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| Titano | |
|---|---|
 Titano attacking theDaily Planet building in the style ofKing Kong, fromShowcase Presents Superman Volume 2 (2006). Art byCurt Swan andGeorge Klein. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Superman #127 (February 1959) |
| Created by | Otto Binder Curt Swan |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Toto |
| Species | Meta-chimpanzee |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Notable aliases | The Super-Ape |
| Abilities |
|
Titano the Super-Ape (/taɪˈtænoʊ/) is asupervillain who appears inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics, primarily as afoe ofSuperman. 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 himkryptonite-like powers. As a "super-ape", Titano rampaged throughMetropolis several times inSuperman andSuperman's Pal Jimmy Olsen during the Silver Age, and also appeared in some "Tales of the Bizarro World" stories inAdventure 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 andNew 52 continuities.
Titano first appeared inSuperman #127 (February 1959) in a story called "Titano the Super-Ape!"[1] He was created by writerOtto Binder, pencilerWayne Boring and inker Stan Kaye. The character was inspired by the 1933 filmKing Kong, one of the many famous science-fiction and horror films swiped bySuperman editorMort Weisinger during this period.[2]
The character was well received, so Weisinger decided to bring him back for a second story in July 1960.[3] 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.[3]
Titano made another brief appearance in a January 1961Superman 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 aSuperman backup feature starringKrypto 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 inAdventure Comics, and made lightweight appearances in a fewSuperman's Pal Jimmy Olsen stories between 1962 and 1965.
In 1978,Martin Pasko brought Titano back for a two-part story with theAtomic Skull inSuperman #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 earthboundCurt Swan to draw menacing giant monsters invariably looked cute and cuddly at best, and at worst, like something that reminded you of an oldToho 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".[4]
Titano appears in the June 2025 issue ofBatman/Superman World's Finest (#38) in a story written byMark Waid and drawn byClayton Henry.
Originally named Toto, achimpanzee 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 withkryptonite-based abilities. Renamed Titano byLois Lane, he captures her. Superman stops his first rampage through Metropolis by throwing him across a time barrier and into the prehistoric past.[5] A year later, Superman accidentally transports Titano back to modern Metropolis, and has to trick him into returning to the past.[6]
Over the next few years, Titano is visited in the past by several characters, including Superman,[7]Krypto the Superdog,[8]Bizarro,[9] andJimmy Olsen.[10]
After another trip through time into the present day, Titano is picked up by Allura, the ruler of a world of giants, who arranges to transport him to her home planet. Titano settles down with a female ape similar in size to him.[11]
WriterMartin Pasko revived Titano inSuperman #324 (1978).[12] In this revival, Titano is manipulated by theAtomic Skull into becoming a ferocious killer, rather than being an original, but misunderstood super-ape.[2]
Thepost-Crisis version first appeared in the "Tears for Titano" story inSuperman (vol. 2) Annual #1. Titano was originally a normal baby chimpanzee used in cruel experiments. This lab is headed by Dr. Thomas Moyers andAmanda Waller operating under the orders ofSarge Steel. The chimpanzee gains his name from a mean-spirited joke by the other staffers.
A brief visit by Lois Lane to the government laboratories ends after Titano tries to escape his tormentors by leaping into Lane's arms. An accident causes the ape to gain super-strength and grow to enormous proportions. Attempting to kill Moyers, whom he sees as his tormentor, Titano is stopped by and engages in a battle with Superman. The presence of Lane causes Titano to calm down, as he considered her a friend. Moyers uses his equipment to reverse the transformation, but the stress of doing so kills Titano, who dies in Lane's arms. She later writes theDaily Planet article "Tears for Titano" in honor of him.[13]
In September 2011,The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Titano is redesigned and given a new origin as a mutant albino gorilla created by a deranged biophysicist. Furthermore, he is only slightly larger than a normal gorilla.[14] Titano is later depicted as a cyborg with a glowing inner body.[15]
In the seriesTitans, Titano attacks a nuclear power station that is minutes away from meltdown. When theTeen Titans arrive,Beast Boy transforms into aTamaranean creature and battles Titano while the plant is evacuated andCyborg deals with the nuclear core.Starfire andDonna Troy knock out Titano, who is taken away by the military.[16]
Titano appears inSupergirl (2025), where he is shrunken to the size of a dog, nicknamed "Tinytano", and joins the Super-Pets alongside Krypto andStreaky.[17]
A fusion between two meteors (green kryptonite anduranium) caused Toto to grow in colossal proportions. As Titano, his size and strength are many times greater than that of a human and he can project kryptonite beams from his eyes.[5]
The post-Crisis version of Titano has similar powers, but he does not possess kryptonite eyebeams.[18]
Titano makes a cameo appearance inSuperman Adventures.
Characters based on Titano have occasionally appeared in comics homaging theSilver Age Superman:
Ape versions of Batman, Superman, The Atom, and Aquaman come and reveal that on their world, they are immortal and have solved this problem already -- in the year 2067. The Superman, by the way, appears to be the giant, kryptonite-powered gorilla Titano, given his stature and the giant "T" on his chest.
