Comic Review: Super Sons Annual #1 (DC Comics)

Pets are disappearing all over Gotham City. As Superboy and Robin call it a night in their own respective homes, Krypto the Superdog and Titus the Batdog decide to make matters into their own hands… or paws!

Krypton’s Titus set out to recruit their allies: Flexi the Plastic Bird, Bat-Hound, Bat-Cow and Streaky the Supercat to investigate the pet disappearances and put an end to the kidnappings once and for all. Who is behind the kidnappings? And will Krypto and Titus get into more than they bargained for? And will they earn a nice doggy treat in the process of it all?

This was a nice little fun annual which focuses on an adventure featuring the Super-Pets as they navigate and investigate the pet disappearances. It’s fun to see Tomasi take a break from a lot of the serious arcs that’s going on in his Superman title (with Gleason) and focusing on a little fun side story. For an annual, admittedly I wouldn’t have expected for this to be the first story for an annual issue, but none the less, the plot is enjoyable. Believably, there isn’t a lot of full-on dialogue (Damian and Jon aside) since it’s a pet heavy issue focusing on Krypto, Titus and the other Super Pets within this issue. Yet despite the lack of clear dialogue, Tomasi provides an adorable and enjoyable tale of pets saving other pets from an unknown adversary. The comic although 39 pages, is actually a pretty quick read despite the page length. That’s all I part of how fast, yet steadily paced this story is. While part of that is helped by Tomasi, the other contributing factor for the fast, steady pace is also due to the illustration as well.

Paul Pelletier’s art with this Annual issue is great and Well rendered. He actually does a great job with the art making it a fun read. The fact that he’s able to make the comic about Super Pets visually satisfying , and fun is a great thing that not many comic book illustrators can do (David Aja is an example.of a fine illustrator that made a great cool dog story, which was also fun during his time with Matt Fraction on Hawkeye). In all honesty, it’s not an easy thing to draw up a story focusing on Super Pets of Super-Heroes, yet Pelletier does this with ease, making the comic feel engaging to read. My favorite thing about Pelletier’s art (aside from Streaky the Supercat) is his display of Krypto flying with Titus attached to his leash. Basically, whenever Krypto needs to fly, he could carry Titus during flight by biting on to his leash. I thought Pelletier did a fantastic job of showing that because whenever Krypto is carrying Titus, you could see through the panels Titus wobbling through the air, which I thought was as believable in regards to dogs and how they move, while simultaneously being adorable. Smith’s inks are nice and Hi Fi’s colors add a nice joyful flair to this cute story that Tomasi has cooked up.

Whether you’re a pet owner, or a fan of the Super-Pets, I think this is a fun comic to pick up, read and pass the time with. It’s a cute little story that takes a break from all the huge world ending storylines that are happening all over the comic stratosphere. So if you’re looking for a nice, fun, simple, cute story about Krypto and Titus whooping behinds and saving pets, then definitely give it a read or pick it up. Not everything needs to be completely serious, and I think this comic fits the bill for anyone looking to read a good old fun story. Plus, how can you not like bat cow or Streaky The Supercat!? Somewhere out there, Grant Morrison is smiling whenever Batcow is used, and who could be mad about that? It’s a guaranteed enjoyable read.