Superman Through the Ages! Forum

I do like the Superpets, but probably not for the same reason that say, Gangbuster Thorul probably does.

Even when I got back into superhero comic books thanks to Kurt Busiek and Christopher Priest, I avoided DC because I remembered my older brother told me horror stories about superpets.

Here's how it went down:

MY BROTHER: "Superman has a monkey and a cat with superpowers."

ME: "My God. That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life."

Of course, this was all without context. Now that I know a lot more about Superman, I can tolerate (and even LIKE) the Superpets because they had comparatively very FEW appearances. It wasn't like they popped up to save Superman's bacon regularly, and those few appearances are cute, fun comedy stories. I can no more dislike the Superpets than I can dislike that story where Aunt May temporarily becomes a Herald of Galactus.

But I can't buy the superpets being in the same story with, say, Superman fighting Lex Luthor. This isn't a question of "realism." This is a question of what I as a reader can accept in the context of what is supposed to be an adventure story. Despite the trillions of big bucks Lucas spent on effects, EPISODE I failed to be believable because the idea that a ten year old kid (and not even a brassy, badass kid like the ones in SPY KIDS, at that) could win the space version of the Indianapolis 500 is something that is just not even remotely acceptable.

I know, I know, I'm a classic comics fan and I'm supposed to uncritically slobber all over the 1940s MARVEL FAMILY...but I just can't. The only time this character has been even remotely palatable to me is in THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL serial with tough guy Tom Tyler, and that featured a pulpish, Green Hornet-esque mystery story instead of overly cutesy, condescending idiocy like crocodile-headed gangsters from the planet Punkus.

Sure, Captain Marvel had "wild imagination," but here's the thing: imagination isn't worth anything. Ideas aren't worth anything, either. Every superhero fan has at least ONE great idea. The difference between a fan, and somebody that gets paid to write this stuff for a living is inb how ideas are developed and executed. THUNDERBOLTS is not the most original concept in the world; the story of a supervillain being redeemed by pretending to be heroic goes all the way back to AVENGERS #9, if not older, and everybody from Englehart to Gruenwald has done it at least once. But it was HOW this story was done that made T-Bolts so extraordinary an achievement.

And truth be told,. I'm not exactly wild about the idea of kid sidekicks either and for the exact same reason. Besides the blatant unintentional homoeroticism, taking a little boy and training them to get into a position where they would be in the path of gunfire, is a horrible idea that no sane adult could possibly consent to.

Doc Savage had the right of it: sidekicks only make sense when they're competent adults that can consent to risks. There's a big difference between going into harm's way with big-fisted Renny and gorilla powerful Monk, than with a ten year old boy in red tights armed with a bow and arrow.

Strangely enough, the only kid sidekick I can really accept is Aqualad. Aquaman, at least in the Bob Haney years, was more the patriarch of a family and an adventurer instead of a proper "crimefighter" (witness for instance, Aquaman's encounter with the Fire Trolls). In fact, it's arguable that Haney's AQUAMAN was the first DC comic to really show Marvel influence, owing to the tight-knit FANTASTIC FOUR-esque nature of the "Aquaman family." I'd have to check dates, but weren't Mera and Aquaman married around the same time as Reed and Sue? Anyway, Aqualad makes sense for the same reason Jonny Quest makes sense. Aquaman is an explorer and king and a patriarch, and Garth is his adopted son, almost. OF COURSE Garth is going to go with him everywhere.

JONNY QUEST made sense because usually Race and Dr. Quest weren't usually looking for trouble. Now, if Race and Dr. Quest were crimefighters or spies, you'd better believe Jonny and Hadji wouldn't come along.

Getting back from that tangent...

This brings me to the Krypto the Super-Dog comic book. I bought the first issue recently (unlike certain OTHER people who shall remain nameless but whose name rhymes with "SuperFunky," I usually make it a policy to BUY the books I criticise).

I have to say one thing for it, for good or ill, it sure as Heck looks like the cartoon. This always bothered me about the 90s Martin Pasko GARGOYLES comics, which looked wildly different and had a different style from the show. I'm forced to say, "nu-uh, that's not Goliath. That's not what Goliath looks like."

Still. The first story was an eight page origin recap. This reminds me of the PIRATES OF DARK WATER comic, which covered something as complex as the origin in barely eight pages and had Ren looking for the Sacred Treasures of Rue for the rest of it. The second story in the book was about Super-Dog vs. the Joker's hyenas.

Honestly, you know what this felt like? Imagine if they gave Snarf a spin-off called "The Snarf Show." And they made Snarf fight Mum-Ra's dog Ma-Mutt regularly. And there were no appearances by the Thundercats or Mum-Ra, but tons of guest-spots by the Ro-Bears. I love the cute, cute Ro-Bears from that show, but only because of how they're used: namely, as helpless victims attacked by mutant forces. I cannot buy them in a context where they take center stage.

Frankly I'm surprised that the GARGOYLES comic looked different since Disney usually has a pretty tight grip on such concerns.  Strange.

I have nothing against the Super Pets, actually.  Krypto has served a purpose and really there is nothing as classic as the story of a boy and his dog.  Comet and Streaky never really appealed to me but then again a lot of the Supergirl stories from the sixties and seventies did a whole heck of a lot for me.

Beppo is pure Cold War.  I can't find any fault beyond how silly the outfit looked.  Hell, I bought the action figure so I can't say too much.

I haven't watched my DVD of the Krypto animated series yet, but from little I was able to catch on television it looked like something that has a place in the world but not something I want to set the VCR for.

Yeah I still have a VCR.  I'm behind the times.

Not all of the Super pets stories were silly, some tackle animal rights issues and a few were downright harm warming or in Comet's case heart breaking. But yes, mostly silly and what's wrong with that?

I picked the name Super Monkey because Iron Age fans HATE Super Monkey more than any other Pre-Crisis character. Indeed, whenever they brought up what was so wrong with the classic Superman comics (which of course they never ever read) they always bring up Super Monkey and Superman juggling planets. Which by the way, despite countless idiots repeating it, NEVER EVER happen in any Superman comic.

Well, yeah. The stuff Maggin did with Krypto was pretty amazing, mostly because he played it straight with Krypto, playing him as a hero dog who is occasionally distracted by things that wouldn't distract a human, but nonetheless has the heroic qualities of dogs: devotion, loyalty, fearlessness, etc. I think it may be possible to accept a super-pet here and there if done properly. A super-menagerie is really pushing it.

I'm a big fan of some of the Legion of Super-Pets's appearances in the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes stories in ADVENTURE COMICS as this weird, side corrolary of the Legion . They wouldn't fit into EVERY Legion story (it would be ridiculous if they fought Mordru or the Sun-Eater) but there are some stories that are so truly bizarre, somehow, their presence is almost expected. It's sort of like with Tim Burton's PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE: Pee-Wee is an unusual guy, so he was made to live in an unusual, bonkers world where he fits right in.

It seemed for a while there are two varieties of Legion stories: Big & Cosmic or Insanely Weird. The first included tales like the Sun Eater or the battles against  Femnaz or Zaryan the Conqueror. But there's also a second category of Legion stories that were far less common, that read like Jack Cole PLASTIC MAN tales. The best example would be the Legion's first battle against Evilo, which had a giant that could split into puzzle pieces and a Viking whose power is he can drink anything.


Yeah, I know. It's really terrible when people criticise something they've never really read, isn't it?


Well, in all fairness, Superman has done some pretty over the top stuff. He once created a solar system. If juggling planets is an exaggeration, it isn't much of one.

I find it strange people would criticise Pre-Crisis Superman for things like the Super-Pets...because weren't the Pets pretty much phased out and hadn't appeared in years and years?

I can understand being bothered by the existence of a horse with Superman's powers. Somebody tells you, "there's a monkey with Superman's powers" the instinct is to say, "that's just about the most retarded thing ever." This isn't just Iron Age fanboys...I think at some point that's the response by anyone that's ever heard the idea.

What people aren't looking at is the context: the Super-Pets were hardly a regular part of Superman's world - they had their own surreal corner of it where they made sense.

When people bring up Super Monkey, I think the proper response should be, "well, he didn't have many appearances, and anyway they were mostly cute funny stories." Super-Monkey is cute and funny in these light, brief tales. If Super Monkey is taken OUT of the context of light, brief tales and plopped into, say, a life or death battle with Darkseid, he makes the entire proceedings look ridiculous.

I like Krypto, but I find the rest of the super-pets to be derivative of the original concept. (No offense to anyone that likes them.) I think that Krypto worked because there's something very heart-warming about a boy and his dog. I'm actually a cat person, but the concept of a boy and his dog is just too good to pass up. Because of this, Krypto worked best in SuperBOY stories, rather than SuperMAN ones.

Nothing wrong with silly.

And as for the juggling planets thing, well I have to side with Julian on this one.  He may have never done it but he did enough of a similar nature to have it be the tag to represent the excess of his abilities.

Especially when Darkseid starts losing ;)

Nothing is sadder than Super Monkey whupping up on Darkseid as the dark lord begs for mercy.

I want that freaking comic.

Frankly, I get most upset when people pick on Comet as a lame Super Pet in that he was a centaur with an interesting history, not some feline with occasional powers...sure, probably a bone to throw to young girls who like horses, but nevertheless, Comet had human intelligence, a tragic backstory, and powers greater than any Kryptonian in that Kryptonite had no effect on him.

I wonder if Super Monkey ever fought Titano. That might be an interesting battle. Personally, I see Titano winning.

Incidentally, one thing I'll say for Super Monkey is that his existence wasn't really unrealistic. Think about it: If humanoids so similar to Terrans evolved on Krypton, isn't it probable that the planet would have the equivalence of lower primates? That's assuming that Kryptonians are native to their planet. Also, it made sense for Jor-El to test his ship before putting his son in it.

Well the Krypto idea works really well,but for the other super-pets,well let's just say that the concept behind them was very stretched,not mentioning the fact that a good idea became lame when is re-used too many times.
(Sorry but I MUST say that the whole Comet story is absurd expecially,but maybe i'm not remembering well,the part when he have a love affair with Supergirl :o :o :o :o)

The Bronco Bill bit really didn't work well because of the common idea that he was a "pet".

I always thought it would be better to focus on him as a transformed centaur, one who was in love with Circe.

I just watched an old tape of this wherein the gang receives a distress call from a scientist who has created some kind of rampaging antimatter monster on a desert isle.  Dr Q piles them all into the plane without a second thought and then uses the kids to spring a trap on the thing inside a cave! :)

If the superpets were overused how do we describe the extended use made of most of the central conceits of the classic Superman --the ubiquity of Kryptonite, Clark and Lois' identity politics games, Lex Luthor's multiple escapes (sometimes twice in one issue), etc.  If their humour is intrusive, how do we characterize most issues of Lois Lane or Jimmy comics?  Not to mention most of the 40s and 50s?  Susie T, J. Wilbur, Mxy, Toyman, and later Bizarro, etc.  The hypothetical line that is crossed in your Luthor/Krypto example (or Darkseid/Super Monkey) doesn't really exist in Superman (let alone Capt Marvel).
 

I wonder why Darkseid doesn't just toss a chunk of Green K at Kal and then blast him with his Omega Beams. Cosmic villains never really take advantage of kryptonite, probably because they can hurt Superman without it.

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with superpets. I'm an animal lover, so I like them in one way, but on the other hand, frankly, they're rather silly (I mean, the Space Canine Patrol Agency?). Krypto and Beppo make sense in the context of the early days of the Space Race, but I can't honestly say I've ever enjoyed any of the stories I've read that they appeared in; a possible exception is Alan Moore's rather touching depiction of Krypto's last moments, when he really acts like a wounded, feral, yet faithful, dog. Oh, and that Maggin story where he falls in love.

Having said that, not so long ago I posted a facetious response in a thread about the Krypto series, in which I mentioned I would like to see a Streaky series set in a pub. This is because I used to see some friends in this pub where the landlord had a very friendly cat who used to like coming up to patrons and sit around for a while. It got me thinking, and I'm now obsessed with the idea of scripting a Streaky series in which a drunken man, who is a regular in such a pub, keeps thinking that he keeps seeing the cat doing extraordinary things, and ascribing it to alcohol-induced hallucinations.

Many of the Pets stories actually worked.  Especially within the Legion stories.

Good call on Aquaman, Julian.  Aquaman and Aqualad didn't always go looking for trouble, it often found them, and with the addition of Mera and Aquababy they were one of the only true "families" DC Comics had.

It always seemed to me that the Superpets were part of the DC world where Batman & Robin met Mystery Inc.(Scooby-Doo and the gang) and via that you get Blue Falcon and Dynomutt(but not the Laff-a-lympics)

Actually, the super-pets concept might have worked with a normal kid as the
"trainer" for them---maybe several trainers, one for each super-animal.  It also might have been interesting if other super-animals were found that didn't have Kryptonian powers---a snake with hypnotic powers, or a bird with lightning powers, etc.

Don't believe me?

Don't think it might have been a HUGE success?

Ever hear of---POKEMON?

If you included Proty and other non-Kryptonian-like animals, it could have been potentially a very interesting comic. Now, it would look like an imitation of POKEMON.---Al

I saw a Pokemon cartoon once; I still think about it and try to figure out what was happening every now and then.

And thus, you have the Krypto cartoon, with Krypto being cared for by a human kid/family.

No one ever seems to tell this super-pet's story, though:
(http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k236/armadilloze/squirrels/supersquirrel.jpg)

Didn't the descendants of the Super-Pets appear in one of the "1,000,000" titles?