Tigra

Biography

Tigra (Greer Grant Nelson) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Roy Thomas and artist Wally Wood (Marie Severin was then brought in to help layout the art), with her early adventures written by Linda Fite, the character first appeared as the superpowered and gadget-wielding crime fighter the Cat in The Claws of the Cat #1 (November 1972). She first appeared as Tigra in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974), by writer Jenny Blake Isabella and artist Don Perlin.

== Publication history == The Cat was introduced in one of a trio of Marvel Comics aimed at a female audience, alongside Night Nurse and Shanna the She-Devil. Marvel writer-editor Roy Thomas recalled in 2007:

[Editor-in-chief Stan Lee] had the idea, and I think the names, for all three. He wanted to do some books that would have special appeal to girls. We were always looking for way to expand our franchise. My idea...was to try to get women to write them. And of course, if we could get a woman to draw them, too, that was great. Stan tapped [artist] Marie [Severin]...for The Cat. ...[Writer] Linda Fite was working on staff, had done a couple of X-Men back-up features". Marie Severin commented on the characters design stating "They wanted her to look like a cat. The sash was my idea, I'm pretty sure. The sash was just an element of flair, not having a tail. She had something on her feet so she could climb buildings. that all made sense in the realm of the nonsense of comic books" Claws of the Cat #1 by Fite and Severin was published in November 1972. The series lasted four issues, each with a different art team. Severin was teamed with acclaimed 1950s EC Comics artist Wally Wood as inker for the premiere, followed by Severin and inker Jim Mooney in issue #2; newcomer Paty Greer co-penciling with 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books legend Bill Everett, who also inked, in issue #3; and Jim Starlin and Alan Weiss co-penciling the finale, with Frank McLaughlin inking. A fifth issue of the series was drawn by Ramona Fradon, but the title was cancelled due to lack of sales on previous issues. Severin attributes the character's sensual appearance to Wood: "I remember saying, 'My God, I drew this woman and Wally inked her like she's wrapped in Saran Wrap.' His storytelling always had lovely inking, nice blacks and everything, but I didn't have her that revealing. The boys loved his work, though." The Cat appeared alongside Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #8 (April 1973) during her series' brief run. After a year's absence, she was revamped as the superpowered, part-animal Tigra in a two-part story in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974; "Giant-Size" refers to the comic's page-count, not giant creatures) and Werewolf by Night #20 (August 1974). Writer Jenny Blake Isabella recounted "My memory may be a bit shaky here, but I recall the Giant-Size books were approved and put on the schedule without a lot of lead time... I think I got the assignment one day, pitched the idea on the next, and one day later was sitting down with Roy [Thomas] and Gil Kane to work out what Tigra would look like." He also names Don Perlin and John Romita Sr. as having a hand in Tigra's appearance, and credits Thomas with coming up with the name. Tigra made her solo-feature debut with a 15-page story in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Monsters Unleashed #10 (February 1975), followed by a brief run in the umbrella series Marvel Chillers #3-7 (February–October 1976), and one more solo story in Marvel Premiere #42 (June 1978). Like The Claws of the Cat, Marvel Chillers was also cancelled due to struggling sales. Tigra went on to guest star throughout the Marvel line, often appearing in issues of the superhero-team comic The Avengers and later in the cast of the spin-off comic West Coast Avengers. She starred in the four-issue miniseries Tigra (May–August 2002) by writer Christina Z. and artist Mike Deodato, and has since guest starred in She-Hulk, Civil War, various Avengers comics, and elsewhere. Tigra appeared as a supporting character in Avengers Academy from issue #1 (August 2010) to its final issue, #39 (January 2013).

== Fictional character biography ==

=== The Cat ===

Greer Grant was a native of Chicago, Illinois. She was a sophomore at the University of Chicago when she met policeman Bill Nelson, and she left college to marry him. During this marriage Bill took control of her autonomy, disallowing her from returning to college or doing everyday tasks herself. Bill was killed in an off-duty shooting, leaving Greer to find a job of her own. After weeks of searching, she ran into her old physics professor, Dr. Joanne Tumolo, and signed on as her research assistant. Tumolo was working on human enhancement methods effective for women. For several reasons, including distrust for the haphephobic Malcolm Donalbain (Tumolo's financial backer), distaste for Shirlee Bryant (his chosen subject), and Greer's own enthusiasm, Tumolo decided to let her friend undergo the treatment as well. Greer emerged from the regimen with greatly enhanced physical and mental capabilities, including the ability to feel others' pain. Shirlee gained similar physical capacity but considerably less mental empowerment, a result blamed on her lack of adherence to the preparatory regimen. Tumolo investigated further, and discovered that Donalbain had created a mind-control device and a set of cat-themed gadgets, with which he intended to make Shirlee his mindless superhuman enforcer. However, Shirlee fell to her death while testing the grapple-claw. Tumolo presented the story to Greer, along with a spare Cat costume and gadget-set as evidence. However, Tumolo is killed in a bombing before she can inform the police. Greer then donned the suit, and set out to put an end to his scheme. With her powers, she adapted quickly to the strange garb and attacked Donalbain's headquarters and he committed suicide rather than let her touch him. A fire set off by the earlier fight then destroyed Donalbain's headquarters, including his copy of the enhancement machine.

=== Tigra === "The Tigra" is the historical defender and champion of the Cat People, a humanoid race created by sorcery during the Dark Ages. Concerned about the Cat People's uncontrollable population growth and savagery, a community of sorcerers banished them to a demonic netherworldly realm. The first two Cat People, who were capable scientists and sorcerers, evaded banishment through their magic. They continued to live among humanity in secret and worked to refine the Cat People's biology to make a peaceful integration into the human population possible. They were constantly persecuted and required a protector. Discovering that the original spell for transforming cats into Cat People like themselves had been rendered inoperative, they created a process combining science, sorcery, and focused mental power that could transform a human female into a "Tigra", a humanoid tiger-like being with abilities that far surpassed those of either race. Dr. Tumolo was among the modern Cat People. When members of Hydra tracked Tumolo down to obtain "the Final Secret" (the Black Death plague, which was another creation of the Cat People), Greer once again donned the Cat costume and drove them off. However, she was mortally injured by a blast from one of their alpha radiation pistols. Rapidly dying from the radiation's effects, Greer is transformed into a Tigra to save her life. Though initially unable to change back to her human self, Tigra later receives a mystical cat-headed amulet that allows her to transform at will. She seldom uses the amulet, preferring her feline form and mostly abandoning her civilian identity. Tigra joins the Avengers after Moondragon uses her mental powers to compel a dozen unaffiliated heroes to audition. After leaving the Avengers, Tigra resumes her modeling career, moving to San Francisco when employers on the East Coast proved unreceptive to the idea of a cat person model. Tigra accepts an offer from Vision to become a founding member of the West Coast Avengers. Tigra seeks help from her Avengers teammates in overcoming the "cat" side of her personality. She is transported with the West Coast Avengers by Balkatar to the realm of the Cat People. Ultimately, she came into contact with the banished colony of Cat People, whose king agreed to resolve her crisis in exchange for carrying out her historical function by murdering Master Pandemonium. Though Tigra initially accepts their terms, she refuses to violate the Avengers' code against killing, sparing Master Pandemonium. In response, the Cat People strips Tigra of her powers. In the ensuing battle, Tigra regains her powers and successfully integrates her human and feline selves. She also loses the ability to shift back to a human form, though as before she showed no sense of loss for her human identity. After returning to the team, Tigra transforms into a more animal-like feline form, losing her human intellect completely and becoming a danger to her fellow Avengers. Tigra is shrunken to the size of a cat by Hank Pym and kept in a cage in his lab while the team tended to other urgent matters. Tigra escapes into the suburbs, where she lives as a wild animal until she is rescued and restored to her former appearance and stability by Agatha Harkness. During a fight with the Pacific Overlords, Iron Man is incapacitated and Tigra wounded. Tigra escapes in the Avengers' Quinjet, but loses consciousness and crash-lands in Arnhem Land. Rescued by Aborigines, she decides to stay put while recovering, naming Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) as her replacement. Tigra and the Avengers are entrapped by Morgan le Fay and brought to an alternate universe where le Fay rules, fighting alongside the others as one of the "queen"'s guards. After the defeat of Morgan, Tigra leaves for space with Starfox. Tigra returns to Earth with the Avengers Infinity team during the Maximum Security storyline, during which she helped to save Earth from becoming a penal colony for alien criminals.

=== Civil War === Tigra fought along Iron Man's side during the Civil War, supporting the Superhuman Registration Act. Pretending to switch allegiances, she infiltrates Captain America's Secret Avengers team as a mole. She passes information to Iron Man undetected until the end of the conflict, when she is discovered and "outed" by Captain America's own spy Hulkling.