The Legion of Super-Pets was created by Superman creator Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan in Adventure Comics #293 in 1962. The original team consisted primarily of Kryptonian born animals, a radiation altered cat and a magical horse that all had Superman’s powers and eventually a protoplasmic entity with shapeshifting powers.
A new team of Super-Pets was created during the New 52. They first appeared in the Super-Sons Annual #1 in 218 and was created by Peter Tomasi and Paul Pelletier. This team was far more eclectic with pets connected to Superman, Batman, Plastic Man and even Clayface.
10 The Current Team
The current team consists of Krypto the Super-Dog, Streaky the Super-Cat, Titus the Bat-Hound, Bat-Cow, and Flexi the Plastic Bird. One mission saw the team battling Harley Quinn’s hyenas Bud and Lou, Penguin’s birds and the Red Lantern Dex-Starr. It caused the death of teammate, Clay Critter. This led to a violent falling out between Streaky and Krypto.
A rash of dog thefts caused Krypto to go to Wayne Manor and met with Bat-Cow and Titus. Krypto took Titus to see Detective Chimp who told them where to find Streaky and Flexi. The meeting goes badly and Krypto and Streaky came to blows. Flexi and the dogs left to find the captured dogs and the alien Stranger who wanted to free the dogs from their slavery. The Stranger fled in his ship but it crashed into Bat-Cow with Streaky sitting on top. The team freed the dogs, caged the Stranger and brought them all to Wayne Manor.
9 Krypto-Current
The modern Krypto was introduced in Action Comics #776. Krypto had difficulty assimilating to life with superpowers. He inadvertently destroyed the Kent’s apartment and was moved to the Fortress of Solitude. Krypto reacted violently to Kara Zor-El when she first arrived on Earth. He eventually came to love her and became her frequent companion.
A slight retcon of Superman’s origin also affected Krypto, making him part of Clark’s youth. Again, Krypto was placed in a test rocket by Jor-El that went off course and didn’t reach Earth until Clark was a teenager. Krypto moves to Smallville to live on the Kent Farm with Conner Kent.
8 The New 52 Krypto
The New 52 brought significant changes to Krypto’s life. As Krypton began to fall, Jor-El planned to save his family in the Phantom Zone but when it opened, the criminals therein tried to escape. Krypto, ferociously brave and devoted to his family, leaped forward to protect his family but was trapped in the Zone.
The now-adult Superman was able to bring Krypto back with him after he was trapped in the Zone himself but the dog was near death. Kal exposes Krypto to direct sunlight and he not only quickly heals but soon develops superpowers. He soon becomes a staunch and loyal ally to the entire Superman Family.
7 Puppy Powers
Krypto has an incredible amount of power in his compact body. Like any Kryptonian under a yellow sun, Krypto gained the powers of super strength, super speed, flight, vision powers, and freeze breath. But as a dog’s sense of smell is many times that of a human, Krypto’s is proportionally greater than a normal dog.
Krypto’s bite force is superhuman as well. It is so great that he pierced Superboy Prime’s armor and injured the villain. There have been different opinions on Krypto’s intelligence. Some have said that his powers raised to human levels but with canine traits and others believed that he has the intelligence of a well-trained dog. One story had him thinking in shortened sentences and Krypto can apparently read.
6 Bat-Cow and Bat-Hound
Bat-Cow has a bat-shaped pattern on her face and an incredibly strong will for a cow. Batman and Robin were after Professor Pyg for his plot to introduce a mind-altering toxin into the cows destined for the slaughterhouse, tainting any meat produced there. Bat-Cow was chosen by Batman for testing and Robin befriended her. She lives in the barn at Wayne Manor.
This Bat-Hound was a gift from Batman to Damian Wayne for beginning to show restraint in battle and truly embrace his position as Robin. Damian initially rejected the Great Dane, seeing him as a distraction from his mission and that Batman was using the dog to keep him out of the current mission but he finally named the dog “Titus” from the William Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus.
5 The Silver Age Team
The original team of Super-Pets was initially made up exclusively of animals gathered from various points in Superman’s timeline and brought together by the Legion of Super-Heroes. Chameleon Boy’s pet, Proty II would join later.
The Brain-Globes of Rambat planned to move the Earth into their own solar system and knew that Superboy would stop them so they took control of Legionnaires Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad to capture him. Once released, the trio deduced that animals would be immune to the Brain-Globes control and they gathered Krypto, Streaky, Comet, and Beppo to defeat the aliens. The animals decided to stay together as the Legion of Super-Pets.
4 Krypto-Classic
The classic Krypto was the beloved dog of baby Kal-El on Krypton. Jor-El used the dog as a test subject for his experimental rocket. Jor-El had every intention for the rocket to return but a meteor knocked it wildly off course and poor Krypto drifted for years until eventually crashing on Earth.
Earth’s lower gravity and the yellow sun gave Krypto superpowers that he used to help his now teenaged master, Superboy. Krypto often went on long periods of romping through space. While on Earth, Krypto used the “secret identity” of the Kent’s dog “Skip” by applying a dark patch to his fur that he would burn off with his heat vision when he slipped on his collar and cape.
3 Comet, the Horse That Wasn’t A Horse
Comet the Super-Horse was not originally a horse at all but a centaur named Biron. He was transformed into a horse by Circe’s potion that was intended to turn him into a human but was altered by her adversary. As compensation for this mistake, she gave him Superman-like powers but none of his weaknesses, telepathy, and immortality.
After meeting Supergirl, Biron accompanied her to the planet Zerox where a spell was cast to turn him human but only when a comet was passing through the solar system. At a later encounter, as human rodeo rider “Bronco” Bill Starr, he met Supergirl again and they began a romance. All the while, Kara had no clue that this was also her horse friend.
2 Streaky and Beppo
Silver Age Streaky started out as Supergirl’s ordinary house cat that develops superpowers after she was exposed to the radiation of “X-Kryptonite” after Supergirl’s failed experiment to eliminate the harmful effects of Green Kryptonite. It gave the cat strength, speed, flight, vision powers, and invulnerability.
Silver Age Beppo was a Kryptonian monkey that stowed away on Baby Kal-El’s rocket to Earth and then somehow slipped away unnoticed and escaped detection in a jungle. The mischievous monkey caused problems for the Toddler of Steel, creating problems that the Kents blamed on young Clark initially. Accidentally setting off fireworks scared the young monkey and he flew off into space.
1 Proty II
As his name implies, Proty II is the second of two gender-less creatures bearing the name that was the pet of 30th Century superhero, Chameleon Boy. Proty II is a member of the telepathic shapeshifting race called the Protians. Its predecessor had given its life to revive Lightning Lad.
Proty II petitioned hard to be able to join the Super-Pets and had to endure a series of trials and tests to receive his place in the group. Ironically, despite working so hard to be accepted among the Pets, he was at the forefront of getting his species recognized by the United Planets as sentient and deserving of full civil and social standing. Proty II became a professional photographer.