Comics character
Beppo
is a
monkey
superhero
appearing in
American comic books
published by
DC Comics
, primarily those featuring
Superman
.
Publication history
[
edit
]
Created by
Otto Binder
and
George Papp
, he first appeared in
Superboy
#76 (October 1959).
[1]
He made sixteen appearances in
Superman
comics during the
Silver Age of Comic Books
.
[2]
Fictional character biography
[
edit
]
Despite his resemblance to an Earth monkey, due to
convergent evolution
producing analogous species to fill similar ecological niches, Beppo is from the planet
Krypton
.
[3]
He was originally one of
Jor-El
's test animals. Luckily for him, Beppo decided to stow away aboard baby
Kal-El
's rocket to Earth and was thus saved from its destruction. Upon landing, Beppo hopped out unseen and went off on his own for some months. Beppo lived in a jungle and handled himself quite well, since as a Kryptonian monkey he had the usual array of super-powers.
[4]
One day Beppo, using his telescopic vision, spotted Kal-El, now a toddler living in
Smallville
with the
Kents
. Beppo quickly flew to Smallville and, being a monkey, secretly caused all sorts of havoc. Ma and Pa Kent initially blamed baby Clark for Beppo's super-powered monkeyshines, but they soon discovered the truth. The Kents fretted that Clark's secret might be exposed by the super-antics of the Simian of Steel but, as it turned out, their worry was needless. It wasn't long before Beppo accidentally set off some
4th of July
fireworks stored in the Kent garage. The explosions spooked Beppo, who took off into space. The panicked Beppo kept on going when he saw a passing comet, which he thought was more fireworks chasing him. When Beppo failed to return, the Kents presumed he'd gotten lost out there somewhere. Beppo's origin is related in "The Super-Monkey from Krypton!", the cover story in
Superboy
#76 (October 1959). At the end of the story, which is told in
flashback
by teenaged Clark, the reader is informed that Beppo made his way back to Earth before too long.
Many years later, Beppo encountered
Supergirl
, who introduced him to
Krypto the Superdog
and
Streaky the Supercat
. Beppo went on to join the
Legion of Super-Pets
.
[5]
Beppo was
retconned
out of existence following the
Crisis on Infinite Earths
limited series. He was briefly returned to existence by the
Psycho-Pirate
during the 2005-06 storyline
Infinite Crisis
, and then appeared in
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds
#5.
He later appeared in the 2024 comic
Ape-Ril Special
#1.
Powers, abilities, and equipment
[
edit
]
Beppo possessed the same powers and abilities as a Kryptonian adult, although his physical abilities were proportionate to his smaller size and species.
[6]
Other versions
[
edit
]
- Beppo is one of the animals in Superman's artificial reality farm in
Kingdom Come
#1 (May 1996).
- He also appears in the out-of-continuity
Tiny Titans
, alongside Streaky the Super-Cat, as Supergirl's pet.
- In the canon of
Smallville
, a
Christopher James Beppo
is a reporter investigating
LuthorCorp
.
[7]
In other media
[
edit
]
- A Beppo toy appears in the
Batman Beyond
episode "Rats".
- Beppo appears in
Krypto the Superdog
#6.
[8]
This version, after landing on Earth, came to live in Africa, but was ostracized by other animals. After encountering Krypto, Beppo comes to
Metropolis
in an attempt to be a hero, but unintentionally causes havoc. Subsequently,
Comet
arrives from the 30th century to take Beppo to their time and prevent him from causing any more trouble.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Superboys
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Supporting
characters
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Enemies
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Publications
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In other media
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Superman family
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By public
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Pets
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characters
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characters
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Other
central rogues
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adversaries
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Organizations
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Alternative
versions
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In other media
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Related
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