Superman For the Animals

I’m going to end “PSA Classic Weekend” with one of my favorite PSA comics of all time: Superman For the Animals. Produced by DC Comics and the Doris Day Animal Foundation, this book features the artistic stylings of Tom Grummet and a script by a young Mark Millar. Originally posted, take it away, Mark and Tom:

Before he wrote such compassionate comics as Wanted and Chosen, Mark Millar honed his writing skills on Superman for the Animals, a free comic published by DC Comics in January 2000 and co-sponsored by the Doris Day Animal Foundation. The story, entitled “Dear Superman…”, was written by Millar with art by comic book veterans Tom Grummet and Dick Giordano.

The comic tells the story of Tommy, a twelve year-old who moves to a new city and falls in with the wrong crowd. How do we know they’re the wrong crowd? Because they discuss comic books, of course (“Batman can beat Superman?! Man you need a shrink to take a look inside that crazy head of yours.”) Seriously, we know they’re a bad crowd because they’re cruel to animals. When we first meet gang leader Ballser, he is teasing a caged squirrel. This is followed by kicking pigeons, torturing goldfish, shooting junkyard dogs and throwing a kitten off an overpass onto a busy freeway below.

Luckily, Superman happens along just then (you knew he had to be in this comic eventually, after all his name is on the cover) and catches the kitten. Next, he stops a fire at the local chemical plant and manages to save Tommy’s dad. Watching Superman, Tommy realizes that it’s wrong to “pick on anyone weaker than you.”