First Appearance: Rex Hart #8 (February 1950).
Appearances: Rex Hart #8, Blaze the Wonder Collie #1-2.
Years Active: 1944-1954.

Blaze the Wonder Collie is a highly intelligent collie who is paired with "his beloved master, Dr. Glenn Forest." Blaze has a thick white and golden coat and helps Doc Forest and his sweetie Judy fight against gangsters and crime. Blaze is so intelligent, in fact, that he's capable of obeying complex commands and understanding English, although he's not quite sentient. (He's closer to Nimo and Diablo and Atlas' other wonder animals.) This is no surprise, as Blaze was trained by the Army during "the war." (Blaze's adventures are set during the 1950s.)

During a dog show at "Madison Garden" in New York "before the end of World War II" Blaze, "Son of Fury," won "Best in the Show," and that brought him to the attention of two unscrupulous men who thought to sell Blaze to the Army's K-9 Corps.  They succeeded, but the K-9 Corps trainers discovered that Blaze, despite his many skills, was not suitable as an attack dog because "his inherent love of humans keeps him from biting!" The Army regretfully sent him to France, just after D-Day, where Blaze began service as a Red Cross dog. It's at this time that he met Captain Forest, who Blaze instinctively realized is "the Master...the Man!...Fury, the great sire of Blaze, had had such a master!...a man to whom he could give all of his loyalty...and strength!....the man to worship, to give his life for, if need be!"

Blaze served faithfully alongside Captain Forest, leading the way through minefields and helping to kill Nazis. Blaze even saved the life of a General. Later on, in civilian life, Blaze was, as I said, similarly productive.

Notes: Blaze is very similar, in a lot of ways, to Lassie. But I'm sure that's just a coincidence. No, really.