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Legion of Super-Pets

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Legion of Super-Pets
Comet, Streaky, Krypto, and Beppo. Art by Curt Swan.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAdventure Comics #293 (February 1962)
In-story information
Member(s)Beppo
Comet the Super-Horse
Krypto
Proty
Streaky the Supercat
Bat-Cow
Flexi the Plastic Bird
Clay Critter

The Legion of Super-Pets is a fictional team of super-powered pets in the pre-Crisis DC Universe. Members include Krypto the Super-Dog, Streaky the Supercat, Beppo the Super-Monkey and Comet the Super-Horse.[1] The team first appeared in Adventure Comics #293 (February 1962), although each of the members had appeared individually in earlier issues.[2]

Publication history

The first super-pet crossover story was published in Action Comics #277 (June 1961), "Battle of the Super-Pets", in which Krypto and Streaky competed with each other. The story ended with the surprise appearance of Beppo, who had appeared a couple of years earlier in Superboy.[3]

Significant appearances during the Legion's Adventure Comics run include issue #322 (July 1964) in which Proty II is initiated onto the team; issue #343 (April 1966) in which the Super-Pets help the Legion battle the Luck Lords; and issue #364 (January 1968), "The Revolt of the Super-Pets!" The team only rarely appeared after the Silver Age, though Krypto became a recurring character in the Superman titles again following the 2000 storyline "Return to Krypton." A new version of the Legion of Super-Pets appeared in Super Sons Annual #1 in 2017.

In DC 1 Million 80-Page Giant #1 (1999), a group known as the Legion of Super-Familiars operates in the 853rd century and carries on the legacy of the Super-Pets.

Fictional background

The alien creatures known as the Brain-Globes of Rambat decide that in order to succeed in their plan to move Earth to their own solar system, they must defeat Superboy. When they are unable to gain control of Superboy, they summon Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the future and mentally command the trio to capture him.

After Superboy is defeated, the Brain-Globes of Rambat release their hold on the Legionnaires. When they notice that the Brain-Globes cannot control animals, the Legionnaires gather Krypto the Super-Dog (from Superboy's present), Streaky the Supercat and Beppo the Super-Monkey (from Superman's present), and Comet the Super-Horse (from a few weeks in Superman's future[clarification needed]) to battle the aliens. The pets defeat the aliens and are named the Legion of Super-Pets, the animal branch of the super club.[4] They are then returned to their proper time periods. Proty II would later join the team.[5]

A new Super-Pets team appeared in the post DC Rebirth universe in Super Sons Annual #1 (2017). This roster includes Krypto, Titus (Damian Wayne's dog), Streaky, and Bat-Cow (a cow with a bat-shaped patch over its eyes, previously introduced in Batman Inc.), along with two new animals making their first appearance in the story: Flexi the Plastic Bird (a parrot with Plastic Man's powers) and Clay Critter (a creature resembling Proty, possibly a broken off piece of Clayface). The group is revealed to have secretly operated on several missions over the years. The group disbanded after a battle with Dex-Starr and Harley Quinn's hyenas Bud and Lou resulted in Clay Critter's demise, with Streaky evidently blaming Krypto for the loss of their teammate. In the Super Sons Annual #1 story, Krypto and Titus meet with Detective Chimp and then reform the group to rescue a number of missing dogs from an alien thief.[6]

Other appearances

Beppo and Comet appear in issue #6 of the Krypto the Superdog comic series.

The crossover DC One Million introduced readers to a possible future in the 853rd century where many solar systems were defended by heroes who either carried the legacy of modern-day DC heroes or were literal descendants, such as the Justice Legion-A. The later one-shot comic DC 1 Million 80-Page Giant #1 introduced the Legion of Super-Familiars, who carried on the legacy of the Legion of Super-Pets. Each planet of Earth's solar system had a Legion of Super-Familiars, and the group that organized and governed all the teams was the Legion of Executive Familiars, which included Krypto-9 (descendant of Superman's dog Krypto), Octus the eight-dimensional cephalopod, the teleporting Wormhole, and the twin sun dogs Phaethon and Savitar.

According to the leader Krypto-9, descendant of Superman's dog Krypto, "Once they were masters and we were pets. Now we were recognized as full partners and designated familiars, an ancient referral to the bestial accomplice of the witch... Then came the great rebirth of mighty Solaris, and his patronage. He bequeathed universal telepathy on all animals and helped organize the super-familiars into legions."

In other media

The Legion was parodied in an episode of Robot Chicken. Comet, Streaky, Krypto, and Beppo appear, along with "Hissy the Super-Snake". Superman returns to the Fortress of Solitude from a month in space to find the pets have all frozen to death because their babysitter mistakenly thought she was watching them the month after.

The Legion of Super-Pets (Beppo the Super Monkey, Streaky the Super Cat and Krypto the Super Dog) appear in the DC Nation Superman 75th Anniversary short that was shown at New York Comic Con 2013 and was included in the Man of Steel DVD and Blu-Ray.

Film

In July 2018, Jared Stern has been hired by the studio to write and direct a CGI-animated film based on the team.[7] By January 2019, DC Films announced Super Pets with a scheduled release of May 21, 2021.[8] Sam Levine was later hired as co-director.[9] On May 22, 2019, the release date was delayed to May 20, 2022.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Fleisher, Michael L. (2007). The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Three: Superman. DC Comics. p. 170. ISBN 1-4012-1389-8.
  2. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  3. ^ Wells, John (2015). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 97. ISBN 978-1605490458.
  4. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 202–203. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  5. ^ Morris, Jon (2015). The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half Baked Heroes from Comic Book History. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Quirk Books. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-59474-763-2.
  6. ^ Super Sons Vol 1 Annual #1(2017)
  7. ^ Sneider, Jeff. "Exclusive: 'Super Pets' Movie From 'Lego Batman' Writer In the Works at Warner Bros". Collider. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  8. ^ Hipes, Patrick (2019-05-22). "Warner Bros' 'DC Super Pets' Animated Movie Moves To 2022". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  9. ^ Aaron Couch; Pamela McClintock (30 January 2019). "'The Batman,' 'The Suicide Squad' Set 2021 Release Dates". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Warner Bros' 'DC Super Pets' Animated Movie Moves To 2022". May 22, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
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