If there’s one thing everyone, across the board, seems to love about James Gunn’s Superman, it’s Krypto the Superdog. Viewers who have never before met the Dog of Steel learned what the rest of us have long known: Even when he’s naughty, Krypto is a very good boy! Superman’s best friend has been warming the hearts of readers since he first appeared back in 1955. Here’s a look at the evolution of our favorite canine in comics…
He Was a Hit on Arrival
Krypto landed on Earth in March 1955’s Adventure Comics #210 (included in the Superman in the Fifties trade collection). Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Curt Swan, he was introduced as a puppy playmate of the baby Kal-El on Krypton. When Jor-El tested the rocket that would eventually bring his son to our planet, he chose Krypto as its test occupant. Alas, a meteor hit his ship and knocked Krypto off course. Years later, the Doggo of Steel landed on Earth, where he was reunited with Superboy in Smallville. Unfortunately, he proved a bit much for the Boy of Steel to handle and soon returned to outer space.
Of course, there’s no separating a boy and his dog. An immediate hit with readers, Krypto returned several issues later, for good. Depicted as a medium-sized generic white dog of indeterminate breed, Krypto, under Earth’s yellow sun, possesses powers similar to Superboy’s, as well as human intelligence. His thoughts in Silver Age comics are depicted in thought bubbles. He takes on the civilian identity of Clark Kent’s dog “Skip,” and sports a dyed brown patch on his back to protect this identity. When acting as Krypto, he burns off this patch with his heat vision.
The Doghouse of Solitude
January 1962’s Superman #150 (written by Jerry Siegel with art by Al Plastino) finds Krypto making a home of rocks for himself in deep space, which he names “The Doghouse of Solitude.” (Note: This is also where my wife sends me to sleep when we have an argument.)
The Legion of Super-Pets
Just one month later, in February 1962’s Adventure Comics #293, Krypto created an even more beloved piece of Silver Age comics lore: the Legion of Super-Pets. As a founding member of this 30th century institution, Krypto joined Supergirl’s pet cat Streaky and her horse Comet, as well as Beppo the Super-Monkey and the shapeshifting lump of alien protoplasm known as Proty, or more specifically, Proty II, since there were two such critters. Together, they thwarted galactic threats that proved too much for any humanoid hero to handle. (Krypto and Streaky also joined another team, the Space Canine Patrol Agents, in July 1966’s Superboy #131.)
In recent years, the Legion’s ranks have swelled to include Ace the Bat-Hound, Batcow, Clay Critter and Flexi the Plastic Bird (pictured above).
He’s a TV Star
With Superman already an established star of stage and screen, Krypto first joined his master on television in the “Adventures of Superboy” segments of Filmation’s 1966 animated series The New Adventures of Superman. However, this was just the start of the Superdog’s screen adventures…
He’s the First Super-Pet to Fly Solo
Krypto was the first of the Super-Pets to receive his own solo strip, debuting in the pages of the anthology title Superman Family #182 in January 1977. The five-page “A Bad Day for Junkyard Blue!” by writer Bob Toomey and artists John Calnan and Bob Smith is a light romp that finds Krypto foiling a couple of bank robbers and saving the life of a junkyard dog in the process (neither of whom, it must be said, are particularly grateful).
There’s No Keeping Him Down
Krypto’s last Silver/Bronze appearance was in writer Alan Moore and penciler Curt Swan’s classic 1986 two-part story “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, in which he gives his life to save Superman from the Kryptonite Man. Thankfully, when DC continuity was rebooted following Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was reintroduced, albeit as a normal, non-superpowered Earth canine companion for the post-Crisis Superboy, Kon-El. In this incarnation, Krypto resembled a small white schnauzer/terrier.
A third incarnation of Krypto was introduced in the 2001 event “Return to Krypton.” Here, the Dog of Steel was depicted as a white labrador retriever from an alternate Krypton with all of the pre-Crisis Krypto’s superpowers with the exception of human intellect. July 2010’s Action Comics #850 presented a fourth incarnation, a Krypto with an origin similar to that of his Silver Age counterpart. This Krypto’s continuity lasts to the present day, appearing in a new iteration of the Super-Pets in 2017’s Super Sons Annual #1.
He's the Canine King of All Media
His popularity growing with each iteration, various versions of Krypto would return to TV and appear in episodes of the animated Legion of Super Heroes, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Young Justice, as well as the live-action Smallville and Titans. He also made video game appearances in DC Universe Online, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and Infinite Crisis. And things would only get bigger for the little guy from there.
2005 saw Krypto finally earn his own TV show, the two-season animated Krypto the Superdog, where he again teamed up with four-legged heroes like Ace the Bat-Hound. He’d do so yet again when he earned his first big screen spotlight as the star of 2022’s DC League of Super-Pets, in which he was voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Of course, that was just a warmup for his biggest role yet, as the Man of Steel’s scene-stealing costar in Superman. (In the film he’s once more a terrier, based on director James Gunn’s own dog Ozu). Even better, we haven’t seen the last of this particular Superdog. Expect to see Krypto again in next year’s Supergirl, where he’ll accompany Milly Alcock’s take on Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El.
In other words, the goodest boy in the multiverse is about to charm a new generation of fans around the world. Long may he bark!
Superman, directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult, is now in theaters! Click here to get tickets.
Joseph McCabe writes about comics, film and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Instagram at @joe_mccabe_editor.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joseph McCabe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
