National Dog Day: Best Comic Book Dogs

Dogs, also known as man’s best friend, have stood by our side (and sometimes directly under our feet) for years a loyal companions. They comfort us when we don’t feel well, protect us from harm, pee on the floor, and are always happy to see us when we come home, even if we were only gone 3 minutes. And no matter what, dogs always find a way to put a smile on our faces.

In honor of National Dog Day, let’s celebrate our four-legged, tail-wagging friends by taking a look at the top 5 comic book dogs because even superheroes need loyal companions…

Scooby-Doo

Scooby-Doo, the goofy Great Dane, is easily the most popular animated dog of all time. Since he was created in 1969, he’s been making the rounds in television series, animated movies, live-action movies, video games, and comic books.

For almost 50 years, Scooby has been helping his human friends solve supernatural mysteries, mostly by being a total scaredy-cat and running away. However, he is a very loyal companion to his counterpart Shaggy (who is also always scared).

Gold Key Comics began publication of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! comic books in December 1969. At first the comics coincided with the original cartoon, but eventually separated and took on new adventures. Scooby even spent some time at Marvel with a 9 issue run written by Mark Evanier and drawn by Dan Spiegle. 

Scooby finally found his furever home at DC comics when they purchased the rights to all Hannah-Barbera properties in 1997. He’s currently starring in Scooby-Doo Apocalypse and saving what’s left of the world.

Those meddling kids—Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their dog, Scooby-Doo—get more ghost-debunking than they bargained for when faced with a fundamental change in their world. The apocalypse has happened. Old rules about logic no longer apply. The creatures of the night are among us, and the crew of the Magical Mystery Machine has to fight to survive—because in the apocalyptic badlands of the near-future, the horrors are real! 

This new monthly series takes Scooby and the gang to a whole new level and features character designs by comics superstar Jim Lee! 

Dogpool

Dogpool, is a crazy mutated mutt with the same healing powers as the antihero Deadpool. He made his debut in Deadpool Corps, a twelve issue series where Deadpool is joined by several alternate versions of himself from different universes.

He’s essentially the canine version of Deadpool. He was first seen in a makeup lab where scientists were inhumanely testing Mascara X on his furry face. The experiments caused Dogpool to develop the ability to heal from any wound, but before his lab owners could discover this, they abandoned him for dead and left him in a dumpster.

He somehow made his way to the circus, where the ring leader exploited him for his special powers until the Deadpool of Earth-616 showed up and recruited him for the Deadpool Corps.Dogpool made the ultimate sacrifice and was killed in battle trying to protect the real Deadpool from being attacked. Rest easy, buddy. 

Ace

Yes, Batman once had a dog on his team! Ace, the Bat-Hound even wore his own superhero mask when fighting crime along side of the Caped Crusader and Robin.

Bat-Hound’s debuted in Batman #92 in the ’50s. In this issue, Batman and Robin save a dog named Ace from drowning. The German Shepard went on to get his very own tech cowl and bat-themed collar, and appeared in several issues until 1964.

Different versions of Bat-Hound showed up in video games and animated television series like Batman Beyond, and Krypto The Wonder Dog.

Krypto

Krypto was Superman’s alien pet puppy on Krypton before the planet was destroyed. He was sent into space and landed on Earth as a fully grown dog with similar abilities to those of Superman, meaning he can fly and wears a cool cape.

Krypto’s first appearance was in a Superboy story in Adventure Comics #210 in March 1955. He went on to star in other DC comics as well and even made the jump to live-action on The WB’s Smallville. He eventually landed his very own animated TV series on Cartoon Network in 2005 called, Krypton The Superdog.

In the cartoon, Krypto was adopted by 9-year-old Kevin Whitney, whose family thought Krypto was an ordinary Labrador Retreiver. But the canine donned the secret identity “Superdog” and performed heroic acts while fighting against evil.

Cosmo

Cosmo, a telepathic Soviet dog, is the security chief of the space station Knowhere, and a proud member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

He was launched into Earth’s orbit as part of an experiment but he drifted off into space at some point during the 1960s and arrived in Knowhere, a city right inside the severed head of a giant Celestial. Cosmo was first introduced in Nova #4 in the ’70s. 

The mutated Golden Retriever mix went on to star in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series, voiced by James Arnold Taylor in a Russian accent. He even made a cameo in James Gunn’s 2014 live-action Guardians of the Galaxy move, where he was seen licking the face of the Collector.

Out of all the comic book dogs, Cosmo is the most powerful with mind-bending abilities and telekinesis. He also speaks Russian, which is probably helpful…