Beloved DC hero Batman has never run out of vicious villains that challenged the Dark Knight in his attempt to clean Gotham City with his long-time dream to make it crime-free. Amid many foes, the Caped Crusader once faced his ultimate doppelgänger, Thomas Blake.
Blake possesses several traits of Bruce Wayne. To begin with, he has been another rich mogul in Gotham City but eventually bored with his wealth and moved to Africa, where he developed magical agility and prowess in combat. Catman, who was once in love with Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, ended up being the nemesis of Batman as he started his crime spree.
Who Is Thomas Blake?
Thomas Blake, also known as Catman, is a former wealthy animal trapper who later turned out to be a vicious criminal in Gotham City. Blake was particularly inspired by Batman’s influence in Gotham, yet he chose the path of a villain with all his abilities he derived and developed in Africa, consisting of cat lore.
Blake’s Catman would appear in his catsuit— made from ancient African cloth that he believed granted him nine lives— complemented with a cape, cowl, gloves, boots, and a chest emblem bearing the initials ‘CM’ unlike a graphic logo similar to Batman.
The Batman nemesis’ crime spree is recognizable as Blake lays out his signature cat-theme crimes. Catman, who has also been a member of the Secret Six and The Misfits, was in love with Catwoman and invited her with open arms to join the saga of his crime. However, Selina Kyle rejected his proposal and helped Batman to catch him.
In several iterations, the villain encountered Batman and had a hardcore fight whenever they got into a brawl.
Thomas Blake and Batman Encounters in Comics
Catman appeared in several iterations of the Batman lore. However, the villain never got to prominence to the likes of classic Batman villains, including Joker. Still, Catman gave hell to the Gotham hero on many occasions. Catman made his first appearance in Detective Comics #311. In the issue, he fell in love with Kyle and eventually encountered Batman and Robin. The duo discovered the true identity of the villain and tracked him to an underground catacomb. Catman seemingly died as he plunged into an underground river.
The notorious villain resurfaced in another issue of Detective Comics in 1963 and a new series of crimes in Gotham. In this Detective Comics #318 issue, Blake also appeared to have perished when his speedboat hit a buoy and exploded.
Later, he reappeared in Freedom Fighters #10, Batman #322-323-324, Detective Comics #526, Batman #371-Detective Comics #538, and several other issues. Blake has been a recurring villain of Batman in the comics, which largely involved Catwoman.
Despite Blake’s very appearance and tactics seem to be the copycat of Batman, Catman has been a fighter, a brute force under the shade of crime, and a worthy Batman villain.
