Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4

Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4 (1952)
by John Broome & Carmine Infantino

 When it comes to animal superheroes, DC Comics is the undisputed champion. Already in the 50s, they didn’t just have Rex the Wonder Dog fighting Nazis…

…but also a chimp, whose story is being told by Sheriff Florida here.

Already from the start, Bobo is smarter than your average ape.

The story kicks off when the sheriff is called to investigate a murder, and Bob was the only witness.

If you’re finding it strange that the chimpanzee is not able to talk with full sentences… you might have read a bit too many Silver Age stories.

Sir, this is the DC Universe. Never understimate how smart an ape can be.

Case in point: not only he nearly solved the case, but he can think like a human unlike regular chimps.*
^{*citation needed}

He escapes from his cage during the night.

The assassin tries to shoot him, but Bobo retreats into the jungle section of the zoo.

Where he is basically unbeatable.

This scares off the killer to the point of blaming Bobo for the death of his master…

…but Bobo has friends in high cages.

The killer is arrested, and Bobo is awarded a lifetime supply of bananas.

At the time of this review Detective Chim is still around 73 years later.
That’s a lot of bananas.

---

Historical significance:  / 10
Modern stories basically ignore this story, even if Detective Chimp had a resurgence of popularity.

Silver Age-ness: / 10
The chimp thinks in full sentences, but that’s about it.

Does it stand the test of time? / 10
Well outside my genre, but it’s a cute little self-contained story.
He’s not even called Detective Chimp in the story, it’s just the story title.
It sure looks like this was intended to be a one-off story.

---

How close is this to the modern character?  /
He doesn’t have the cap, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t talk, and isn’t really a full detective yet.
You’d think the premise wouldn’t be enough for many stories, but Detective Chimp skips only a few of the 46 issues of the series!

He gets his trademark deerstalker cap in his second story. That’s obviously a nod to Sherlock Holmes, despite the fact that he never wears it in any of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories (that’s a detail from later illustrations and adaptations).

Compared to Rex, Bobo’s adventures are less action-oriented and relatively more grounded.
He still CLEARLY has human intelligence, even if he barely manages to communicate.

Especially to the banks.

He might also be the first chimp to ever have a bank account.
Although this is set in Florida, so who knows.

Things don’t get too ridiculous until issue 29, where he’s able to disguise himself as a human.

This is a story about a chimp on stilts who wears a suit and a fake beard in order to visit a science exhibit.
In other words, one of the greatest achievements of the human race.

After Rex’s series ended in 1959, Detective Chimp faded into obscurity until 1981, when DC Comics Presents #35 showed what happened to Rex.
It’s the first time the two characters meet, they never did in the original series.

That’s the story where both animals drank from the Fountain of Youth.

He even manages to make a really, REALLY tiny cameo in Crisis On Infinite Earths #11 in 1986.

Given that EVERYBODY (except Hal Jordan) appeared in Crisis, Detective Chimp seemed to be destined to never show up again.

But already in 1989, Secret Origins vol2 #40 decided all was needed was to update his origin… to make it MORE Silver Age than the original!
Because now we learn that Bobo was a regular chimpanzee until he accidentally swallowed a microscopic alien ship.

I’m pretty sure you have to be on drugs to understand this one.

Detective Chimp returned, of all places, in Green Lantern vol3 #30.
A bit ironic when you consider that Green Lantern vol1 #30 was the first appearance of Streak The Wonder Dog, who eventually replaced the original Green Lantern.

The reason for Bobo’s return is a Gorilla Grodd story, so Green Lantern has to work with the Bureau of Amplified Animals.

Where Detective Chimp is the head of investigations, and he now has telepathic powers.
Just like with Rex, we will learn that it’s because of the Fountain Of Youth.

The story also firmly establishes Bobo’s friendship with Rex.

Detective Chimp continued making sporadic appearances in the corners of the DC Universe, until the 2005 event “Day of Vengeance” gave him a prominent role.
By this point he’s shown to be able to talk normally, he’s a chain smoker and has a drinking problem.

Which lead him to join Shadowpact the following year, becoming a prominent member of the team for its 25 issue run.

As a follow-up, in 2007 he came THIS close to become the next Doctor Fate.

But he renounces the title when the responsibility proves too much for him.

Still, it had its perks.

He’s proven to be as much as a detective as Batman, even helping him in a case against Riddler… who didn’t even notice he was talking online to a chimp.

The sci-fi origin introduced in 1989 seems to have been completely replaced by just having the Fountain of Youth making Bobo both immortal and sapient, at recently as Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt in 2018.

He even got to join the Justice League!!!
Well, one of the spin-off teams (Justice League Dark), but still.