The Silver Age of comic books was weird.
Like… really REALLY weird, but did you know that Supergirl once dated a freaking horse?!
Well she did…
Because comics.
Hello and welcome to Because Comics, the show where we take a look at all of the crazy,
weird, and straight up bizarre things that make comic books comic books.
I’m your host, Drake McWhorter!
Comet the Super-Horse is one of several members of the Legion of Super-Pets, the only noteworthy
remainder of which these days being Krypto the Super-Dog, but who IS Comet and how could
he possibly date Supergirl?
Well for that, let’s bring in some history!
Okay so after seeing a western with her foster parents, Linda Danvers (A.K.A.
the Earth-One Supergirl back in the Silver Age) started dreaming about encountering a
solid white stallion with super strength and the ability to fly.
This horse also had a shooting star cutie mark I MEAN birthmark which is why Linda named
this super horse Comet.
So no big deal, we all have weird dreams sometimes and this is all relatively harmless despite
this uh… strange pose and expression that Linda wakes up in.
Well Linda keeps on having dream after dream about Comet.
In fact, these thoughts kept on consuming her brain to the point of daydreams so when
given the opportunity to visit a ranch while on vacation, well Linda jumped at it!
This was the Supergirl Dude Ranch, which was named after her when Supergirl once rescued
the owner’s livestock during a flood and it was here that Linda encountered none other
than Comet, the super-horse of her dreams right down to the shooting star mark.
This stallion was wild and could not be tamed by any of the ranch hands, but as soon as
Linda approached, he calmed down instantly.
Well Linda and Comet went for several rides where it’s revealed… that the horse has
telepathy.
Oh and he’s also not actually a horse, but rather a centaur.
You see in ancient Greece, Comet was a centaur named Biron who fell in love with Circe, a
sorceress who would go on to become one of Wonder Woman’s greatest villains.
Well Biron managed to save Circe from being killed by a dark wizard and in return, she
promised to turn him into a human being.
Circe brewed two potions, one that would turn Biron into a full man and one that would turn
him into a full horse…
For some reason.
Anyway, the potions got mixed up and Biron fully transformed into a horse... of course.
To make up for this, Circe gave this new horsey Biron a second elixir that granted him the
might of Jove, the speed of Mercury, the wisdom of Athena, the telepathic powers of Neptune,
and the immortality of all of them which I guess makes him like a horse version of Shazam?
What would that be?
JMAN?
J-Man?
Whatever.
If all of that wasn’t already enough though, do you remember that dark wizard that tried
to kill Circe?
Well he got revenge on Biron by banishing him to an asteroid inside of the constellation
Sagittarius and after centuries of just hanging around, Biron was freed when his prison was
hit by Supergirl’s rocket as she was being sent to Earth.
As a way of saying thanks, Biron flew to Earth as well to assist Linda as she took on the
role of Supergirl and was actually the one putting the dreams in her head with his telepathic
powers which made this meeting possible in the first place.
So with all of that backstory out of the way, Biron began his career as Comet the Super-Horse
and helped Supergirl fight off an alien invasion and since then, he’d help out on adventures
from time to time.
One of these was when Comet helped a magic space wizard prince keep his throne and in
return, the prince cast a spell on Comet that would turn him into a human, albeit temporarily.
From then on, every time that a comet passes by Earth, Comet would turn into a human, but
lose his powers.
When in this human form, Comet took up the name “Bronco” Bill Starr whom Supergirl
quickly fell in love with and I’m talking the kind of head over heels carving names
in trees and predicting marriage kind of love.
Needless to say, they’ve made out… several times…
Oh and if that wasn’t enough, Comet also once made out with Lois Lane while in human
form.
So yeah, Comet the freaking super-horse could have almost made Supergirl and Lois Lane eskimo
sisters which is almost as weird as the several scenarios of Superman either kissing or marrying
Supergirl in multiple continuities, but I feel like that’s another video for another
day.
Now it’s worth noting that Comet’s human form was almost never seen after this and
also, this universe kind of doesn’t exist anymore.
See, all of these stories took place on Earth-One which was destroyed in the famous event Crisis
on Infinite Earths and it also served as the basis for New Earth which is the main DC Comics
continuity until the 2011 Flashpoint event.
This New Earth didn’t have a Comet, Biron, and/or a “Bronco” Bill Starr, at least
not in the way you’d expect.
Oh there’s a Comet all right, but they’re somehow even more complicated and a LOT more
90s.
So there was once a jockey named Andrew Jones that fell and was trampled by horses during
a race.
He was carted off and experimented on which led to him being genetically spliced with
a horse, turning him not into a centaur, but rather a man-horse thing.
When escaping, Andrew stole a suit of armor that allowed him to fly and managed to save
the life of a suicidal risk taker named Andrea Martinez.
After saving Andrea’s life, Andrew’s genetically engineered body began to break down and actually
FUSED with Andrea, so now their two minds were melded together and they could change
between both forms.
This new... person...
took up the name Andy Jones and became a stand-up comedian, but it also turns out…
they’re an angel.
An angel of love.
Yeah, there was a period when Supergirl was a “Earth-Born Angel” and there were a
lot of shenanigans involving that, but again, that might need to be saved for another episode.
So how’s this for a love triangle?
Comet fell in love with Supergirl who at this time is a NEW version of Linda Danvers, but
Linda was only interested in Comet’s man-horse form and not their usual female Andy Jones
form.
That’s all fine and dandy until Comet is kidnapped and tortured by another angel named
Blithe and after close to ten issues of not being seen, Supergirl finally rescues Comet
where it’s revealed… that they are a centaur with angel wings made out of ice now… like
a freaking Yu-Gi-Oh monster.
You see, after being tortured by Blithe, Comet began to see things her way and fell in love
with her kind of like Stockholm Syndrome.
The issue lies in the fact that Blithe was working for I kid you not, the first vampire
of the world who was trying to take control of Heaven from The Presence who is the god
of the DC Comics multiverse.
Eventually though, Comet and Blithe do see the light, help Supergirl take down the vampire,
save Heaven, and pretty much vanished entirely from comics outside of like a couple of brief
cameos and team-ups.
It’s pretty anti-climatic, I know.
As far as I know, there hasn’t been a Comet or any incarnation of him in the modern, post-Flashpoint
era of DC Comics and… that honestly might not be a bad thing.
Not everything needs to make a comeback and sometimes, some of the crazy stuff that happened
in the past…
well should probably just stay in the past.
But if you liked this video then why not consider subscribing or even watching another episode
of Because Comics?
This is the first one I’ve done in quite a while so the older episodes have me with
green hair.
It’s uh… yeah…
But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this video and maybe I’ll see you next time!