As a Dark Multiverse succumbs to a deadly virus wiping out all known life, one Super-Pet does their best to find a cure but will it be too late?
Warning: The following contains spoilers for the story “The Super-Threats” in Dark Nights: Death Metal The Multiverse Who Laughs #1 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Chad Hardin, Enrica Eren Angiolini, and Carlos M. Mangual, on sale now.
When the Super-Pets are the only thing standing between a deadly virus and the complete annihilation of Earth, they’ll jump into action, but it may prove to be too late. As the Super-Pets are consumed by a deadly virus and spread it to humans in every corner of the world, Beppo the Super-Monkey races to find a cure, but the other superpowered animals may have done too much damage to undo.
The story “The Super-Threats” in Death Metal: The Multiverse Who Laughs #1 has a virus infecting the Super-Pets, which includes Streaky, Comet, Bat-Cow, and Ace, before completely decimating the Earth. The story begins with Krypto returning to Earth to find the planet surrounded by a ring of dead people floating in space. As Krypto heads to the Hall of Justice to connect with the other Super-Pets, he finds out that they are the only survivors left on Earth and that all the humans have died.
Beppo the Super-Monkey fills Krypton in on the details that Red Medvo, the Legion of Doom’s “23rd deadliest member”, was infected by a weaponized version of a deadly virus and attacked the Super-Pets infecting all by Beppo. Beppo is a Kryptonian monkey who stowed away on baby Kal-El’s rocket to Earth. Created by Otto Binder and George Papp and debuting in Superboy #76 in 1959, Beppo left the capsule after it landed on Earth and lived in the jungle. Having the same unique Kryptonian physiology as Kal-El, Beppo has the same powers as the Man of Steel and went to live with the Kents after spotting the young Clark one day with his telescopic vision. After meeting Supergirl, Beppo was introduced to Krypto and Streaky the Supercat and eventually joined the Legion of Super-Pets.
Beppo, being the only uninfected Super-Pet, took it upon himself to save the world from the deadly virus that the infected Super-Pets spread. Bat-Cow infected some humans with her tainted milk while Ace broke into Arkham Asylum and infected all the inmates before setting them all free. The other Super-Pets spread across the world infecting everyone in their path as the “Legion of Doom went underground to wait out the inevitable self-annihilation of the planet.” Beppo was able to synthesize a cure, but only had time to make enough of the cure for the Super-Pets. Beppo tells Krypto that the virus is fast-acting and once someone is infected, it kills within 19 hours. “I had to act quickly,” Beppo explains, “to save our team.”