Catspaw

Little is known about April Dumaka's past. During the Dominator occupation of Earth, she was betrayed by a man called Ansis, who turned her over for experimentation in their underground chambers. (Legionnaires #9) When her metagene was activated, it turned her into a catlike girl with claws, heightened senses, super-human agility, (and made her aggressively flirtatious).

Fortunately her chamber was near Danielle Foccart's. Danielle could "talk" to computers and sensed their impending destruction. She freed them along with Xao Jin and Bobb Kohan, and the four of them escaped death in the chambers. (Legion vol. 4 #33)

While seeking shelter, they encountered the SW6 Legionnaires, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, who took them to their command post. There April got accustomed to her new self and when Reep Daggle decided to help establish the SW6 team on New Earth, he brought April into the group. He gave her the super-hero code name of Catspaw. (#41) Daggle noted that she was "charmingly naive and self-accepting, in a possibly bestial way. Seems on the sexually aggressive side." (2995: Legion Sourcebook) Indeed, Catspaw seemed content to chase the boy Legionnaires like mice.

This era of post-Crisis Legion continuity ended with the coming of Zero Hour. Catspaw vanished just before the end. (Valor #22) The vol. 4 Legion's timeline is no longer valid, on any parallel Earth.

Notes

Tom Bierbaum said that Catspaw was created by artist Jason Pearson, and added:

"At one point he and we were trying to work out a 'Legionnaires' fill-in that would have given more of her background, but we didn't start thinking about that possibility until our time there was almost up. Basically, Catspaw was just a woman on Earth when the Dominators were secretly nabbing people and experimenting on them. There was a boyfriend character (from the Legionnaires story where they meet all the Protys on Antares, I think his name was Ansis) who was supposed to have somehow betrayed her and been the cause of her being kidnapped by Earthgov/Dominators."

Powers

Catspaw possesses enhanced, catlike agility and speed. She is a hunter and tracker with good combat skills. She has sharp claws and teeth.

Reboot: Earth-247

The Catspaw of Earth-247 made only a cameo appearance. She was seen as a candidate under review by Leland McCauley as a prospective member of his Workforce. (Legionnaires #69)

Other Media

The Legion appeared in the comic book continuation of the Smallville television series. In Smallville Season 11 #49 (31 May 2013), Booster Gold saves a blue-skinned, feral alien that was described as a "Dumakan." This is a reference to Catspaw's last name.