From the Friday, July 22, 2022, edition of The Oklahoman

Superhero pets make way to silver screen

By MATTHEW PRICE 

While crypto investors are dealing with a crash, Krypto enthusiasts are hoping for a smash. 

Krypto, Superman’s superdog, has been around a lot longer than blockchain currency, first appearing in comic books in 1955. But he’s getting his first shot at movie stardom next week, when the animated film “DC League of Super-Pets” hits theaters. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will voice the powerful pup.  

Krypto, appearing as a white canine of a nonspecific breed, first appeared in a Superboy story in the pages of “Adventure Comics” #210, created by writer Otto Binder and artist Curt Swan. 

The pet with the next most prominent comics pedigree is likely Ace the Bat-Hound, also set to appear in the new film as voiced by comedian and actor Kevin Hart.  

Ace made his first comic-book appearance in 1955’s “Batman” #92, created by writer Bill Finer and artist Shelly Moldoff. 

Early “Silver Age” comic-book stories of Ace, Krypto and other super-pets were collected in the book “Tails of the Super-Pets,” released in May. Through the years, Krypto has been the most visible super-pet, appearing in a variety of DC animated and live-action stories, and starring in comic-book series and children’s books. Ace and other super-pets joined Krypto in some of these adventures, including a children’s book series of origins in 2017. 

Krypto returned to the main DC Comics line in June, appearing in the pages of “Superman: Son of Kal-El” #12. Ace, meanwhile, has appeared in 2021 in “Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries,” and in the main DC line in 2022 in the series “Batman: Urban Legends.” 

This week, Krypto and the other super-pets are featured in a new graphic novel set just after the events of the film. In “DC League of Super-Pets: The Great Mxy-Up,” the pets must work together to rescue their human counterparts in the Justice League while defeating Mr. Mxyzptlk, a magical imp from the fifth dimension. The graphic novel is written by Heath Corson and drawn by Bobby Timony.  

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.