Titano

For the mountain in San Marino, see Monte Titano.

Titano
Titano attacking the Daily Planet building, from Showcase Presents Superman Volume 2 (2006). Art by Curt Swan and George Klein.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superman #127 (February 1959)
Created by	Jerry Coleman Curt Swan

Titano the Super-Ape is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics, primarily as a foe of Superman. He was clearly inspired by King Kong.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis (Silver Age) version

The Pre-Crisis Titano first appeared in Superman #127 (February 1959). Originally named Toto, he was dubbed "one of the world's most intelligent apes". Rocketed into space, he and his ship were bombarded with radiation, which changed him into a giant ape with incredible strength and the ability to emit beams of Kryptonite radiation from his eyes. This made the ape a difficult menace for Superman to face.

This version appears in a dream of the character Ambush Bug.

Post-Crisis version

The Post-Crisis version first appeared in the "Tears for Titano" story in Superman Annual #1. Titano was originally a normal baby chimpanzee used in cruel scientific experiments for the U.S. government. This lab is headed by Dr. Thomas Moyers, an irresponsible man who caused the creation of Rampage, the super-strong alter-ego of Dr. Kitty Faulkner. This scientist is not associated with Moyer's Titano project. The chimpanzee gains his name from a mean-spirited joke by the other staffers.

A brief visit by Lois Lane to the government laboratories ended soon after Titano tried to escape his tormentors by leaping into Lane's arms. An accident caused the ape to gain super-strength and grow to enormous proportions. Attempting to kill Dr. Thomas Moyers, whom he saw as his tormentor, Titano was stopped by and engaged in a battle with Superman. The presence of Lane causes Titano to calm down, as he considered her a friend. Moyers used his equipment to reverse the transformation. The reversal is too much for the chimpanzee, who dies in Lane's arms. Lois later wrote the Daily Planet article "Tears for Titano" in honor of the animal.

Another version of Titano later appeared as the mascot of Titano's Pizza. Television advertisements showed a giant ape in a chef's hat defeating "Turtle Boy", who represented the slower delivery of other pizzerias.^{[citation needed]} However, Turtle Boy (played by Jimmy Olsen) proved to be much more popular than Titano, and the commercials were discontinued.

In Action Comics #854, a monkey experimented upon by the Kryptonite Man was imbued with Kryptonite radiation, gaining the ability to grow in size and fire kryptonite beams from his eyes, like the pre-crisis Titano. He was eventually calmed down by 'Mr. Action' (Jimmy Olsen) and placed in the care of STAR Labs.

Titano's pre-Crisis version would make a reappearance of sorts in Superman/Batman #28, as a guise for a shape-shifting telepathic alien entity.

In The New 52 revamped DC Universe, Titano was redesigned and given a new origin. Titano was now only slightly bigger than a regular gorilla and not as gigantic as the earlier versions, as well, he was now albino with white fur. He also was given a new origin where now he was a genetic mutation created by a deranged biophysicist. He was later executed by a creature appearing to be Superman.

Other versions

An antimatter version of Titano, appeared near the end of Grant Morrison's JLA: Earth 2. This version is actually a genetic experiement conducted by Brainiac and Ultraman (Subject 773, "Ultra-Titanus") freed by Brainiac. and fires Anti-Kryptonite beams at Superman. Being an opposite version of Titano, the beams make him stronger. He is later caught by Kyle Rayner the Green Lantern.

In other media

Television

• The 1942 episode "Terror on the Midway" of the Fleischer Superman cartoons featured a battle between Superman and a massive escaped circus gorilla called "Gigantic".

• An episode of the 1967 The New Adventures of Superman titled "The Chimp Who Made it Big" which was another version of the Toto story. In this version, a collision with a Kryptonite Meteor and a Uranium Asteroid crash near the capsule Toto was in causing it to lose control. Superman manages to save the capsule and bring it down to Earth. When Lois Lane reports to the viewers at the rocket base, Toto ends up bursting from the capsule turning into Titano. When Titano tries to grab Lois Lane, Superman tries to stop Titano only to be hit by Titano's Kryptonite eye beams as Superman suspected that a Kryptonite Meteor and a Uranium Asteroid was responsible for Toto turning into Titano. When the military ends up firing missiles toward Titano, Superman had to protect Titano from the missile attacks. Titano then made off with Lois Lane with Superman in pursuit. Superman had to make a shield out of lead in order to combat Titano. Superman manages to knock out Titano and save Lois Lane. An article was printed out in the Daily Planet's newspaper stating that the Kryptonite's effects on Titano wore off returning him to Toto.

• A different version of Titano (conceptually very similar to the original Titano from the Silver Age) appeared in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Monkey Fun" with his vocal effects done by Frank Welker. This Titano was a chimp astronaut that was kept in the home of Lt. Colonel Sam Lane. The chimp formed a bond with Lane's 8-year-old daughter Lois. Titano's ship (the Titan 0, from which he got his name) got lost in space and was eventually found twenty years later in a meteor shower by Superman. Gases contained in the meteor caused him to grow to enormous proportions. The now-gigantic Titano wreaked havoc on Metropolis. Sam Lane, now a flag officer, rushes to Metropolis to aid Lois by giving her the one thing could calm Titano: a toy monkey named Beppo that played Pop Goes the Weasel when squeezed. S.T.A.R. Labs is able put an end to Titano's growth spurts. Superman then relocated Titano to a remote island to live a normal life-span, leaving Beppo for him as a memento of Lois.

Miscellaneous

• Titano would later make a cameo appearance in the comic based on Superman: The Animated Series saying that he nearly returned to Metropolis after an environmental terrorist group released Titano from his new island considering his relocation an animal rights abuse. Titano was subdued and returned home before he made it to Metropolis.

Homages

Characters based on Titano have occasionally appeared in comics homaging the Silver Age Superman.

• In Alan Moore's Supreme, the Titano equivalent is Stupendo, the Simian Supreme. Stupendo has a similar origin to the Silver Age Titano (except with Supremium radiation), but was subsequently befriended by Supreme, and given a home on Conqueror Island.
• Tom Terrific, a superpowered version of Tom Strong from a universe based on Silver Age tropes, has a companion named Terrifo the Super-Ape.
• In DC Comics's DC One Million setting, Titano One Million is the Superman-like defender of the Gorilla Galaxy, a direct descendent of Solovar.

See also

• List of Superman enemies

External links

• Supermanica: Titano
• Summary of Superman #127
• The Unofficial Titano Biography
• The Unofficial Titano Chronology
• "Monkey Fun" summary