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Titano
Titano the Super-Ape (/taɪˈtænoʊ/) is a supervillain who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as a foe of Superman. The character is a small chimpanzee named Toto who was sent into space for test flight, at which point an exposure of combined rays have made him grow to gigantic size and gave him kryptonite-like powers. As a "super-ape", Titano rampaged through Metropolis several times in Superman and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen during the Silver Age, and also appeared in some "Tales of the Bizarro World" stories in Adventure Comics. After a poorly-received 1978 appearance, Titano was not used again in the comic.
Different versions of the character, with different origins, appeared in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths and New 52 continuities.
Titano first appeared in Superman #127 (February 1959) in a story called "Titano the Super-Ape!" He was created by writer Otto Binder, penciler Wayne Boring and inker Stan Kaye. The character was inspired by the 1933 film King Kong, one of the many famous science-fiction and horror films swiped by Superman editor Mort Weisinger during this period.
The character was well received, so Weisinger decided to bring him back for a second story in July 1960. In the first story, Boring drew the character with a chimpanzee head on a giant gorilla body; for the rematch, Boring drew a gorilla head instead, making the character look more like King Kong.
Titano made another brief appearance in a January 1961 Superman story ("Superman Meets Al Capone!", issue #142), where he served as an introductory plot device to get Superman lost in time. By August 1961, Titano became a novelty character, appearing in a Superman backup feature starring Krypto the Superdog ("Krypto Battles Titano", issue #147), and this trend continued over the next few years, as Titano appeared in occasional "Tales of the Bizarro World" backup stories in Adventure Comics, and made lightweight appearances in a few Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen stories between 1962 and 1965.
In 1978, Martin Pasko brought Titano back for a two-part story with the Atomic Skull in Superman #323 and 324 — a story that Pasko looked back on with regret, as revealed in interview from 2007: "I thought — foolishly, in retrospect — that I might be able to treat a giant ape that shot kryptonite energy from its eyes with the same straight face I brought to Bizarro. I couldn't, and matters were not helped by the art. We kept forgetting that what you got when you called upon the hyper-realistic and earthbound Curt Swan to draw menacing giant monsters invariably looked cute and cuddly at best, and at worst, like something that reminded you of an old Toho movie and made you look for the zipper. I seem to recall that the mail suggested that Titano was one Weisingerism that was best relegated to obscurity".
Titano appears in the June 2025 issue of Batman/Superman World's Finest (#38) in a story written by Mark Waid and drawn by Clayton Henry.
Originally named Toto, a chimpanzee who was dubbed "one of the world's most intelligent chimps," Titano was rocketed into space and bombarded by the combined radiation from two elements, which mutates him into a giant ape with kryptonite-based abilities. Renamed Titano by Lois Lane, he captures her. Superman stops his first rampage through Metropolis by throwing him across a time barrier and into the prehistoric past. A year later, Superman accidentally transports Titano back to modern Metropolis, and has to trick him into returning to the past.
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Titano
Titano the Super-Ape (/taɪˈtænoʊ/) is a supervillain who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as a foe of Superman. The character is a small chimpanzee named Toto who was sent into space for test flight, at which point an exposure of combined rays have made him grow to gigantic size and gave him kryptonite-like powers. As a "super-ape", Titano rampaged through Metropolis several times in Superman and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen during the Silver Age, and also appeared in some "Tales of the Bizarro World" stories in Adventure Comics. After a poorly-received 1978 appearance, Titano was not used again in the comic.
Different versions of the character, with different origins, appeared in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths and New 52 continuities.
Titano first appeared in Superman #127 (February 1959) in a story called "Titano the Super-Ape!" He was created by writer Otto Binder, penciler Wayne Boring and inker Stan Kaye. The character was inspired by the 1933 film King Kong, one of the many famous science-fiction and horror films swiped by Superman editor Mort Weisinger during this period.
The character was well received, so Weisinger decided to bring him back for a second story in July 1960. In the first story, Boring drew the character with a chimpanzee head on a giant gorilla body; for the rematch, Boring drew a gorilla head instead, making the character look more like King Kong.
Titano made another brief appearance in a January 1961 Superman story ("Superman Meets Al Capone!", issue #142), where he served as an introductory plot device to get Superman lost in time. By August 1961, Titano became a novelty character, appearing in a Superman backup feature starring Krypto the Superdog ("Krypto Battles Titano", issue #147), and this trend continued over the next few years, as Titano appeared in occasional "Tales of the Bizarro World" backup stories in Adventure Comics, and made lightweight appearances in a few Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen stories between 1962 and 1965.
In 1978, Martin Pasko brought Titano back for a two-part story with the Atomic Skull in Superman #323 and 324 — a story that Pasko looked back on with regret, as revealed in interview from 2007: "I thought — foolishly, in retrospect — that I might be able to treat a giant ape that shot kryptonite energy from its eyes with the same straight face I brought to Bizarro. I couldn't, and matters were not helped by the art. We kept forgetting that what you got when you called upon the hyper-realistic and earthbound Curt Swan to draw menacing giant monsters invariably looked cute and cuddly at best, and at worst, like something that reminded you of an old Toho movie and made you look for the zipper. I seem to recall that the mail suggested that Titano was one Weisingerism that was best relegated to obscurity".
Titano appears in the June 2025 issue of Batman/Superman World's Finest (#38) in a story written by Mark Waid and drawn by Clayton Henry.
Originally named Toto, a chimpanzee who was dubbed "one of the world's most intelligent chimps," Titano was rocketed into space and bombarded by the combined radiation from two elements, which mutates him into a giant ape with kryptonite-based abilities. Renamed Titano by Lois Lane, he captures her. Superman stops his first rampage through Metropolis by throwing him across a time barrier and into the prehistoric past. A year later, Superman accidentally transports Titano back to modern Metropolis, and has to trick him into returning to the past.