Dogs are a big part of the lives of normal people, so it’s no surprise they made the leap into the lives of superpowered ones as well. They’ve served as loyal companions, and in some cases, are just as powerful as the heroes they work with. Some of these characters are still even having an impact on comics today. With two notable exceptions - Lockjaw of The Inhumans and Cosmo the Spacedog at Marvel, most super-powered dogs can be found at DC Comics.
First, and probably best known, is Superman’s dog Krypto. Usually portrayed as a Labrador Retriever, his origin has changed with Superman’s over time. In his first appearance in 1955’s Adventure Comics #210, Krypto had been the infant Kal-El’s pet on his home planet of Krypton, where parallel evolution led Kryptonian animals to closely resemble those of Earth. Unlike Earth animals, however, Kryptonian ones had human-level intelligence.
Jor-El used Krypto as a test subject for his space craft, and years later Krypto was reunited with Kal-El, now an adolescent and calling himself Superboy. Krypto had powers similar to other Kryptonians and the two shared many adventures together before the character, and Kal-El’s time as Superboy, were retconned out in Crisis on Infinite Earths. A new version, this time a regular dog named Krypto in honor of Superman, was introduced in the 90’s, as a pet of Superman’s friend Bibbo Bibbowski. He later migrated to the pages of Superboy. Another version, introduced in the early 2000s, was similar to the Silver Age version in powers and appearance, only with a dog’s regular intelligence level. And much like the earlier version, he became the pet of Superboy.
Krypto may have been the most popular, but another dog beat him to the punch by three years: Rex the Wonder Dog. Appearing in the first issue of his own book in 1952, he was the creation of Robert Kanigher and Alex Toth. In a parody of Captain America’s origin, Rex received his fantastic abilities after being injected with a super solider serum; his powers were augmented years later after drinking from The Fountain of Youth. He would fight alongside numerous DC heroes, including Superman, Green Lantern and especially Detective Chimp, his best friend.
Not be outdone, Batman acquired a canine companion of his own, Ace. Appearing a few short months after Krypto in 1955’s Batman #92, Ace shared adventures with Batman, even helping him cope with night terrors at one point. Unlike Krypto and Rex, Ace never quite caught on with readers, and his appearances were spotty at best. Much like Krypto, there have been various versions of Ace, including a recent incarnation, debuting in 2017’s Batman Annual #3, where he was a former guard dog of the Joker, and later rehabilitated by Alfred. Time will tell if this new incarnation will last.
So why did some of the character, such as Krypto and Rex, catch on, while others like Ace were consigned to limbo? It may have something to do with Krypto and Rex actually having super powers, as opposed to Ace who did not. A super-powered dog can be a powerful asset, especially in Krypto’s case. A regular dog, like Ace, is not of much use in combat except for being a distraction. Whatever the case, dogs have been an integral part of DC history, standing alongside their greatest characters.