Detective Chimp

DETECTIVE CHIMP

Real Name: Bobo

Class: Animal mutate

Occupation: Private investigator

Group Affiliation: Shadowpact

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Oscaloosa County, Florida

First Appearance: Rex, the Wonder Dog #4 (August, 1953)

Powers: Bobo had the intelligence level of a brilliant human, and was blessed with extraordinary powers of deduction. He was a master of several animal languages, and in recent years he became fluent in speaking English. He was incredibly agile, as are most chimpanzees.

History: (Secret Origins vol. 2 #40) - Africa; microscopic aliens Y-Nad and K-Ram were scientists on a mission to expand the minds of lower life forms. All their previous experiments met dismal failure, but they finally achieved their goal when they landed on earth. They chose a chimpanzee named Bobo (which they though of as a typical Earthling because he resembled them) and flew their tiny ship into its’ brain. After finishing their work on the chimp’s brain, they sat back and admired what they had done. Bobo now had the intelligence level of a human, and he quickly went about solving his first case. He saved the leader of a scientific expedition from his traitorous assistant, and was soon after brought to America.

Bobo spent some time developing his detective skills under the tutelage of animal trainer Fred Thorpe. After Thorpe was murdered, Bobo came into the care of Sheriff Edward Chase of Oscaloose County, whom he helped solve the murder mystery with. Bobo became Chase’s unofficial assistant, solving crime for many years.

(DC Comics Presents #35 (fb)) - <years ago> Detective Chimp became a huge fan of Rex, the Wonder Dog, and started collecting memorabilia and assembling a scrapbook. Rex was performing at a local circus benefit, and Sheriff Case took Bobo to the show. Bobo was so excited that he inadvertently paid for his ticket with his lucky silver dollar. Case and Bobo watched the show, and realized Rex was definitely showing his age, as his tightrope act got botched. Case and Bobo met rex and Rex’s handler Danny Dennis backstage, and Rex gave Bobo a souvenir from one of his cases. Crooks robbed the circus, and Rex left in pursuit. Bobo remembered his silver dollar, and assumed his new friend was trying to get it back for him. They boarded a ship the crooks took off in, and arrived on Bimini island. Rex fended off local crocodiles, and was gravely injured. Bobo found a stream and brought him water, hich they both drank. The water was actually from the legendary Fountain of Youth that Ponce de Leon failed to find, and both animals found themselves restored to their prime. They took down the crooks, and alerted the coast guard.

(DC Comics Presents #35) - Detective Chimp continued to follow Rex, the Wonder Dog’s exploits, and was glued to the television when Rex became the first dog on the moon.

Detective Chimp opened his own private detective agency andcontinued his crime-solving career.

(Green Lantern III #30, 31, Flash II #70) - As chief of the Bureau of Amplified Animals, Detective Chimp discovered that Gorilla Grodd had escaped captivity in Gorilla City and sent Rex the Wonder Dog and Green Lantern II to investigate. Chimp was frustrated with spending so much time in the office, so he parachuted into Gorilla City and subdued Grodd's ally Hector Hammond. His allies stopped Grodd from taking over Gorilla City and Chimp decided to use his eight weeks comp time to relax in Gorilla City and hit on the women there.

Comments: Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.

Detective Chimp received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #6