Man-Bull first appeared in Daredevil #78-79, and was created by Gerry Conway and Gary Friedrich. The character subsequently appeared in Daredevil #95-96, Claws of the Cat #4, Iron Man #72, Daredevil #129, and Daredevil #144. The character did not appear again for some time, until The Incredible Hulk #341, and he then appeared in Marvel Year-in-Review '92, The Amazing Spider-Man: Chaos in Calgary #4, Captain America #413, and New Warriors #36. He disappeared again for a time, before appearing in She-Hulk #10, Gravity #1, Wolverine #30, Spider-Man Unlimited #12, Underworld #3, and Punisher War Journal #13-15. Man-Bull received an entry in the original Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #6, and in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #1.
William "Bill" Taurens was born in Camden, New Jersey. He was hired by Mister Kline to round up people to test an experimental serum made by his agent The Professor. Although assisted by Itch and Freak Face, his attempts were thwarted by Daredevil. As a result, Bill ended up being a guinea pig for the serum which turned him into a humanoidbull. Becoming Man-Bull, he fought Daredevil who defeated Man-Bull by throwing him into a wall, Man-Bull regressed back to Bill and was arrested by the police. When Itch snuck in the Man-Bull serum into Bill's prison cell which permanently transformed him, Man-Bull attempted to take his revenge on Daredevil and the two have clashed on several different occasions. He also clashed with The Cat in a bar fight. Man-Bull was later recruited by Melter and Whiplash to join Black Lama's Death Squad where they ran afoul of Iron Man at a convention. Man-Bull eventually began to turn savage; he lost the power of speech, sprouted a tail, and grew more inhuman. In this state, he was encountered by the Grey Hulk. As Man-Bull continued to deteriorate, he was recruited by the Wizard to join his Frightful Four alongside himself, Trapster, and Dreadknight. They attacked a rodeo arena and ran afoul of Spider-Man and Turbine. Man-Bull later regained the power of speech somehow and joined Armadillo, Equinox, Hypno-Hustler, Chip Martin, and Jackson Wheele at a Villains Anonymous meeting. Man-Bull later joined the Constrictor, Tombstone, Warhawk, and a number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, in raiding an AIM facility which was working on a Null android from technology stolen from Reed Richards. Later returning to villainy and now sprouting green-hair, he returned to New York City and fought the Thing. When Al Kraven began collecting a zoo of animal-themed superhumans, Man-Bull is clearly seen in one of the cages. He later battled Grizzly who knocked him out and snapped off his left horn. During the Dark Reign storyline, Man-Bull was among the villains analyzed by Quasimodo for Norman Osborn. When imprisoned at The Raft, Man-Bull later fought Absorbing Man in the Annual Raft Boxing Tournament and lost to him in the final round. During the "Fear Itself" storyline, Man-Bull is among the villains that escapes from the Raft after what Juggernaut, in the form of Kuurth: Breaker of Stone, did to it. When he, Basilisk, and Griffin are seen robbing a bank, Hercules arrives and discovers that the fourth person with the villains is actually Hecate. When a resurrected Kyknos ends up fighting Hercules, Man-Bull and Basilisk flee. After Hercules recovers from his fight with Kyknos, he and Griffin managed to seek out Basilisk and Man-Bull and convince them to help fight Kyknos and Hecate. The villains approach Hecate and Kyknos using a ruse involving Hercules being turned to stone. Hercules quickly revives and saves the villains by killing Kyknos. Hecate later escapes. Following the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Man-Bull was among the villains taking part in the riot at a prison. Rogue and Mimic were the only ones to stop the riot where they copied the powers of Armadillo, Equinox, and Man-Bull to do so. Man-Bull later robs an armored truck and is possibly fatally shot by the Punisher. As part of the "All-New, All-Different Marvel," Man-Bull encountered the Emerald Warlock on Santorini and infused him with the energies that caused him to believe that he was the actual Minotaur. With some help from Hecate, Scarlet Witch agreed to help Man-Bull. During the "Hunted" storyline, Man-Bull is among the animal-themed superhumans that were captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant for Kraven the Hunter's Great Hunt. After most of the animal-themed superheroes regrouped, it was mentioned by Toad that Man-Bull was killed amidst the chaos caused by the Hunter-Bots. In the pages of the "Ruins of Ravencroft," Man-Bull turns up alive and appears as an inmate at Ravencroft following it's rebuilding.
Powers and abilities
Man-Bull possesses superhuman strength, agility, and endurance and a high-level resistance to injury.
Other versions
Spider-Ham
In the Spider-Ham universe, Man-Bull's counterpart in this reality is a frog named Bull-Frog.
