October 1953: DC Goes to the Dogs

If you ever need a dog to fight a dinosaur, Rex is game.

This white German Shepherd — or “Alsatian,” as they say in Europe — was plucky enough to tackle not only a Tyrannosaurus rex but also various lions, wolves, bears and octopuses during his healthy seven-year run in his own comic book.

“Rex debuted in his own regularly published title, with a first issue cover date of Jan-Feb, 1952,” noted comics historian Don Markstein. “The opening story was written by Robert Kanigher (editor of Wonder Woman and DC's war comics) and drawn by Alex Toth (former Green Lantern artist who went on to create Space Ghost). The same team had earlier created Johnny Thunder. The editor was Julius Schwartz, who at the time also edited DC’s western and science fiction comics, but is best known for his work a few years later on The Flash, Green Lantern and other 1960s superheroes. Starting in the fourth issue, Rex had a back-up feature, Detective Chimp.”

Trained by the U.S. Army's K-9 Corps, Rex lived with the Dennis family and eventually helped scientist John Rayburn, who took Rex on subatomic adventures that anticipated the Atom’s.

Other DC Comics wonder dogs — all products of the 1950s — would include Krypto, Ace the Bat-Hound and Pooch, another German Shepherd who helped Gunner and Sarge on a Pacific island during World War II. An earlier DC wonder dog, Streak, eventually replaced the original Green Lantern as the star of his own magazine.