#topo

just hc maybe

Good job, little brother. High five.

No.

From Adventure Comics #120, September 1947. Joe Samachson script, Louis Cazeneuve pencils & inks.

Info from Grand Comics Database

Not...really?

Animal sidekicks among the superheroic set aren't THAT rare all things considered. Dozens of heroes have had them from the original Air Wave's parrot friend Static to the truly MASSIVE Hawk named Big Red that used to pal around with Hawkman and Hawkwoman in their earliest days. Animals that become assistants to or even just mascots of superheroes have been a thing more or less since the golden age.

(A poster of the so called "Legion of Super Pets". Top to bottom, left to right. Topo, Jumpa, Beppo the Super Monkey, Krypto the Super Dog, Ace the Bathound, Streaky the Supercat. Produced by the "Superfriends" charity toy line for the American Humane Society)

Many modern heroes like Superman and Batman have companions that are just as much a part of their heroic families as Supergirl or Robin. Ace the Bathound is considered one of the most coveted "stars" to be placed in a Gotham Bat-Watcher's checklist after all and some people cheer louder for Krypto than they do for Superman.

There are also more personal companions who aren't superheroic assistants in the more direct sense but more like pets that are close to our favorite heroes. Wonder Woman has shared her closeness to a particular Kanga named Jumpa (Kangas are evidently flying kangaroos that are just...a thing on Paradise Island). And Aquaman has expressed great fondness for his octopus friend Topo. And who knows how many heroes have beloved housepets of their own behind their masks and secret identities.

The problem is that the kind of connection Hooty and McNider shared, where they seemed to be two beings of singular soul. That no matter what McNider did Hooty always returned directly to his side and even when Hooty produced owlets of his own they seemed welded to the side of McNider's legacy is truly one of a kind. There have even been theories that there's something arcane going on that has tied Hooty and McNider together in a spiritual sense. I don't personally believe that unless you happen to be the kind of hippy that considers love a kind of magic.

Hooty and McNider rescued one another from their lowest point. Hooty was scooped up from a broken wing and broken glass. McNider from a pool of helplessness and self loathing. From the moment they found one another they were never truly apart and this in a world where keeping an owl as a pet is usually one of the worst ideas it is possible for a human to have.