| Streaky the Supercat | |
|---|---|
 Streaky |
|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Action Comics #261 (February 1960) |
| Created by | Otto Binder Jim Mooney. |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Streaky |
| Team affiliations | Legion of Super-Pets |
| Supporting character of | Supergirl |
| Abilities | depowered originally flight, super-strength, super-vision, and super-speed. |
Streaky the Supercat is a fictional character published by DC Comics. Streaky first appeared in Action Comics #261 (February 1960), and was created by Otto Binder and Jim Mooney.
Contents |
Fictional character biography
One of a series of super-powered animals (which also included Krypto the Superdog, Comet the Superhorse, and Beppo the Supermonkey) that was popular in DC's comics of the 1960s, Streaky was Supergirl's pet cat that was given super-powers by an unusual form of kryptonite.
Supergirl was experimenting on a piece of green kryptonite in an attempt to find a way to neutralize its deadly effects. When her experiment failed, she tossed the kryptonite (or "X-Kryptonite", as it became known as) out the window. Though her experiment failed, her pet Streaky came across the X-Kryptonite, and was exposed to its radiation. As the comics described it: "Due to the unique combination of chemicals in X-Kryptonite, it has given Streaky superpowers!"
Streaky's powers consisted of a smaller subset of those of Superman and Supergirl, including flight, super-strength, super-vision, and super-speed.
Streaky made sporadic appearances in comic stories through the 1960s, and even became a member of the Legion of Super-Pets, a group consisting of the superpowered animals mentioned above.
Streaky had a 30th century descendant named Whizzy (who also had superpowers).
Streaky's last pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths appearance was in June 1970's Adventure Comics #394. Presumably, when all of Earth's kryptonite was transformed into iron in Superman #233 in 1971, Streaky's X-Kryptonite power source was eliminated as well, ending his super-career and returning him to the life of a normal housecat.
During Grant Morrison's run in Animal Man, an alternate, grey-furred Streaky (which, however, left an orange contrail with the telltale lightning bolt marking) made a brief appearance as one of the pre-Crisis characters that were returned to reality by the Psycho-Pirate's Medusa Mask. This alternate Streaky attacked "Overman," an evil parallel universe Superman with his heat vision before being hurled out of the asylum. Presumably, this Streaky vanished from existence when the Psycho-Pirate's episode of madness ended, along with his human counterparts.
Various cats inspired by (and sometimes named) Streaky have made appearances in the post-Crisis DC Universe, but none so far have acquired superpowers. In Peter David's Supergirl series, a particular cat named Streaky, identical to the pre-Crisis version, jumps from a tree (as if trying to fly) before being saved by Supergirl and returned to its owner, saying the town of Leesburg isn't "ready for a flying kitten." The cat appeared in issues 25 and 42.
At the 2007 New York Comic Con, when asked if Streaky would be returning, Paul Dini said that the “cat’s out of the bag”. [1]
In Supergirl #10, it is revealed Kara has a female pet cat. In #14, it's revealed that the cat's name is Streaky because "she doesn't get the concept of the litter box." She has since had recurring cameos in Final Crisis. She is first seen in Supergirl's apartment as Supergirl urges her not to pee in the laundry. After the escape of the Anti-Life Equation Supergirl takes Streaky to the Fortress of Solitude.
Supergirl #38 establishes that, when Supergirl began sharing an apartment with Lana Lang as "Linda Lang", she took Streaky with her. Now that Supergirl mostly lives on New Krypton, Lana looks after the cat.
Other Comic Versions
As well as appearing in comics related to the Krypto the Superdog cartoon he also appears in Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade. He has a cameo in issue 3 but it is in issue 4 he is given superpowers by being exposed to an electrocuted piece of Kryptonite that Supergirl had discarded. He leads Supergirl under her school where she helps his free her fellow students. Then he takes off into space vowing to return as he has found something out about Supergirl's teachers. He returns in issue 5 where he saves Supergirl by taking a blast from Belinda Zee's Bizarro vision. He is transformed into a sabre tooth tiger. With the second blast of this vision he reverts to a normal cat. He spends the rest of the series hissing at the bad guys, insinuating his intelligence has remained but the powers and ability to express himself has gone.
Streaky has also appeared in Johnny DC titles Super Friends and Tiny Titans. In Super Friends he helps the other superpets save the world when humanity is immobilised. In Tiny Titans he attends pet club meetings with Supergirl and the other Superpets.
A version of the character is a main part for Supergirl's Wednesday comics strip along with Krypto.
In other media
One scene of the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Deep Freeze" had a group of robotic toys which all resembled classic comic book characters, Bat-Mite, Mr. Mxyzptlk and Krypto the Superdog and one of the toys resembled Streaky.
In Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, Streaky has made a few appearances as an ordinary housecat of the Kents. As an injoke in the episode "Mxyzpixilated", Mr. Mxyzptlk demonstrated his powers by making Streaky fly around the room.
In Justice League episode "Comfort and Joy" J'onn J'onzz does not feel the Christmas spirit until he wanders around Smallville. He meets Streaky near the beginning of the episode, beckoning him to come over by saying "Kitty", at which Streaky hisses and runs away. At the end of the episode he is seen in true Martian form, petting Streaky while singing.
In 2005, Streaky became a supporting character on Cartoon Network's animated series Krypto the Superdog. In this series, Streaky once again has superpowers, and is the pampered pet of Krypto's owner's next-door neighbor, Andrea. In the series Streaky goes into a lab, where he crashes into a duplicator laser. The laser shoots Krypto, which bounces off him and into Streaky, giving the cat a portion of Krypto's powers. Unlike the original comics version, who was immune to the effects of kryptonite radiation, this Streaky does share Krypto's vulnerability to green and red kryptonite. Streaky's voice is provided by Brian Drummond.
Streaky also appears in the Legion of Super Heroes animated series. He appears in the episode "Message in a Bottle." This version of the character is a native to the shrunken city of Kandor. When Brainiac 5 turned the Kandorian sun from red to yellow, Streaky gets his superpowers.
In Batman: The Brave and the Bold Streaky is shown in a TV advertisement that Blue Beetle is watching. He is promoting 'Plastino's Cat Snacks'. Al Plastino was the artist who drew Streaky's owner, Kara Zor-El's first appearance.
External links
- Streaky Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Streaky
- Krypto the Superdog Cartoon Network website
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