became jealous of their closeness and at some point, killed them both. The Wasp's biological son later became the villain called Killer Wasp and joined Johnny Sorrow's Injustice Society. (JSA3 #21, JSA Secret Files #2)

Wildcat's second son was the product of his affair with the spitfire, Marilyn Bronson, a woman whom he saved from the Gambler. Ted and Marilyn were together for only one night but he also discovered that she was a super-human. She was a were-cat, and helped Wildcat fight the Huntress. Bronson was knocked out in the fight and Ted took her to see Dr. Mid-Nite. The doctor gave Marilyn a drug to help curb her transformations and informed her that she was pregnant. By that time, Ted had already decided to leave her alone—"for her own good." He never learned of her pregnancy and she bore a son, Tom Bronson, who inherited her power to become a man/cat. (Justice Society of America vol. 3 #1-2, 80-Page Giant #1)

Silver Age

After the JSA's breakup in 1951, Wildcat, like other members continued to have occasional adventures. With the help of Wildcat, Black Canary and Starman defeat the Huntress and Sportsmaster. (Brave and the Bold #62) Soon after this, Ted lost the first of his new "nine lives" in a battle with Solomon Grundy. (JSA #53) He also helped the Spectre defeat the mystically possessed "Happy" Jack Dold. (The Spectre vol. 1 #3)

After the debut of the Justice League of America, the Justice Society also officially reformed with several younger members. Wildcat was a core member of this group and in one of their first cases, he suffered brain damage from the Icicle's mind control. This caused his speech to deteriorate. (All-Star Comics #66) He was then badly injured in a battle with the Thorn, and the JSA discovered his earlier brain damage. (#72) Surgeons successfully struggled to save Ted's life (#73) and he subsequently took a leave of absence from the JSA to open a private gym in Gotham for underprivileged kids. (Adventure Comics #464)

His boxing career was rather long-lived as well. Grant mentioned that he once fought Sugar Ray Leonard (whose career was 1977-1988). (JSA Classified #9)

Several JSAers met their end battling Extant in the event known as Zero Hour, but ironically, both Ted and the Flash gained a measure of youth in the process. (Starman vol. 2 #20)

The eternally youthful members of the JSA reassembled again to help the JLA free the Spectre and stave off an imminent invasion from the 5th Dimension.

Though he is limited to hand-to-hand combat, Ted has repeatedly proven his worth despite his advanced age. He remained semi-active with the JSA, teaming up again with a new Justice League. During this case, the rest of the JSA learned for the first time about Ted's "nine lives," another of which he lost in this battle. (JLA #28-31)

He has also been persuaded to aid the so-called "Birds of Prey," at the request of Black Canary. (Birds of Prey #81) Wildcat has teamed up with Catwoman several times in the past, and appeared to have trained her as well. Their relationship exhibited a certain amount of sexual tension. (Catwoman/Wildcat)

Note

The Super DC Calendar 1976 gave Ted Grant's birthday as September 5.

JSA: Vengeance for Yolanda

When the JSA's Sandman died, the remaining members reassembled with other second generation heroes to defeat the evil mage, Mordru. (JSA #1)He repelled the entire Injustice Society—single-handedly, with a broken arm, and naked. (JSA #10) The Killer Wasp was a member of this new villain group. The Wasp finally revealed the fate of Ted's son, Jake. (JSA #21)

At this time, the JSA recruited Yolanda Montez's cousin, Alexander Montez, to serve as the JSA's Museum Curator. (#26) Alex had a secret agenda; he was secretly acquiring the power of Eclipso's black diamonds in order to defeat the demon and avenge Yolanda's death. (#45)

Ted's past again came calling when the new Crimson Avenger attempted to exact her vengeance for the death of Charles Durham. She claimed that Durham had been framed for murder by Wildcat, then executed. Her supernatural guns pierced both he and Power Girl. Wildcat won this fight by forcing the Crimson Avenger to question the source of her powers, and drove her away. By the end of this encounter, he had lost lost three more of his nine lives. (#37, 52-53)

Once Alex Montez acquired all of Eclipso's diamonds (#49-50), he took the name Eclipso (II) and joined a rival team formed by Black Adam's rival team. (#52) This of course led to a confrontation with the JSA where a stray blast from Eclipso killed his lover, Nemesis. The tattoo that bound Eclipso within Alex was also severed and Alex's hold on Eclipso wavered. He committed suicide in grief of his actions. (#58) Ted delivered the sad news to Alex's parents just as he had to Yolanda's. (#59)

Wildcat was forced to intentionally exhaust his remaining "lives" when he and the Flash were captured by the Dragon King. The King used the Spear of Destiny to imprison them and their only escape was death — Ted's. He convinced Jay to kill him down to his last life, thus rendering Wildcat without super-powers and able to leave the Spear's sphere of influence. (JSA Classified #8-9)

Wildcat learned he had another special attribute during the JSA's battle with the Gentleman Ghost. The Ghost could only be defeated by someone of noble blood and as it turned out, Ted was descended from a 17th century duke. Wildcat finished him with a sword to the supernatural throat. The JSA's headquarters was destroyed and the elder members considered disbanding the team. (JSA #87)

The Wildcat of Earth-One

In the original DC multiverse, there was a Wildcat of Earth-One who was very similar to the original (of Earth-Two). He was featured in six adventures. This Ted Grant was a former heavyweight champion of the world. Little is known of his early days as Wildcat, but his fortunes waxed and waned. The first five of his adventures teamed him with Batman to battle various mundane menaces (though they did have to outwit the Joker on one occasion). (Brave & Bold #88, 97, 110, 118, 127) This Wildcat's final appearance was a team-up with the Creeper where they fought that hero's enemy, Proteus (this team-up cements the argument that he was from Earth-One). (Super-Team Family #2)

Nothing in these Wildcat adventures indicated that he was active during World War II.

In Other Media

Wildcat was a featured character "Enter the Outsiders", season 1, episode 6 of Batman: The Brave and the Bold (9 Jan. 2009).

Powers

Wildcat is a top-notch hand-to-hand combatant who has helped trained some of the most accomplished heroes, including Batman, Black Canary and Catwoman.

His only metahuman ability was his "nine lives." When killed, he was magically revived and restored to full health. He used the last of these recently. (JSA:Classified #9)

Appearances + References