Not all of the Super pets stories were silly,
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.
Indeed, whenever they brought up what was so wrong with the classic Superman comics (which of course they never ever read)
Yeah, I know. It's really terrible when people criticise something they've never really read, isn't it?
and Superman juggling planets. Which by the way, despite countless idiots repeating it, NEVER EVER happen in any Superman comic.
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.