{"id":35840,"date":"2026-06-30T17:36:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T17:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=35840"},"modified":"2026-06-30T17:36:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T17:36:05","slug":"supergirls-zoo-per-heroes-kryptos-big-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/06\/30\/supergirls-zoo-per-heroes-kryptos-big-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Supergirl\u2019s Zoo-per Heroes: Krypto\u2019s Big Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Rob Justus<\/strong> with Wes Abbott <\/strong>(DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-79950-601-0 (HB) 978-1-79950-602-7 (Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Somehow, despite her longevity, comics popularity and screen star status, Superman<\/strong>\u2019s cousin Kara Zor-El<\/em> has always struggled to maintain the career impetus and position she deserves. Even after a multi-season hit TV show and the (second) big screen movie currently offending incels and insecure basement dwellers everywhere, the Girl of Steel has devotees but not a perceptible global presence like her cousin Kal<\/em>, Wonder Woman<\/strong>, Batman<\/strong>, The Hulk<\/strong> or Spider-Man<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To be scrupulously fair, the same argument applies to Harley Quinn<\/strong>, Black Canary<\/strong>, Batgirl<\/strong>, She-Hulk<\/strong>, Scarlet Witch<\/strong> and even The Black Widow<\/strong>. I think I sense a pattern…<\/p>\n

However, one arena where girls loudly and proudly dominate is the Young Adult graphic novel marketplace. DC alone has multiple marvellous titles starring Amazon Princesses Diana & Nubia<\/em>, Catwoman<\/strong>, Batgirl<\/strong>\/Oracle<\/strong>, Lois Lane<\/strong>, Harley Quinn<\/strong>, Zatanna<\/strong>, Poison Ivy<\/strong>, Green Lantern<\/strong> Jessica Cruz<\/em>, Raven<\/strong>, Mera<\/strong>, and even new original characters like Primer<\/strong>, Starfire\u2019s daughter Mandy<\/strong> (in I Am Not Starfire!<\/strong>), and TV Supergirl spin-off Dreamer<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

A far more attractive and apparently accessible option over decades has been the Kryptonian Good Boi who debuted in a Superboy<\/strong> yarn way back in Adventure Comics<\/strong> #210 (cover-dated March 1955 and on sale from January 25th<\/sup>), where Otto Binder, Curt Swan & Sy Barry introduced \u2018The Super-Dog from Krypton!\u2019 <\/em>Although unruly, boisterous, waywardly mischievous and dangerously playful, Krypto<\/strong> heralded a wave of survivors from the dead world and made the (male) Kid From Krypton feel less lonely and unique. Every boy needs a dog and Krypto hung around for ever, before eventually valiantly dying as part of the Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong> event. He has returned many times in many moods ever since. The current movie franchise incarnation is – much like the debut dog – a rowdy rascal, and can be seen on screen and in this standalone tale targeting that burgeoning YA GN market that was released in February 2026…<\/p>\n

Crafted by multi award winning – aren\u2019t they all? – Canadian author\/artist Rob Justus (Death and Sparkles<\/strong>, Brave Enough<\/strong>, Superman\u2019s Good Guy Gang<\/strong>) and lettered by Wes Abbott, this first in a proposed series of shaggy doggish tales is also greatly-informed by animated TV shows like Justice League Unlimited<\/strong> and opens with teen hero Supergirl<\/strong> popping aboard the JLA\u2019s satellite \u201cThe Watchtower\u201d prior to a fun time with Krypto. Sadly, the Dog of Tomorrow – already in the dog house with the senior superstars for past misdemeanours – is in one of his more playful moods…
\n\"\"
\nThe Girl of Steel allowed him aboard on their way to the Cosmic Dog Park and he promised to be good, but it\u2019s sooooo hard as the big wheel in the sky is packed with such intriguing smells and toys…<\/p>\n

After another of his joyous unsupervised romps, Kara is on frantic clean up duty. That means doing the adult heroes\u2019 laundry – again – but the problem is extremely bad this time, as first she has to find it all. Not only has Krypto snuffled, ruffled and barfed on costumes (and super sweaty super socks and …underwear!), but he then ejected the clothes out into space where they have been hyper-charged by weird space energies (cosmic rays, solar winds, atmospheric radiation, lightning and Eclipso<\/em>\u2019s magic!) genetically infusing hero DNA into the individual fabrics…<\/p>\n

Desperately seeking to gather the gruesome grubby garments, Supergirl – with Krypto joining in the chase by following his nose – track some costumes to shabby, old-fashioned Metropolis Zoo. Here, weary, downhearted animals are being mistreated by neglectful greedy Zookeeper Cass<\/em>, until, at the height of a thunderstorm, four power-packed outfits land on them and duplicate in them very specific superpower sets….
\n\"\"
\nAt exactly the wrong moment the boosted beasts – the fastest sloth alive, Wonder seal, Super lion and the Bat rhino – bust out, just as Krypto arrives demanding the cosmic clothing back. He is happy to fight everyone to retrieve them, but, after bonding over garbage they all team up instead, which is good as Supergirl is much less understanding – even though she thinks she can speak \u201canimal\u201d…<\/p>\n

The situation utterly escalates when one last costume – Zatanna\u2019s hat – empowers Cass with eldritch abilities and she sees her now superpowered tatty cash-cows as the way to get really rich really fast…<\/p>\n

Then all that\u2019s left is a full-combat trial by fire and the birth of a new team. After all, there are many more lost costumes still to find…
\n\"\"
\nTo Be Continued…<\/p>\n

Not merely another child-friendly iteration of Super-Pets, Supergirl\u2019s Zoo-per Heroes<\/strong> are a wild and woolly bunch of wonders you can\u2019t afford to deny yourself and, if you have animals or kids (frequently a tricky distinction, I admit), you can even share the fun with them… but only if they\u2019re good too…
\nText and Illustrations \u00a9 2026 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved..<\/p>\n

Today in 1958 artist Shawn McManus<\/strong> (Omega Men<\/strong>, Doctor Fate<\/strong>, The Sandman<\/strong>, Fables<\/strong>) was born, sharing the natal date with writer\/editor Christopher Priest<\/strong> – n\u00e9e Jim Owsley<\/strong> – (The Falcon<\/strong>, Black Panther<\/strong>, The Ray<\/strong>, Conan the Barbarian<\/strong>, Quantum & Woody<\/strong>) in 1961 and True Brits Mike McKone<\/strong> (Spider-Man<\/strong>, Fantastic Four<\/strong>, Justice League International<\/strong>) in 1969 and Tony Lee<\/strong> (Superboy<\/strong>, Star Trek<\/strong>, Doctor Who<\/strong>) in 1970.<\/p>\n

This date in 1940 Dale Messick<\/strong>\u2019s landmark strip Brenda Starr, Reporter<\/strong> began, but also saw the loss of cartoonist Abner Dean<\/strong> (What Am I Doing Here?<\/strong>, Cave Drawings for the Future<\/strong>) in 1982; French creator Jacques Lob<\/strong> (T\u00e9n\u00e9brax<\/em><\/strong>, Submerman<\/em><\/strong>, Blanche \u00c9piphanie<\/em><\/strong>, Superdupont<\/strong>, Le Transperceneige<\/em><\/strong>) in 1990 and Spanish artist Jaime Brocal Remoh\u00ed<\/strong> (The Saint<\/strong>, Creepy<\/strong>, Eerie<\/strong>, Kami no Ude<\/em><\/strong>, El otro Necronomic\u00f3n<\/em><\/strong> ) in 2002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rob Justus with Wes Abbott (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-79950-601-0 (HB) 978-1-79950-602-7 (Digital edition) Somehow, despite her longevity, comics popularity and screen star status, Superman\u2019s cousin Kara Zor-El has always struggled to maintain the career impetus and position she deserves. Even after a multi-season hit TV show and the (second) big screen movie currently offending … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Supergirl\u2019s Zoo-per Heroes: Krypto\u2019s Big Break”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[280,76,125,16,97,373,311,121,48,254,268],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-antics","category-dc-superhero","category-humour","category-jla","category-kids-all-ages","category-krypto","category-legion-of-super-pets","category-supergirl-graphic-novels","category-wonder-woman","category-young-adult","category-zatanna"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9k4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35846,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35840\/revisions\/35846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}