DC just turned an unbelievable member of Superman’s family into their magical expert

Warning: Contains spoilers for “Petsurrection,” appearing in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #17!DC just turned a surprise member of the Superman Family in their resident expert on magic. After Kryptonite, magic is Superman’s primary weakness, and it’s one that extends to several other members of the family, such as Supergirl. Still in “Petsurrection,” revealed in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #17, An obscure, but underrated Superman family member finds himself a crash course in magic courtesy of John Constantine.

“Petsurrection,” revealed in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #17, was written by Zippora Smith and drawn by Mike Norton. John Constantine has traveled to the suburbs, where someone has used dark magic to resurrect dead pets and turn them into demonic monsters. Streaky the Super-Cat, Supergirl’s cat, brings Constantine an amulet, but he tells Streaky to get lost. Despite this, Constantine knows that something is wrong with the amulet Streaky found.

Streaky is persistent, repeatedly saving him from evil monsters.

Finally, Constantine relents and agrees to work with Streaky – despite being allergic to cats himself.

The Superman family is highly diverse

The Superman family even includes animals

The Superman family has existed in some form since the Silver Age of comics, with the arrival of Supergirl. Over the past 60 years, it has grown to include not only Superman and Supergirl, but other Kryptonians such as Krypto and Power Girl, as well as adjacent heroes such as Steel, Superboy Connor Kent and Kong Kenan, the super-man of China. Additionally, it includes members of his supporting cast, such as Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White and Ma and Pa Kent. In recent times, the family has even embraced reformed villains, such as Silver Banshee.

There are even super-powered animals other than Krypto in the Superman familySuch as Comet the super-horse and Beppo the super-monkey. Each animal has its own unique gimmick, but Streaky the Super-Cat may have the wildest. First published in 1960s Action comics #261, Streaky was originally an ordinary cat, but thanks to exposure to the mysterious X-Kryptonite, created by Supergirl, he gained Kryptonian-like powers, as well as super-intelligence. Streaky was a rarity of the Silver Age, and came to be considered too “silly” for more discerning tastes.

Streaky doesn’t get the same love as crypto, but he should

Streaky’s unique origin could make him immune to magic

Now, Streaky steps up and shows the world what he’s made of, justifying his place in the Superman family. Streaky immediately knows that magic is involved, and somehow finds the mystical amulet he gives to Constantine. Constantine can tell that the amulet is somehow involved in the shenanigans of the pet resurrections, but Streaky beats him to it. Exactly how Streaky knew about the amulet was not revealed, but the fact that he had it in the first place is impressive, and speaks volumes to Streaky’s tenacity. Streaky erases any doubts that he belongs in the Superman family, and modern comics as a whole.

Streaky may want to tread lightly as he is dealing with magic and demonic sorcerers, but for him, it may not be an issue. Constantine notes that Streaky is not affected by the amulet. He speculates that it’s because Streaky is a cat, but the truth may lie in his classic Silver Age origins. Since Streaky gains his powers from X-Kryptonite, and not Kryptonian physiology, he may in fact be immune to magic in a way Superman is not. If so, this gives Streaky and the Superman Family a serious advantage in fighting magic users.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #24 is on sale now from DC Comics!