Over the last several years, Krypto has more and more become Supergirl's pet. I don't know if it is that Superman is too old to be romping with a dog or if Streaky is way too Silver Age for people to take seriously but we have seen a lot of Krypto and Kara. And that relationship is only going to get stronger with the Dog of Steel heading into space with the Maid of Might in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
With that in mind I thought I'd share the Krypto page from the original Who's Who. Just fun art by Colleen Doran and Rick Magyar!
I had forgotten some of this history, specifically the timing of things. I knew his rocket went up before Kal's but I thought he was in suspended animation and delayed in getting to Earth. But instead he was floating in space for about a month until Krypton blew up and Kal's warp dragged him through too.
Some of this is downright silly especially his relative names. I love that he became 'Skip', Clark's dog with the big black spot for a while.
But for me, I love that Krypto just always loved frolicking in space. That part makes his leaving with Kara every time someone has her leaving Earth makes sense.
Krypto is a good boy and a good friend. We learned that in the historic Action Comics #500.
I reviewed Action Comics #500 over ten years ago.
In that book, Superman is giving a tour of his Fortress of Solitude and reviewing his history.
Superman talks wistfully about how Krypto helped him with his loneliness. In a different way than his friends or his parents could.
Krypto helped not feel alone in the universe.
Krypto was a confidante, someone to talk out problems with.
And the fun of super-heroics.
These were things only he and Krypto shared at that time.
I just love it.
He was a closer friend than any person on Earth.
As a dog lover, someone who has formed bonds with pets, I get it.
I also had to giggle at the Bronze Age Lana, so eager to get Superman romantically back in her life, feeling insulted that Superman got choked up over 'a dog'.
I said it above, Krypto is a good boy. He certainly stopped Supergirl from doing the wrong thing a couple of times in Marc Andreyko's run. (Of course, the fact that Supergirl would have killed multiple times over if not for Krypto is something I didn't like.)
I hope he maintains that sort of conscience persona in the upcoming book.
5 comments:
I sometimes think Krypto is Superman's "Rosebud", a lot of his survivor's angst can be summarized neatly in his affection & nostalgia for his childhood pet.
these days, Krypto is getting better exposure & writing than Supergirl, she has almost risen to the level of being the super canine's sidekick...:)
JF
It's so crazy that you bring up Krypto now- I think a collection of the comics based on his animated series came out a couple of weeks ago.
I think the main reason they've shifted Krypto over to Kara is that he's more of a Superboy thing and Clark hasn't had much of a Superboy phase since pre-Crisis days. Kara's still young enough to have adventures with a pet and, let's face it- Krypto is much more well known than Streaky.
Good ol' Krypto. I suppose it was partly because of the popularity of TV dogs Lassie and Rin Tin Tin that Krypto was introduced in 1955.
According to the story in Adventure Comics # 210, Krypto's rocket drifted aimlessly in space for several years before finally crashing on Earth. Superboy guessed that a collision with a meteor must have knocked the rocket off course. Later that guess became fact.
Krypto will be in a new animated movie next year (probably on DVD), "The League of Super Pets". Streaky is in it too. There is a trailer on youtube. Apparently, there is still some life in those old, silly Silver Age ideas.
Hello from a french fan of supergirl,
Well done Anj, an article on Krypto a day before the release of the new trailer of superpets.
Also works for the new supergirl of the Flash Movie ?
I still wanna know Krypto's exact breed...granted he is an alien canine, but still...he has to be some sort of snow colored retriever mix :)
JF
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