Smarts

Smarts is a dog from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

There's a mystery in town! So call the coolest pup around!

Smarts was the faithful canine companion of the young Mike Power. An indispensable partner in Power's many adventures, the young sleuth considered Smarts his closest—and only—friend.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

In spite of Power's disability, he was an intrepid and fearless detective who spent most of his time solving mysteries around his neighborhood with the help of Smarts. On one escapade, the duo helped to track down a stolen bicycle belonging to a neighborhood girl.

A later mission saw them investigating a local "haunted house" to rescue neighborhood bully Finney. Power learned that the haunted house was really a hideout for Brasnyan spies. After Action Man intervened, Power managed to secretly salvage some of the alien technology they had been smuggling. Feeling helpless for the first time in his life, Power became obsessed with reverse-engineering the strange robot, which caused him to neglect his old detective duties and Smarts. Eventually, Smarts ran away, but Power barely noticed.

Decades later, a dying Power regretted abandoning his dog, lamenting that all he really wanted was another winter for them to play together. Power and Glory Centurion, having absorbed Mike Power's memories, would mourn both Smarts and Domitius Major in the same breath as friends that he had lost. Unification Day: Dusk

Notes

• Smarts is based off "Lucky Smarts", the protagonist of the 2010 Pound Puppies series, and his subsequent running away is an obvious nod to the core set-up of that show. Issue #8 of Revolutionaries would take the reference further by stating that this Smarts was the ancestor of the Smarts from the cartoon, heavily implying that the two series take place in the same universe.