You might not have X-ray vision like Superman and Krypto, but you can still get a special peek at DC League of Super-Pets this Free Comic Book Day. This Saturday, go to your local comic shop to grab a preview of the new tie-in graphic novel DC League of Super-Pets: The Great Mxy-Up by Heath Corson and Bobby Timony and you’ll be all set for when the fur starts flying later this summer in the Super-Pets movie.
The middle-grade graphic novel, out in stores July 19, features your favorite super-pets like Krypto and Ace in an exciting adventure alongside their Justice League counterparts. But what’s it about? And how did the pets get mixed up with Mr. Mxyzptlk? Writer Heath Corson chatted with DCComics.com about the brand-new story and some of powerfully-pawed characters it introduces.
What The Great Mxy-Up about?
The Great Mxy-Up is about our two teams, the League of Super-Pets and the Justice League. It’s basically all the superheroes from the Justice League and their pets that they adopted after the end of the movie. This is the continuing adventure of them working together with these pets, who help both in their normal lives and in their superhero lives.
The complication is that Mxyzptlk—
Nice!
The imp from the Fifth Dimension appears to complicate their lives. Both Krypto and Superman have met him before, and he has returned to play all of his games with Earth and with both super-teams. And there’s all sorts of surprises along the way!
You pronounced Mxy— Mxyl— Ah, I almost said it! You pronounced Mxyzptlk so well, do you know how to say it backwards? Because I have no idea.
Kltpzyxm!
Oh!
“Kel-tip-zix-um” is how we were saying it.
So, we have a team of six Super-Pets facing Mxy. Do you have a personal favorite?
I think my favorite one is Keith, the water guinea pig who is with Aquaman, only because I think he’s so funny. He’s really into hanging with Aquaman and he’s excited, but he’s a little out of shape. He’s always talking about how hard it is to swim as far as Aquaman. That just made me laugh. Those personalities.
What I wanted to do in the beginning was look at each of the pairs and really define their relationship. All of them have a different relationship with their pet. Krypto and Superman are very much like best friends. Ace and Batman are partners, they’re on the same level, they watch each other’s back. And then PB and Wonder Woman have this older sister, younger sister mentorship thing going on.
I really wanted to shade the different ways that each of us relate to our pets and how they’re all a little bit different. Merton and Flash are wary of each other. They’re running around together, but they don’t really open up. Like Merton says, “We’re not coming out of our shells so easily yet.”
Which member of the Justice League do you think spoils their pet the most?
Superman totally spoils his pet the most. Totally.
Superman’s relationship with Krypto is very much taken from my relationship with the puppy that we took in during Covid, named Moosie. She’s the love of our lives. She is incredibly spoiled and very demanding and a huge pain in the butt. So even when Superman tells Krypto he can’t come into the monitor room, he gives him a great big bone. “Here, buddy, you can chew on this!” That’s very much taken from my personal life. Like, “Hey, you can’t do that, but here’s a treat!”
I had a really good time writing the big ensemble and writing them all hanging out together. That was very funny to me. It was really, really fun to get to write all the different voices.
Even in the movie, (the pets and superheroes) can’t understand each other because they’re not speaking the same language. What happens if they could magically speak the same language? That’s why we backed into Mxy. That’s where the idea came from.
You mentioned Moosie. Were there other pets that inspired you?
In the book there’s a dedication page for all of our pets present and past. We had a big 75-pound German Shepherd mix. He was very protective and really silly. His name was Tucker. Tucker was very much another version of Krypto. Very heroic.
And I had a grizzled old Lab mix named Phineas. Phineas was very much like Ace. He was like Clint Eastwood. He thought he was rough and tough, flinty. Whenever he saw another person or another dog, he would get right next to me and protect me. He was the best. He really gave me my Ace.
I had a kitty-cat named Sammy, AKA Princess Kittyface, that we adopted late in her life and only had her for the last three or four years of her life. She decided I was her person. She would jump up in my lap and just purr.
The Super-Pets have their own personalities just like real pets. And powers! Which one do you think we shouldn’t underestimate?
I think you shouldn’t underestimate Merton! She is awesome. She can keep up with the Flash. She’s older, so she tends to fall asleep or crash into things sometimes. She’s like 115 years old or something. We really wanted to expand that, like, what would happen if your grandma had superspeed powers? But don’t underestimate her. She can run with the Flash and keep up with him!
Look for DC League of Super-Pets FCBD Special Edition 2022 #1 by Heath Corson and Bobby Timony at your local comic shop on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The full graphic novel, DC League of Super-Pets: The Great Mxy-Up, will be available in in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and as a digital graphic novel on July 19, 2022.
Kelly Knox writes about all-ages comics and animation for DCComics.com and her writing can also be seen on IGN, Nerdist and more. Follow her on Twitter at @kelly_knox to talk superheroes, comics and pop culture.
