Catman was originally Thomas Reese Blake, a world-famous trapper of jungle cats who turned to crime because he had grown bored with hunting and had squandered most of his millions. He became a burglar who committed his crimes in a catsuit made out of an ancient African cloth. His costume was modeled after Catwoman's disguise. Catwoman was none too pleased to have her modus operandi copied, which resulted in Selina Kyle (Catwoman) being wrongly implicated for Catman's crimes at least once, and so she initially helped Batman against him.