Off My Mind: Should There Be More Super-Powered Animals?

The Pet Avengers ARE in continuity! How dare you say such a thing, G-man!? :O 
 
I guess it's cause if there were more super animals, comics would be seen as more childish than they already are by most people :P

Yay! More super-powered animals!

" Yay! More super-powered animals! "

For those interested there are the Marvel Pets Handbook.

Nice point G-Man. I remember that Catseye from the X-Men was speculated to be a mutant cat.

Extraordinary animals have been a staple of comic books almost as long as superheroes themselves. Animals with special abilities and heightened intelligence are no more ridiculous (considerably less so, actually) than people who fly through force of will or move objects with their minds. I want to see more of them!

NO!!!
 
Unless it's a little bit of fun outside of continuity or handled extremely well.
Most comic readers are over six years old and have out grown that sort of thing long ago.

" Nice point G-Man. I remember that Catseye from the X-Men was speculated to be a mutant cat. "

Yeah more Heroes that are pets. A martian manhunter dog would be cool

What about Hit-Monkey? Ok, he doesn't have super-powers, but he still KICKS ASS!!!!

This was actually a plot point in Ultimate X-Men. Back when Magneto was believed to be dead and Quicksilver was in charge of the Brotherhood, they wound up recruiting a lot of mutant animals. 
 
Then as soon as Magneto was back, he killed them all because they were part of why the Brotherhood sucked so much without him. It was pretty hilarious.

"The Pet Avengers ARE in continuity! How dare you say such a thing, G-man!? :O  "

No, I'm saying Pet Avengers IS in continuity, but some folks insist on saying it isn't. There is no ambiguity in this story.  
1:07 AM Mar 12th via TweetDeck      

No.  I think there should be more superpowered plants. 
 
Think about it.  Audrey II, the Killer Tomatoes, that creepy stuff that consumed that one dood in Creepshow, SWAMP THING.  I mean, it's a no brainer, really.

No it's a childish concept unless they're like  Rocket Raccoon

Everything can be childish, it's the way they are treated that makes them different.

not just no but HELL NO! 
 
no more pet animals in continuity. they never have anything interesting to do. when i first heard about Krypto coming back i was appalled what would he do. then they brought him back and all he can do is be mindless muscle or cute comic relief. super animals aren't like human characters they cant talk and you as a reader can't relate to them they are just there. 

I'm pretty sure I read that Ruffles the Rage Kitty (Dex-Starr) isn't an alien, he's actually a normal Earth cat.  In my mind that just makes the whole character even better.  I'd love to see the return of Ace the Bat-Hound if they had the character the way he was in Batman Beyond.  I figure an issue of Superman/Batman focused entirely on Krypto and Ace could be the most adorable thing ever.

I think more comics should feature super animals. They are nice and friendly for the little ones, and great way to introduce younger readers to comic books.

I'm sure that there are many animals with powers that haven't been discovered yet (by the pets OR the readers)

 The more pets, the more trouble and messes they cause.

The problem isn't the pets gaining powers. We already have suspension of disbelief in play here. Not to mention, the entire "mutant" concept as shown in the X-titles blatantly disregards all rules and logic of evolution. I love the X-Men, but I'm afraid its misrepresentation of evolution adds to the public's already dim understanding of the subject. But I digress.
 
The true problem with pet superheroes is having them be sentient. It's an odd road to tread. Without entering a Disney-like world where animals are anthropomorphic metaphors for humans, who even share our slang and pop culture references, there are only so many evil scientists to enhance the intellect of a gorilla, etc. Maybe if they gave a common explanation for all of these self-aware animals, like the High Evolutionary is continually cranking them out, perhaps it'd be an easier sell.
 
I don't think Lockheed fits in this category. He's an alien race that is quite intelligent. Seeing as his world followed a different evolutionary path, it allows for us to more easily accept it, as opposed to looking at animals we know to have limited ability to reason such as frogs.

P-Cat the Penitent Puss

Hell yes , this would mean animal villains and a bear would be awesome

" Yay! More super-powered animals! "

I, honestly, have been wanting to see the appearance of Iron Dog. lol

Sorry, but pets having super powers is just lame and campy. The only exception might be mythological creatures (kinda like Lockheed).

Magneto needs a pet...

I wish they would bring back Ace the Bat-hound, he was awesome in Batman Beyond (and useful against the Joker :D)!

i loved that squirrel from power puff girls

i think they should have more super powered animals running around, but they are at best livestock (like Odin's horse) and more often monsters that must be fought (like in the old Hercules myths). 

does ape x and the ape verse count 

BRING BACK COMET AND STREAKY!

cmaprice makes total sense of this whole thing but also I'd like to address something:

  How come there's never any comic chimps phasing through their bars at the zoo or having telekinetic powers to get all the bananas they want before feeding time?  

" cmaprice makes total sense of this whole thing but also I'd like to address something:

  How come there's never any comic chimps phasing through their bars at the zoo or having telekinetic powers to get all the bananas they want before feeding time?  

 Because they don't have the ability to reason. Not yet anyway. "

I would of loved to see Old Lace in this, but yeah :/ 

" Extraordinary animals have been a staple of comic books almost as long as superheroes themselves. Animals with special abilities and heightened intelligence are no more ridiculous (considerably less so, actually) than people who fly through force of will or move objects with their minds. I want to see more of them! "

ha perfect! But must add is in Lockjaw really a man turn into an animal? "

" @Illuminarch said:

" Extraordinary animals have been a staple of comic books almost as long as superheroes themselves. Animals with special abilities and heightened intelligence are no more ridiculous (considerably less so, actually) than people who fly through force of will or move objects with their minds. I want to see more of them! "

ha perfect! But must add is in Lockjaw really a man turn into an animal? "

Actually, when you start to thinka bout it, there are quite a few superpowered animals out there: Old Lace (Runaways) Lockjaw (X-men) Dex-Starr (Red Lanterns) Dr. Pobo (Umbrella Academy) And wasn't there a Green Lantern that was a cosmic squirel, or something? Also, I seem to remember seeing a one-off where the x-men were all dogs...