Superkatt

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]

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 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

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
  • 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
  • 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

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
  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. 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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