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Comet is the name of two
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
characters owned by
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
whose adventures have been published by that same company. The first character is Biron, a sapient horse with magical powers who was once a
centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
in ancient
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. The second character is a shapeshifter with three forms (male, female, and winged centaur). Both characters are connected to the ''
Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
'' family of titles. Comet first appeared in the story "The Legion of Super-Traitors!", published in ''
Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...
'' #293 (February 1962) during the period known as the Silver Age of Comics. This story introduced the
Legion of Super-Pets The Legion of Super-Pets is a fictional team of superhero pets in the DC Universe. The original membership included Krypto, Streaky the Supercat, Beppo, and Comet, with the shape-shifting alien Proty II later joining. The team first appeared i ...
, bringing together several previously established super animals.
Krypto Krypto, also known as Krypto the Superdog, is a superhero dog appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the character Superman. In most continuities, Krypto is Superman's pet dog, usually depicted as a ...
the Super-Dog came from Superman's past,
Streaky the Supercat Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. He is Supergirl's pet cat wh ...
and Beppo the Super-Monkey from Superman's present—and Comet was presented as a super-pet who came from the future. The horse was properly introduced seven months later, when Comet met Supergirl in ''
Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...
'' #293 (September 1962). Following ''
Crisis on Infinite Earths ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is a 1985 to 1986 American comic book fictional crossover, crossover series published by DC Comics. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciller, pencilled by George Pérez, it was first released as a 12-issue limited ser ...
'' (1985), which destroyed the universe and rebooted DC's continuity, the original Comet was no longer considered
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
. However, Comet returned to continuity in the limited series '' Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow'' (2021–2022), where he sacrificed himself to save Supergirl.


Pre-Crisis Comet

Comet the Super-Horse was introduced in the
Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...
story in ''
Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...
'' #293 in February 1962, then appeared regularly with
Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...
beginning in ''
Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...
'' #292 in September 1962. Comet was one of a series of super-powered animals, including
Streaky the Supercat Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. He is Supergirl's pet cat wh ...
and Beppo the Supermonkey, that were popular in DC's comics of the 1960s. Comet was Supergirl's pet horse and, while in his human form as Bill Starr, her brief boyfriend. Comet also had a brief romance with
Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning ...
in her comic book. As he described to her telepathically, he was originally a centaur in ancient Greece named Biron. The witch
Circe In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast kn ...
gave him a potion to transform him into a human after he prevented an evil sorcerer from poisoning her water, but accidentally transformed him into a horse. Unable to reverse the spell, Circe instead gave Biron superpowers, including immortality. The sorcerer asked his teacher to help him against Biron and they were able to imprison him on an asteroid in the
constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...
of Sagittarius, which he had been born under. However, when Supergirl's rocket passed, it broke the force field, enabling him to escape. Later, after meeting Supergirl, the two travel to the planet Zerox, where Comet gains the ability to transform into a human when a specific
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
is close to Earth. As a human, he adopts the identity of "Bronco" Bill Starr, a rodeo trick-rider.''
Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...
'' #301 (June 1962)
Comet made sporadic appearances in comic stories through the 1960s and joins the
Legion of Super-Pets The Legion of Super-Pets is a fictional team of superhero pets in the DC Universe. The original membership included Krypto, Streaky the Supercat, Beppo, and Comet, with the shape-shifting alien Proty II later joining. The team first appeared i ...
, a group consisting of the aforementioned super-powered animals. Post-''Crisis'', Comet did not appear for many years until '' Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds'' #1, where he appeared on display in a museum that
Superboy-Prime Superboy-Prime (Clark Kent; colloquial: "Prime") is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A boy from the Reality, real world Isekai, transported to the DC Universe, as an Alternative vers ...
visits. Comet fully returned to continuity in the miniseries ''Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow''.


Powers and abilities

Comet possesses similar powers to those of a
Kryptonian Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to ref ...
, as well as
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
. Due to not being a Kryptonian, he is unaffected by
Kryptonite Kryptonite is a fictional material that appears primarily in Superman stories published by DC Comics. In its best-known form, it is a green, crystalline material originating from Superman's home world of Krypton (comics), Krypton that emits a u ...
and red sun radiation.


Post-Crisis Comet

A very different Comet was introduced in ''
Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...
'' #14 (October 1997). This version is an Angel of Love who was created after Andrea Martinez and Andrew Jones were buried in an avalanche and fused to survive. They are female by default but can transform into a male winged centaur form with cryokinesis and a psionic love-inducing aura.


Other versions

* The pre-Crisis Comet appears in ''Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade''. * An alternate universe variant of Comet appears in '' Superman: True Brit'' as a normal horse owned by
Jonathan and Martha Kent Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent (often referred to as "Pa" and "Ma" Kent, respectively) are fictional characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. They are the adoptive parents of Superman, and live in the rural town of Smallville (co ...
. * An alternate universe variant of Comet from the Dark Multiverse appears in ''
Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond ( Paul Giamatti), a de ...
Annual'' #1. This version is a bat-like centaur who escaped the destruction of his universe and came to serve Perrus.


Reception

Asked in a 2006 interview if Superman's extended cast of characters in the Silver Age weakened Superman's uniqueness, ''Action Comics'' writer
Gail Simone Gail Simone (born July 29, 1974) is an American writer best known for her work in comics on DC Comics, DC's ''Birds of Prey (comics), Birds of Prey'', ''Batgirl'', Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female write ...
answered: "Completely disagree. While cutting away the allegedly 'silly' aspects of Superman's mythology, we quite forgot that there's likely a large potential readership that might really enjoy a story about a superbaby or a flying horse. We all thought that stuff was cornball junk that needed to go, but I'll tell you right now, a lot of young girls would like Supergirl more if she had a flying horse".


In other media

* Comet makes a cameo appearance in '' DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year'' as Kara Zor-El's pet horse on
Krypton Krypton (from 'the hidden one') is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless noble gas that occurs in trace element, trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere and is of ...
. * The pre-''Crisis'' and post-''Crisis'' incarnations of Comet appear as character summons in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''. * Comet appears in '' Krypto the Superdog'' #6. This version is from the 30th century.


See also

* List of fictional horses


References


External links

*
Legion of Super-Heroes Roll Call: Comet
{{Supergirl Animal superheroes Characters created by Jerry Siegel Characters created by Peter David Comics characters introduced in 1962 Comics characters introduced in 1997 DC Comics angels DC Comics animals DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability DC Comics characters with superhuman senses DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics LGBTQ superheroes DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics psychics DC Comics shapeshifters DC Comics telepaths Fictional androgynes Fictional centaurs Fictional characters with ice or cold abilities Fictional empaths Fictional horses Legion of Super-Pets Merged fictional characters Supergirl