Tails of the Super-Pets

by Jerry Siegel, Henry Boltinoff (Inker), Leo Dorfman

Where would our heroes be without their Super Pets? Follow the adventures of Krypto the Super-Dog, Streaky the Super-Cat, and Ace the Bat-Hound in this incredible collection!

The Super Pets are icons in their own right! Collected together are the tales of Krypto the Super-Dog, Streaky the Super-Cat, and Ace the Bat-Hound through a variety of classic comics! This collection includes stories from Action Comics #261-266, 277-293; Batman #125; Adventure Comics #210-256, 293-322, 364; Superman #176; Wonder Woman #23; and Superboy #76!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics

181 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 3, 2022

About the author

Jerome "Jerry" Siegel, who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S. Fine, was the American co-creator of Superman (along with Joe Shuster), the first of the great comic book superheroes and one of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century.
He and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories from DC comics that range from a 1947 Wonder Woman to a 1968 Superboy/Legion featuring super pets, the animal auxiliaries. Comics in the silly silver age were intended to entertain kids and were not filled with death and sex and gloom and violence like much of today's DC fare, so you can't compare and rank them equitably. They served different purposes for different audiences. There's one story each here starring Aquaman (and his octopus friend), Batman (and Robin and the original Batwoman, Kathy Kane, in a story starring and narrated by Ace the Bat-Hound), and Wonder Woman (as a young child fighting kangaroo-riding alien invaders on rabbit-back, in the most oddly illustrated story you could ever imagine), but the majority of the stories included feature Superboy and the Legion, Supergirl, and Superman with the original pet legion, Krypto, Streaky, Beppo, and Comet, with Proty II occasionally guesting. They are exactly what they're supposed to be, cute animal superhero stories for kids. (Though I was surprised by the inclusion of the acronym "SNAFU" in Jim Shooter's 1968 Superboy story. Perhaps the Comics Code censors didn't know what it stood for. On the other hand, Supergirl wears a much more modest length skirt in 1968 than she did in 1960.) It's a little confusing that the Super-family comics aren't presented in order, but I think younger readers could still enjoy these old animal tales (or Tails; check the title!) if an old person was handy to explain mysterious artifacts of the past like newspapers and telephone booths and such. The writers include Otto Binder, Bill Finger, William Moulton Marston, Jerry Siegel, and Edmond Hamilton, and there are some good artists from the era, too. (Check out the Harry G. Peter art from WW... I dunno if I should laugh or take a shower.)

[Tom French · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a time in my life when I held myself up because I could name all the Super-Pets -- this was in the days before the Internet, when we'd argue trivia in bars and whoever was louder was right. My Uncle was a comic book collector and as a kid, I sat in his closet at my grandmother's house and passed the time reading Silver Age tales, including the Legion and the Superman Family. And I LOVED the Super-Pets -- I don't know why. I was a little kid.

So, that I knew Comet the Super-Horse (who was really a centaur), Krypto, Streaky, Beppo (the Super-Monkey), and sometimes Proty II. As I mentioned, aces on trivia teams.

As thrilled as I am at the release of the new movie, all the sudden interest in the Super-Pets will ruin me as a trivia nerd. But at least it motivated the publication of this Super-Pets collection, so I have that.

Nostalgia aside, these stories are just terrible. Clunky, old-fashioned, silly -- everything there is to love/ hate about the Silver Age -- and yet, as a child they delighted me! Interestingly, the last story is one by Jim Shooter, who, as a boy himself, was trying to write good Legion stories for DC, making them more "hip". This finale had several laugh-out-loud moments for me from the dialogue. In its attempt to be modern, it locks itself into its own time-period, so plainly late 60's. Joyous!

Would this be good for kids? I don't think so -- they're too sophisticated. It's more for nostalgia nuts like me, who remember something different than was really on the page.

[Bill Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

America had a record number of young children in its postwar populace and these comics contain prime examples of some of the strangest pop culture they consumed. What could be better than being Superboy? How about having a super-dog you could adventure with? What little girl wouldn't want to be Supergirl, especially if she also had a playful super-cat? But amidst the goofy innocence, there are other, stranger elements. For instance, Supergirl's super-horse Comet was once a centaur in love with Circe, who accidentally turns him into a horse when she means to turn him into a man. Supergirl has ecstatic dreams of riding Comet before she ever meets him and, as we learn from one of the later stories in this volume, Comet sometimes turns into a handsome cowboy. Analyse that, Fred Wertham!

Beside the super dog, cat, horse, and monkey, we also get a truly wonderful tale featuring Aquaman's pet octopus Topo and a couple of stories featuring Proty II, a protoplasmic creature that the other super-pets look down on. Hard not to see him as the unformed mind of the generation that will be shaped, for better or worse, by these comics.

Recommended for anyone an interest in strange comics or the odder corners of Boomer culture.

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Take these for what they are - the silly silver-age of DC comics. Clearly aimed at children and churned out with not a lot of thought. Some are better than others (I like Proty trying to join the Legion of Super-Pets) some are so silly that they were funny (Ace the Bat Hound narrating an adventure) and some were just weird (the introduction of Comet the Super horse). For me the worst part is the stories they didn't use. Like - why didn't we get the FIRST adventure of Ace the Bat Hound? It is much better than the adventure they used here. Surely there was a better Krypto story to use.

Regardless - I can't recommend this collection but it was a fun read for me.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A set of lightweight tales, mostly Silver Age stories featuring the Super-Pets associated with Superman and Supergirl. However, they also throw in stories with Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman's animal sidekicks (though that last barely features him). The stories with the Legion of Super-Heroes tie-ins are probably the best. (B)

[ian witham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Silly Stories

When my niece was getting into comics, I told her about Super Dog, Super Cat, Super Horse, and Super Monkey, and she told her friends. They did not believe her.
"I didn't believe him but I googled them. They're on Wikipedia."
One of her friends asked her to ask me why there were so many weird characters when I was a boy.
"It was the sixties. We were all on drugs."
This has stories of Super Dog, Super Cat, Super Horse, and Super Monkey separately and together plus a story of Ace the Bat Hound and one about Wonder Woman's kangaroos. It doesn't have all my favourites and they are not in chronological order but it's worth twelve quid.
I think this would be most appreciated by girls of seven to nine years of age. One of the stories was inspired by Black Beauty. So, buy her Tails Of The Legion Of Super-Pets. Then give her Black Beauty.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for nostalgia and silliness of the Silver Age of comics

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wonky compilation of Super-Pet stories from 1960s DC Comics includes tales (or tails, if you prefer) about Krypto the Super-Dog, Streaky the Super-Cat, Comet the Super-Horse, Beppo the Super-Monkey, Ace the Bat-Hound, Aquaman’s pet octopus, Topo, Wonder Woman’s giant hare or captured kangaroo (I’m not sure which), and Proty II, a blob of shape-shifting protoplasm that sacrifices itself to save one of the Legion of Super-heroes (that's a tale for another day). They eventually team up for the inevitable “Legion of Super-Pets.” While the stories in the book definitely show their age and their publisher’s mid-1960s style of storytelling (DC was showcasing “The Revenge of the Super-Pets” around the time Marvel was getting ready to unleash the world-eating Galactus on the Fantastic Four), they do have their own sense of whimsical charm, something sadly missing in most comics today. And while the Super-Pets of Superman and Supergirl definitely take center stage, I wish there were more Ace the Bat-Hound stories in this collection, especially after he saves the day (alongside Batwoman) in his single story and proclaims, “Gosh! I only did what any red-blooded American dog would do!”. WOOF!

[Tim Deforest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silver Age silliness at its best. Stories reprinted here include the origin tales for all the important Super Pets, including those from Superman's mythos and Ace the Bat Hound. It also includes a story in which Aquaman teams up with Topo the Octopus and a weird Golden Age tale from 1947 in which a young Wonder Woman saves Paradise Island from invading Space Amazons with the help of a Space Kangaroo.

Also included are Legion of Super-Hero stories that feature the Legion of Super Pets.

All the stories are fun and imaginative--written at a time when superhero comics didn't shy away from being a little silly (or a lot silly) if the end result was entertaining.

I want my own Space Kangaroo.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Post war DC comics at their finest...

The 50s-60s was the craziest time in comics. You had tons of kids growing up and consuming all the new comics that were coming out. Science could only explain so much....weird Kryptonite colors explained the rest. This collection is kind of crazy.

These are the stories of the Super-Pets. A dog (Krypto), cat (Streaky), horse (Comet), and monkey (Beppo) were all 'pets' to the Silver Age Superboy/Superman and Supergirl.
----
Bonus: Good thing Superboy could turn back time by using Superbreath to make the Earth spin in reverse. Phew!

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tails of the Super-Pets

The origin stories of some of the world's most powerful beings' pets.

Disappointingly, this was too cheesy by half. The shockingly poor depictions of Supergirl and Wonder Woman are (I suppose) partly a product of their time but there was nothing aspirational in their characters. The artwork and colouring are good for their time, but the plots are either overwrought or played (badly) for laughs.

Annoyingly, the tales of Comet, the super horse, are presented out of order.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of fun, silly, Silver Age (and one Golden Age) stories intended for children, and they succeed admirably at that goal. If you're the sort of sad bastard who thinks that children's stories about super-dogs should appeal to your at least physically adult mind, you will be disappointed. And you probably deserve to be. They are comics for kids. Read them with a kid!

[Ty Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely love DC’s Super Pet characters, and they are among my favorite comic book characters. However, this book reprints DC comic book tales mostly from the 1950s and 1960s. That means that they are stories mostly written under the Comics Code of America. The CCA limited comic book content to homogeneous pap.

[Chris Aylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

While these stories are on the goofy side even for Silver Age stories, they still have a lot of charm.

[Robert Kimberlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I TOTALLY ENJOYED THIS COLLECTION. THERE WERE SOME FANTASTIC STORIES AND WONDERFUL ARTWORK. I LOVED ALL OF THE PETS AND THERE WAS PLENTY OF ACTION AND HUMOR.

[LordSlaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silver-Age silliness: Superman, Batman, Supergirl, and Aquaman all have pets and all of the pets have adventures. A series of stories filled with unintentional 1960s campiness. A but of a ruff read, but enjoyable enough.