pronto-87078-bestpronto-87078-facePRONTO

Real Name: Pronto

Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-87078) terrestrial canine

Occupation: Pet

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Abe and Sally (see comments), Martha, XIII

Enemies: Mongoose and his agents in the conspiracy (including Number 1)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed location, presumably in the American Northeast

First Appearance: Spirou#2408 (June, 1984);
    (Marvel adaptation) XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun (February, 2007)

Powers/Abilities: Pronto was a normal dog, possessing enhanced olfactory and auditory senses, as well as nocturnal vision.

    He could likely run at perhaps 20 mph or more for short time periods.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 2' at the shoulder; approximately 3' long)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 65 lbs.)
Eyes: Dark, likely brown
Hair/fur: Red-brown

pronto-87078-fullestpronto-87078-xiiiHistory:
(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun (fb) - BTS) - Living with his owners Abe and Sally in a house on the shore of somewhere on the American Northeast, and he enjoyed going out on the rocks with Abe while he was fishing in the ocean. Pronto often found dead sea gulls that he wanted Abe to come see.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun (fb) - BTS) - One day (see comments) while Abe was fishing, Pronto discovered a human body (see comments).

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun) - As Sally called Abe for lunch, Pronto returned to Abe's side. Appreciating that Pronto wanted Abe to follow him, Abe did so, advising Pronto that this better not be another dead seagull. When Pronto led him to an injured man, Abe was shocked.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun (fb) - BTS) - Finding that the man had a weak pulse, Abe got Sally.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun) - Pronto followed as Abe and Sally brought the man brought him back to their house. As there was no hospital for 40 miles, Sally advised Abe to get their neighbor, Martha, who was a surgeon before losing her license due to alcoholism.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun (fb) - BTS) - Taking Pronto with him in his car, Abe picked up Martha.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun - BTS) - Sally observed the "XIII" tattoo on the wounded man's neck.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun) - Pronto returned with Abe and Martha.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun) - Pronto sat on the porch with Abe and Sally, while Martha -- who had not yet started drinking that early in the day enough in the day -- performed surgery on the man, closing up the wound from the gunshot through his brain. Pronto was still with them when Martha came out and related that she had done her best, but that only time would tell how his brain would recover.

    A little later, Pronto sat beside Abe in his reclining chair as Martha shared that she did not want any scotch and they discussed the man's tattoo, the key sewn into his collar and speculated on who he might be; Martha further noted that despite the gunshot wound, they shouldn't call the police because her actions had been illegal since she had lost her license. Sally then came down and shared that the man had awakened but was amnesiac.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun) - After the man -- whom they started calling Alan after the son of Abe and Sally who had died -- recovered, Martha and he went to the beach and caught and ate some clams. Pronto slept at the feet of Abe and Sally as they slept on the couch while Martha and "Alan" headed out.

(XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun (fb) - BTS) - Agents of Mongoose and the conspiracy who had shot XIII came looking for him. pronto-87078-dead

    Pronto encountered the killers and was fatally shot by them just outside the front door, either before or after they shot the still-sleep Abe and Sally.

Comments: Created by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance;
    adapted by Ben Avery under the Dabel Brothers imprint.

    The story was originally written in 1984, and I think it fits best there. The extremely limited computer technology and searching fit in pretty well for 1984.

    I'm not sure what breed of dog Pronto was supposed to be. I'm a veterinarian, but not an expert in specific breeds. Pronto kind of has the face of a Cocker Spaniel but the body of an Irish Setter...the body is too tall and long for a Cocker, the ears were a little too long for an Irish Setter. Also, he doesn't really look like a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, a Boykin Spaniel,or a Springer Spaniel...perhaps a mix of some sort. I'd say likely some spaniel/retriever mix, or you could ask William Vance what he was meant to be...

    Some further information courtesy of Loki:

    XIII: Day of the Black Sun is the first volume of the XIII series of Franco-Belgian graphic novels. Dabel Brothers translated the first six or so into English, and then Marvel collected the first three (Day of the Black Sun, Where The Indian Walks, and All The Tears of Hell) into a single TPB, using only the first of those titles. It's got a lot of volumes, most of which were not reprinted by Dabel or Marvel (though they are available in English thanks to the U.K. publisher Cinebook). The titular XIII is an amnesiac man found shot on a beach by an elderly couple; he gets known as XIII because he's got that tattooed on his collar bone.

    Further, while Abe and Sally and doctor neighbor Martha have no surnames as far as I can see in the comic, there was a 2008 two part TV movie with Stephen Dorff as XIII and Val Kilmer as his nemesis the Mongoose, in which Martha and Sally were merged into a single character, and they got named Abe and Martha Miller.

    I was going to profile Martha, who was an interesting character, but her lack of a last name was frustrating, and the merging of characters in the TV movie made it more complicated to me, so I went with Pronto.

    If it weren't for Pronto, XIII may have laid there and died on the beach...

  This profile was completed 12/30/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Pronto should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun, pg. 1, panel 3 (profile; mostly full; detailed);
          panel 4 (face);
          panel 5 (fuller);
          panel 6 (with XIII's body);
       pg.9, panel 5 (dead)
Appearances:
Spirou#2408 (June, 1984) - Jean Van Hamme (writer), William Vance (artist)
XIII Vol. 1: The Day of the Black Sun (February, 2007) - Adapted/translated by Ben Avery; Matt Hansen & Sean J. Jordan (editors)

First posted: 09/28/2026
Last updated: 12/30/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and � 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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