Krypto, Superman’s ever loyal Kryptonian canine, is without a doubt one of the best boys in any universe, and we all eagerly await his live action debut in the DCU’s Superman this June. However, just because he’s the best boy doesn’t mean that he’s the best super pet around. Plenty of superheroes keep a superpowered pet around. Whether that be Supergirl’s Streaky the Supercat or Wonder Woman’s Jumpa the Kanga, superheroes just love when their pets can put on an adorable cape and join them in a fight. Heck, Batman’s son Damian Wayne is famous for adopting every animal he meets. From cats, to genetically modified bat monsters, to at one point a literal dragon, Robin loves his pets.
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However, out of all the greatest animal companions ever penciled to comics, only one can stand as the best super pet of them all. Believe me, this competition is fierce. From hallowed heroes like Ace and Titus the Bat-Hounds to dastardly villains like Dex-Starr the red lantern cat, any one of these furry friends could sit at the top, but alas, there can only be one best animal friend, and that is none other than the one, the only Bat-Cow!
Bat-Cow is the Best Super Pet, Period
Bat-Cow first debuted back in Batman Incorporated #1 in 2012, and she’s the best because she was born for the role. She literally has hair in the shape of a bat mask on her face. If that’s not destiny speaking, I don’t know what is. The Battlin’ Bovine was rescued from a slaughterhouse by Batman and Robin, and while they initially only took her with them to run tests to see if some villains had infected her with a disease, Robin instantly got attached. They could never return her after that, so Bat-Cow became a permanent member of the Bat Family. She was the starting point for Damian Wayne’s love of animals, the mission where they met also being the one that convinced Robin to become a vegetarian.
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Ever since her original introduction, Bat-Cow has also served as a core member of the Legion of Super Pets alongside Krypto, the Bat-Hounds, Flexi the Plastic Bird, and all the other greats in the super pet community. She has been known to go toe-to-toe with some of the nastiest animal-threats the DC universe has ever seen, like helping bring down the Stranger when he tried to abduct all the pets in Metropolis, or stare down Laffa the Joker Bull (just an angry bull with a smile painted on its face) to save Billy Ray the cowboy. She’s been there through it all,
What I think is most inspiring about Bat-Cow, and what sets her apart from other super pets, is that she can’t really do much of the actual fighting that so many of the others do. She doesn’t have the special powers like Krypto or Streaky, and she can’t use gadgets or attack dog training like Titus. And she’s definitely not immortal like Jumpa. What makes Bat-Cow special is that she’s not, she’s just a cow. She isn’t fast, strong, or capable of anything but moving at a moderate pace and decent intimidation. And yet, despite all that, she keeps going out there and doing what she can when people need her.
Bat-Cow May Be a Novelty, But She’s Still Great
Bat-Cow will never brave the heights that the other super pets have reached. She almost for sure will never get her own animated series like Krypto, and it’s not terribly likely she’ll ever be seen in live action. Though that’s not impossible, and we can hope. Her one appearance outside of comics was in the animated movie Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, where she played the minor role of being a middle ground that Robin and Superboy could bond over. This was about four months after the release of DC League of Super-Pets movie released, which she was not in.
But maybe that’s what’s most important about Bat-Cow. She might be called boring once the novelty of a cow with a Batman mask wears off, but for me that never has. In spite of the fact that there are a million other super pets that could take her in a fight and save more lives, and those like Ace and Streaky make a very good case for themselves, I have to give the title to Bat-Cow, because she represents a bastion of will and determination no matter what circumstances she finds herself in. Bat-Cow isn’t special, but she doesn’t have to be. She just has to be herself. And a cow with a Batman mask will never be old!
