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Superkatt

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For William Maragh, the originator of the late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall movement, see Super Cat.

Superkatt
Publication information
PublisherAmerican Comics Group
First appearanceGiggle Comics #9 (June 1944)
Created byDang a.k.a. Dan Gordon
In-story information
Notable aliasesSupe

Superkatt is an American cartoon animal comic book series by Dan Gordon (under the comics pen name "Dang"), a jab at the “long-underwear” genre of superhero comics. The series stars Superkatt, an anthropomorphic cat who wears a bowtie, bonnet, and diaper as a superhero costume.[1] Ron Goulart, author of Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books, said that Superkatt was Dang's most memorable comic book character.[2] Denis Gifford, author of The International Book of Comics, said that the character "was as silly as his supercostume."[3]

Superkatt was an ordinary housecat who thought that he had superpowers, although all he did was drink vitamin milk.[4] However, he did often successfully (if accidentally) defeat his enemies; at one point, he captures a U-boat.[5]

Publication history

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Superkatt first appeared in American Comics Group's Giggle Comics #9 in 1944.[3] The series was a regular feature in Giggle until 1955, when creator Gordon returned to the animation field.[6] The character also made an appearance in ACG's series Ha-Ha Comics in 1946.

Character

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  • Superkatt - An anthropomorphic cat nicknamed "Supe."[3] Superkatt does not have any super powers at all, but is a normal (talking) house cat that dresses in a diaper, a baby's bonnet, and a big blue bow to fight minor neighborhood injustices.

Supporting characters

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  • Humphrey - An anthropomorphic dog character
  • Petunia - An African American human who works as a maid[7]
  • Junior - A human child. Junior wears Superkatt's superhero clothing when Superkatt is not in costume.[8]
  • Lassie - A female dog who Humphrey develops a crush on.[9]
  • Trelawney - A cat who decided to disguise himself as Superkatt in order to steal some birds.[10]
  • Clancy - A cat who is Trelawney's accomplice.[11]
  • Chauncey - A dog.[12]

In other media

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In 1947, Superkatt appeared in the animated short Leave Us Chase It, a part of the Phantasies series. A cat, who is being tormented by a mouse, reads a comic book and receives inspiration from it, so he dresses up as Superkatt and decides to fight back.[13] The cat was voiced by Bill Shaw.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Goulart, Ron. Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books. Contemporary Books, 1986. 222. Retrieved from Google Books on January 24, 2011. "Superkatt was in Giggle, wearing a hero costume that consisted of a baby bonnet, a bow tie, and a diaper."
  2. ^ Goulart, Ron. Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books. Contemporary Books, 1986. 154. Retrieved from Google Books on January 24, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Gifford, Denis. The International Book of Comics. Crescent Books, 1984. 132. Retrieved from Google Books on January 24, 2011. "[...]of the funny animal supercrowd was "Superkatt", who made his debut in Giggle Comics No.9 (1994). As drawn by "Dang" (the comic-book pen name of animator Dan Gordon from the Fleischer Studio), Superkatt, known as "Supe" for short (which he was), was as silly as his super costume."
  4. ^ Becattini, Alberto (2019). "Super-Animals". American Funny Animal Comics in the 20th Century: Volume Two. Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-1683902218.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 252. ISBN 978-1605490892.
  6. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 254. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  7. ^ Superkatt. Giggle Comics #42 (Dec. 1945), p. 2.
  8. ^ Superkatt. Giggle Comics #46 (Oct. 1947), p. 7.
  9. ^ Superkatt. Giggle Comics #46 (Oct. 1947), p. 4.
  10. ^ Superkatt. Giggle Comics #25 (Jan. 1946), p. 5.
  11. ^ Superkatt. Giggle Comics #25 (Jan. 1946), p. 1.
  12. ^ Superkatt. Giggle Comics #46 (Oct. 1947), p. 5.
  13. ^ Webb, Graham. The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences 1900-1979. McFarland, 2000. p. 276. Page not stated by Google Books. Retrieved from Google Books on January 24, 2011. "Leave Us Chase It (Phantasy) 24 Apr. 1947; pc: Colum; prod: Raymond Katz, Henry Binder; dir: Howard Swift; [...] Impressed by a comic he is reading, a cat disguises himself as "Superkatt" to try and get the best of a cocky mouse. "
  14. ^ Scott, Keith (3 October 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media.
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