Beppo (comics)

Beppo
Beppo on the cover of Superboy #76. Art by Curt Swan.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superboy #76 (October 1959)
Created by	Otto Binder George Papp
In-story information
Species	Kryptonian equivalent of monkey
Place of origin	Krypton
Team affiliations	Legion of Super-Pets
Abilities	Similar to Superman: Strength, flight, invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision

Beppo is a fictional monkey appearing in books published by DC Comics, primarily those featuring Superman. Created by Otto Binder and George Papp, he first appeared in Superboy #76 (October 1959).

Despite his resemblance to an Earth monkey, due to convergent evolution producing analogous species to fill similar ecological niches, Beppo is from the planet Krypton. He was originally one of Jor-El's test animals. Luckily for him, Beppo decided to stow away aboard baby Kal-El's rocket to Earth and was thus saved from its destruction. Upon landing, Beppo hopped out unseen and went off on his own for a period of several months. Beppo lived in a jungle for a while and handled himself quite well, since as a Kryptonian ape he had the usual array of super-powers.

One day Beppo, using his telescopic vision, spotted Kal-El, now a toddler living in Smallville with the Kents. Beppo quickly flew to Smallville and, being a monkey, secretly caused all sorts of havoc. Ma and Pa Kent initially blamed baby Clark for Beppo's super-powered monkeyshines, but they soon discovered the truth. The Kents fretted that Clark's secret might be exposed by the super-antics of the Simian of Steel but, as it turned out, their worry was needless. It wasn't long before Beppo accidentally set off some 4th of July fireworks stored in the Kent garage. The explosions spooked Beppo, who took off into space. The panicked Beppo kept on going when he saw a passing comet, which he thought was more fireworks chasing him. When Beppo failed to return, the Kents presumed he'd gotten lost out there somewhere. Beppo's origin is related in "The Super-Monkey from Krypton!", the cover story in Superboy #76 (October 1959). At the end of the story, which is told in flashback by teenaged Clark, the reader is informed that Beppo made his way back to Earth before too long.