The Beast of Selbridge
The Leopard from Lime Street appeared in the British comic Buster from March 27th 1976 to May 18th 1985. Written by Tom Tully, it was drawn in a realistic comic style by Mike Western and Eric Bradbury in direct contrast to the stylized cartoony style of the rest of Buster.William "Billy" Farmer is an ordinary thirteen year old boy living in the fictional city of Selbridge with his uncle Charlie and aunt Joan, and is a wannabe photographer and editor for his school's magazine. One day he is scratched by a sick leopard which had been experimented on with a radioactive serum, and returning home Billy discovers he now has the abilities of a leopard. Fashioning himself a costume he decides to use his new powers to fight crime while also taking photos of himself which he sells to Thaddeus Clegg, the editor of the Selbridge Sun and a greedy man desperate to prove that Selbridge's new costumed hero is a menace to society.
Starting in 2017 Rebellion has been republishing the stories. He appears in the 2018 comic book The Vigilant where he is now in his twenties and teams up with other British comic characters. He also made a brief appearance in Zenith, where he was part of a multiverse spanning team of heroes before being killed.
Tropes used in the comic include:
- Abusive Parent: Billy's uncle is shown multiple time hitting Billy and bullying him whenever he gets the chance.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Billy finds himself with all the same abilities of a leopard and using an old costume dresses up as one.
- Comic-Book Time: Originally the opening narration would call Billy thirteen, but eventually this was dropped in favour of calling him young. This keeps him only slightly older than the intended readers of Buster, who ranged from seven to twelve years old, unlike Spider-Man comics which were intended for teenagers.
- Corrupted Character Copy: Charlie Farmer is the exact opposite of Ben Parker, being a petty and lazy man who is abusive towards his wife and nephew.
- Costume Evolution: Billy's original outfit was a far more animalistic Leopard themed costume, but eventually he transitioned into a more superhero type of costume.
- The Cowl: Strangely Billy falls into this role despite his age and his inspiration being The Cape since he uses ambush tactics at night, has a Superpowered Evil Side, is seen as a Terror Hero by criminals, and his costume and abilities mean people sometimes mistaken him for some sort of monster.
- Expy:
- Billy is a clear Spider-Man Send-Up, who was scratched by a radioactive leopard while being raised by his uncle Charlie and aunt Joan. However there are several differences that keep him from being a Captain Ersatz: his uncle is still alive and abusive, his aunt has a bad hip which makes things difficult for her and provides a more clear issue as opposed to aunt May's vague health problems, he lacks a costumed rouge's gallery, and while being determined to make money he's more naturally heroic and selfless than when Spider-Man started out.
- Thaddeus Clegg is a pretty obvious copy of J. Jonah Jameson. However, he seems to be slightly worse than his inspiration as even back during the Lee-Ditko comics Jameson would pay Peter Parker the amount he promised him for a photo, even if that price was still lower than it should be.
- Debra Stevens seems one for Lana Lang, as she investigates Leopardman while suspecting there's a connection to Billy. A girl with a similar appearance to her appears later seemingly as a secretary to Clegg, so if she's the same character then Debra acts as an equivalent to Betty Brant.
- Hate Sink: Uncle Charlie is shown to be nothing more than a cruel and selfish man who hits and bullies his nephew, wastes the little money they have at the pub and by betting, and is mentioned to hit his wife.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Leopardman is hated and feared by the public since they see him as either a criminal or some sort of half-leopard monster. While he is angered by this, Billy it's above using this perception of him to his advantage so that he can terrify people.
- Hooks and Crooks: Billy uses this as his main weapon, which he calls the claw-cord, and his abilities allow him to use it to beat criminals with guns pretty easily.
- Horrifying Hero: The public think Leopardman is this as they think he is some kind of monster, though a few eventually figure out he's just wearing a costume.
- Kid Hero: He's only thirteen when he gets his powers.
- Retcon: Billy’s claws were originally just shown to be part of his costume, but eventually they were revealed to be part of him as he is able to sheath them.
- Spider-Man Send-Up: This series is basically the UK's answer to the famous webswinger.
- Spider-Sense: Billy obviously has this, and why he has this makes just as much sense as why his inspiration has it.
- Starter Villain: Cat-Man, a thief with no powers, is Billy's first enemy.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Occasionally when Billy is angered enough, he will become far more aggressive and animalistic. While he usually snaps out of this very quickly and this trope isn't as extreme as in most examples, he notably doesn't hold back when fighting and at one point starts hunting his uncle after being beaten by him.
- Super-Reflexes: His leopard abilities gave Billy superhuman agility and stamina as well as perfect balance.
- Superhero Sobriquets: The closest thing to this that Billy has is the Beast of Selbridge.
- Terror Hero: Billy is this since everyone is convinced the Leopardman is a dangerous beast, and his abilities often frighten criminals into believing he can't be human.
- Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Rarely saves the world but he often has to save people from whatever problem appears.
- With Great Power Comes Great Perks: Zig-Zagged because unlike Spider-Man Billy doesn't have anyone to teach him that With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, and as a result his main reason for becoming a crime fighter is to make money through taking pictures for the Selbridge Sun. However also unlike Spider-Man he doesn't need to be taught this lesson as he's quick to jump in and save people, and his money mainly goes into supporting his aunt.
