Detective Comics #232 (June 1956)

From the Ambush Bug History of the DC Universe comes an addendum to the Ace the Bathound entry...

Guest Review by Irwin Schwab:

"Here, boy . C'mon, boy. That's a good doggie. This is Jupiter. He first appeared in Detective Comics #232 (June 1956,) exactly one year after Ace the Bathound, in a story called 'The Dog With A Martian Master.' I would have called it 'Jupiter, Manhunter's Best Friend,' but nobody asked me. I was just a kid, 'tho.

You see, in this tale, Detective John Jones rescues a dog from drowning, jumping from a bridge instead of catching the jewel thief he was after. I don't see why he couldn't do both, since he saved time by nullifying the Earth's gravitational field to walk on water. But then Jones got wet anyway, so folks wouldn't suspect he wasn't 'quite of this world.' John names the dog Jupiter, and passes him off to the station's master sergeant to locate its master. I think he might have been confused about what a master sergeant does. But anyway, as the Manhunter uses his ultra-sensitive ears to track the thief Fletcher, Jupiter sneaks up behind him and --HA HA HA-- starts barking. That tipped off Fletcher, so Jones took the mutt back to his apartment. But Jupiter breaks thru a window, climbs boxes to track his new master to a building ledge, then --HA HA-- leaps on the invisible Manhunter, whose prey is frightened by the --HA HA HA-- floating wiener dog outside his window. So then, Jones bends his golf clubs into a --HA HA HA HA HA-- round doggie cage and leaves Jupiter wearing a --a-HAH-- an old sweater so it won't get cold. But Jupiter rolls --HA HA HA *gasp* he rolls down the fire escape like a pinball --AHHH HAHAHAHAHA!! HAAAAHAAHAHA-- I CAN'T *GASP--GASP* CAN'T TAKE IT-- HAHA-- he busts out! So there's a fire, and John Jones goes limp-- and BWAHAHAHAHAH!! Jupiter drags him-- the little doggie drags him-- HAHAHOHOHEE"

I suppose I'll have to finish up here. This story was so ridiculous, John Jones invented a slew of new exclamations to express his disbelief. Still, Fletcher was caught, and Jones promised Jupiter, "We're going to be real pals for a long time!" Jupiter was never heard from again. Maybe the desk sergeant found its owners... maybe... there was a red-haired woman in the precinct that one day...

Written by Jack Miller and drawn by Joe Certa.