Cat-Man and Kitten

Cat-Man was created by artist Irwin Hasen and made his debut in 1940's "Crash Comics" #4.  Cat-Man was the hero with nine lives, and he did die a few times in his stories.  Eventually this gimmick was stopped, as his nine lives were quickly being used up.  Cat-Man eventually starred in his own title, basically an anthology comic in which he had the lead story.  It was, more or less, a continuation of "Crash Comics" and continued the volume numbering (although the volume and issue numbers would soon cease making sense).

Here is Cat-Man's debut in "Crash Comics" #4 (September 1940).

The first time Cat-Man appeared on a cover was the following issue, "Crash Comics" #5 (November 1940).    

When the first issue of "Cat-Man Comics" appeared, the credits read "By Martin Panzer and Chas. M. Quinlan".  Charles Quinlan took over the art for several more of the stories and drew a new costume for Cat-Man.  His stories, more than the two "Crash Comics" stories, are what many people who are fans of the character remember.  

Here is the lead story from "Cat-Man Comics" #1 (May 1941).    

By issue #5 kid sidekicks were all the rage, due to Batman's partner Robin.  So obviously Cat-Man needed his own kid sidekick, but Quinlan decided to do something different.  Instead of a boy sidekick, like many male heroes had, Cat-Man's new partner in crimefighting would be a young girl! Kitten is, I believe, the first preteen girl sidekick in American comics.  

Here is the lead story from "Cat-Man Comics" #5 (December 1941).  

The ending is a bit silly, because Katie Conn has made her desire to fight crime as The Kitten known.  You'd think at this point someone would figure out Cat-Man's secret too.  Katie would later team up with another kid sidekick from "Cat-Man Comics", The Deacon's partner Mickey, to form a team known as The Little Leaders.  But I'll try get more into that some time later.  

I hope everyone enjoyed these stories.  Thanks to all of the real heroes at Digital Comic Museum who provided these scans for all of us to read.