The Secret Origins of Krypto the Superdog

Long before Krypto showed up in the teaser for James Gunn’s Superman to pull the Man of Steel home out of a crater, comic-book fans knew that he was, above all else, a good boy. Sure, he could wreck a house and Fortress of Solitude alike and had been the victim of more editorial mandates and reboots that any one pet should have to endure, but the iconic white pup has never been less than a symbol of the potential of DC Comics’ joy. Like Superman himself, far from the reaches of space, Krypto came to remind us of our humanity.

That’s what Krypto has always represented — a vision of Rockwellian Americana where a good man has a good dog and an embrace of the outlandish science fiction inherent in watching a canine in a little cape display superpowers. But his journey to the big screen wasn’t without its ups and downs. In order to properly celebrate DC Comics’ goodest boy finally trotting (and flying) into the blockbuster spotlight, it’s important to understand the superheroic hurdles his character faced getting there. Krypto turns 70 in 2025. Don’t bother doing the math in Superdog years.

Adventure Comics No. 210 (1955)

Photo: DC Comics

Beating the first dog ever sent into space by two years but published after the first few primates were launched, Krypto appeared in the pages of Adventure Comics as an experiment of Jor-El’s, Superman’s father. As it turned out, he wasn’t just gonna send his baby boy out in an untested rocket. No, he tried it out on animals first, and Krypto would end up entering Earth’s orbit years after Kal-El crash-landed. In Krypto’s first few Adventure Comics appearances, he plays the funny animal sidekick of Superboy (whose grown-up adventures were usually relegated to other comics).

“Oh, no!” Superboy shouts on the cover of Krypto’s debut issue. “Krypto thinks I’m playing a game with him — he’s fetching back the safe I just left at town hall!” Krypto is, above all, a little scamp, a characterization that Gunn leans on as Krypto playfully roughhouses with Supes in his new film. Adventure Comics would birth several DC mainstays: It introduced the Legion of Superheroes and would plant the seeds of the on-in-Smallville-again/off-again idea that Lex Luthor first met Clark Kent as a teenager. And though creators Otto Binder, Curt Swan, and Sy Barry only intended for Krypto to appear once, the pooch had staying power.

Adventure Comics No. 293 (1962)

The ’60s are generally regarded as a downturn for DC Comics. Few of its characters were immune from outlandish storytelling that would make Adam West’s Batman look reserved by comparison. If any character could weather this, though, it was Krypto. By this point, he’d even gotten his own secret identity; around the Kent family, they called him “Skip.” And he got to join his own team in the form of the “Legion of Super-Pets.”

Many of these “super-pets” emerged in comics that were at least tangentially related to Superman, who had become a sort of testing ground for DC writers’ wackiest ideas. Streaky the Super Cat? That was Supergirl’s cat. Beppo the Super Monkey? A stowaway on Kal-El’s rocket to Earth. The Legion of Super-Pets was even co-created by Jerry Siegel, the Superman co-creator who was barely making ends meet with his DC Comics work in the ’60s. But the animal alliance would not last. Many DC characters were swiftly heading for their own pseudo-reboots, and for a while, Krypto would seem like a casualty of the tonal shift.

The Adventures of Superboy episode 1: “The Spy From Outer Space” (1966)

Krypto would end up making his animation debut before Lex Luthor, even if it was only a week earlier. It was in the first installment of The Adventures of Superboy, a series of cartoon shorts that was typically packaged with The New Adventures With Superman. Produced by Filmation, an animation company built on cost-cutting, the episodes typically revolved around a high-school-age Clark Kent ditching class to bail Krypto out of a jam (or be bailed out himself), take on bad guys, or avoid disaster.

The cartoon is rough to look at. Filmation never missed a chance to loop animation over and over to kill time between set pieces. But Krypto’s appearance, not just as a side character but a full-blown partner in the show, meant that he’d crossed over from the niche world of comic books into household pop culture. Was Krypto as famous as Luthor? Not quite. But going forward, it would be far less stunning to hear that Superman was a dog person.

Action Comics No. 440 (1974)

Photo: DC Comics

This era of DC Comics is mostly known for its revamp of Batman, one that stripped him of his weirdest gadgets and most oddball villains and returned him to being a grim avenger of the night. Superman underwent one, too, and though his transformation wasn’t as radical, it did result in a few Krypto-free years. When Krypto returned, it was with the added, grittier bonus that he was now wandering around with a case of amnesia. And the first character to recognize him was Green Arrow, who, you guessed it, had also been refitted for newfound relevance.

Krypto would regain his memories by the next year, in Superman No. 287. (In the book The Krypton Companion, writer Elliot S. Maggin said, “A man needs a dog. A superman needs a superdog.” Maggin would later go on to write the delightful novella Starwinds Howl, which explained Krypto’s origin from Krypto’s point of view.) But the dog would remain a bit of an oddity for the rest of the era. For a few issues of The Superman Family in the late ’70s, he was a furry journeyman — a solo superhero, “Kapper” the dog detective, and even a movie star. It wouldn’t be the last time Krypto went Hollywood.

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (1986)

Photo: DC Comics

If the last entry doesn’t make it clear, DC Comics was having a heck of a time trying to corral its history and bevy of fantastical stories with its narrative aims. Enter the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths arc, where entire worlds were lost and major characters were killed off. When the streamlining effort had ended, the DC universe would carry on into a period famously called the “Post-Crisis” era. But what about Krypto, millions of people certainly asked: What happened to the dog?

Alan Moore’s send-off to the “Pre-Crisis” version of Superman, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, bridged the gap between lunatic space romps and tragic pathos and even gave a sad parting nod to Superman’s beloved pet. In the story, under assault by the Legion of Super-Villains and Lex Luthor (who was forcibly combined with longtime Superman foe Brainiac), Krypto takes on an irradiated villain, the Kryptonite Man. He finishes the green bad guy off by … ripping his throat out. But kryptonite poisoning from the encounter, which likely would’ve devastated Superman, does a number on Krypto, and he perishes from it, in one of comics’ most tragic deaths.

The Adventures of Superman Volume I No. 502 (1993)

After Superman and Doomsday died at each other’s hands in the famous Death of Superman event, things got even more chaotic for DC Comics than usual. One story involved a few potential heirs apparent, including Superman’s clone Kon-El, who went by the name of Superboy. And another character attempting to help fight crime was one of Superman’s biggest fans, Bibbo Bibbowski, a frequent bar patron who saves a small white puppy and decides to name him “Krypton.” However, the guy making the name tag screwed it up, and so we got “Krypto.”

With no powers to speak of (and a smaller frame, meaning that this version of Krypto bears a strong resemblance to James Gunn’s compact version), this Krypto wasn’t much of a crime fighter. It read like an editorial edict: When asked if the superpowered version of Krypto would ever return, writer Karl Kesel said, “I’d like to see the caped canine, but I’m not so sure DC feels the same way. Don’t hold your breath.” Despite later becoming a pet for Superboy, the two never really vibe, and any attempts to install this incarnation as a mainstay fall flat. Eventually, they’d ditch the dog entirely.

Superman Adventures No. 40 (2000)

One would imagine that, considering how sprawling the DC animated universe became, we’d get more of Krypto the Superdog outside of a few brief cameos. But though writer Paul Dini wanted to include Krypto in various stories (“I bought every comic book that had Krypto on the cover just ’cause he was neat,” Dini said about his childhood affinity for the animal), producer Bruce Timm would nix it, apparently saying, “It’s pretty good, but NO KRYPTO!!” However, in the Superman Adventures comics, which Timm considered non-canon, we finally got a glimpse of Man’s Best SuperFriend.

As with the DCAU’s most applauded entries, it’s both a hoot and a gut punch. The magical Mr. Mxyzptlk transports Kal-El’s childhood dog to Earth, and he’s nothing less than a bittersweet handful until Superman has to send him back. On one hand, it would’ve been nice to see Krypto treated optimistically; the end, where Superman has to return Krypto to his own time, is heartbreaking and implies that Krypto doesn’t have a place in this universe. On the other hand, it was good that the event was treated with the appropriate gravitas that losing a pet should have.

Click here to preview your posts with PRO themes ››

Action Comics No. 776 (2001)

Though Superman’s reimagining by John Byrne in the late ’80s received substantial acclaim at the time, subsequent writers seemed to struggle with what it meant for Superman’s origins. Byrne held no soft spot for Krypton and presented it as an ultimately cold society. This meant that any future writer that wanted to explore Superman’s Kryptonian heritage would either have to retcon Byrne’s story or present some kind of loophole: an alternate-universe Krypton? An illusion? A dream? All of which are possible when you’re trying your damnedest to create something new but also … not.

What does manage to stick is the superpowered Krypto’s first emergence “Post-Crisis” in Action Comics No. 776. In the comic, trying to decipher whether he is Kal-El’s childhood pet from the “real” Krypton is a Brainiac-level problem. But this new version of Krypto is both very powerful and very rambunctious, and Superman has trouble training him, much to the amusement of Superman’s peers like Batman. (Gunn clearly enjoys the idea of Krypto as an adorable mess that Superman has to figure out.) And this pup is also prone to heroics, meaning that while Superman’s origins were often constantly in flux, this new Krypto was a keeper.

Smallville, season four, episode 14 “Krypto” (2005)

Smallville played by two sets of rules for all ten of its seasons: no “flight or tights” for Superman, but every WB teen-drama-ready emotion had to be worn on its sleeve. That’s why the appearance of a “Krypto” in this series is such an odd choice. Once you have a dog with superpowers, you have to admit that you’re willing to cut loose on some things. But Krypto’s live-action debut allows for at least a little cartoonish wonder and gives Tom Welling, still our nation’s premier corn-fed Superman, something to care about that he won’t eventually be involved in a love triangle with.

As it turns out, this Krypto is just another one of LutherCorp’s experiments, and luckily, Clark resists when Lex tries to take the dog back. The dog’s powers fade away, and so does any hint of the name. Clark wants to name him Krypto, but his family opts for the more Smallville-appropriate “Shelby.” Smallville would pull this often, the ol’ “here’s a favorite character, buuuuut not quite.” Points for getting the dog in, though.

Krypto the Superdog (2005)

Paul Dini never did get to put Krypto in the DCAU, but with Batman: The Animated Series co-producer Alan Burnett, he developed a wholly separate cartoon, Krypto the Superdog. Owned by a 9-year-old named Kevin, Krypto fights crime with a group of hero pets, including Batman’s Ace the Bat-Hound. It’s a far cry from the antics of the DCAU (Superman only appears for a few minutes in the first episode and never again), but in this setting, Krypto is unquestionably the star.

This also means Krypto the Superdog is decidedly juvenile, owing more in spirit to shows like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo than any Superman cartoon produced in the last 40 years. But with its menagerie of animals, good and bad, it gets closer to harnessing the energy of the ’60s Krypto comics than any adaptation in recent years. And it meant that a generation of kids grew up with the knowledge that Krypto could be a leading man … um, dog.

Superman Volume I No. 680 (2008)

Photo: DC Comics

A big question regarding modern Krypto comics is how earnest one should be about him. A handful of 2000s appearances drip with edginess and treat Krypto with a kind of “Umm, Superman has a DOG??” self-awareness. This would change, though, with comics like 2005’s All-Star Superman (another Gunn influence), which proved that you could take big, fantastic swings like letting Superman have a cool, flying dog and still find the relatable essence of the story. However, Krypto appreciation would reach its peak in Superman Volume 1 No. 680.

In a display of unabashed sentimentality, Superman demands that the people of Metropolis listen to him after both he and Krypto worked together to take down the villain Atlas. “You want to cheer a hero?! THIS is a hero,” Superman says, pointing at his panting pup. “He’s my dog. And you know what — now he’s your dog, too.” Superman monologuing his love for the dog that has given him so much trouble and ruined so much furniture wipes away over 50 years of concern about Krypto and his spot in the DC universe as Superman’s pal. No need to hem and haw about the realism of Superman’s caped Labrador retriever. Like it or not, he’s your dog, too.

Superman No. 712 (2011)

The 2010s would not only be a very tumultuous decade for DC Comics, overhauled with “The New 52” branding and then reoverhauled a few years later with “Rebirth,” but for Krypto as well. At this point, a lot about the character had stabilized. Silver Age Krypto ranged from anything between Scooby-Doo and Air Bud, but now Krypto had become a fairly consistent “good dog,” even if he tended to rip up the door from time to time. He also became a character with an intense sense of devotion, not only to Superman but to Superboy and Supergirl, two characters that he’d bond with.

That bond is on full display in Superman No. 712. Here, Krypto mourns the recently deceased Superboy. It was an old story that took a while to publish, one written years before the New 52 would inevitably reboot Krypto’s origin again (and then again with Rebirth, which took Krypto back to a backstory akin to the one he had in the Silver Age), but as Joey Esposito wrote for IGN, “Any human being that has ever had a connection with a dog … will be hard pressed to fight back at least a solitary tear.” Krypto’s desperate, lonely search for his late friend transcends convoluted comic-book overhauls, and in the end, all the poor superdog can do is huddle with the things that remind him of his fallen friend.

Superman Red and Blue Volume 1 No. 5 (2021)

Embracing Krypto as a character also means embracing a certain version of Superman, one that’s free from cynicism even as he tries to rip the cynicism of the world out by its roots. The anthology Superman Red and Blue is all about this portrait, and though the Krypto story in No. 5, “Fetch,” is yet another origin story for Krypto, it uses Krypto, and by extension Superman, as a metaphor for what the presence of innocent goodness can do for the wayward soul.

Most modern portraits of Clark Kent tend to portray his younger years as fairly lonely ones. Not Peter Parker levels of bullying and angst, but existential uncertainty and the feeling of being an outsider. As such, Krypto’s sudden appearance in a crashed rocket, having bound from Kal-El’s exploded planet, sends a message to the kid: There are others out there for you, and while they might take a little longer to find, you will one day make your home among them.

DC League of Super-Pets (2022)

DC League of Super-Pets hailed from a particularly messy, “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” period of DC moviemaking. One can easily imagine an executive green-lighting this movie because they wanted a costumed-IP version of The Secret Life of Pets series. However, even if the movie’s story — about a dog feeling out of place in their owner’s personal life but eventually coming to realize that they have their own beloved place — feels very familiar, there’s something metatextually relevant in it when it comes to Krypto’s journey.

Director Jared Stern said the film stemmed from volunteering at an animal shelter and watching sadly as people ignored the older animals. And hasn’t that happened with Krypto over and over again? He’s introduced to fit with the times, the times change, and then he’s cast aside. A new writer finds a way to fit Krypto in, and it lasts as long as the then-current comic-book storytelling trend does. Then Krypto is sent back to the shelter, waiting to be adopted. He’s become much more welcome in modern stories (read 2017’s Super Sons Annual No. 1 for a comic that truly adheres to the inherent whimsy of “super pets”), but when people want to go “deep” and “serious” with their heroes, supporting characters like Krypto are often first to go. DC League of Super-Pets makes it clear that there’s always room for a dog in your life.

Superman (2025)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn)

James Gunn’s Superman is a pretty successful amalgamation of various Superman eras, from the tonal swings of the Silver Age stories, to the Post-Crisis work that examined and even poked holes in long-standing truths about Superman’s mythology, to the more recent stories like All-Star Superman that tether together an array of elements and themes with ultimate sincerity. Krypto shows up, too, 3-D-modeled after Gunn’s own dog Ozu and bolstered by his love of animals. And his appearance reflects a journey that began in 1955 and blends the trajectory of both the comics and the film adaptations.

In the comics, Krypto has managed to survive generations of reboots and retcons to solidify his place at Superman’s side. And after years of Superman films that typically played it safe in regards to what they pulled from the DC universe, Gunn knew he had to take a few chances and reach a little deeper. The Krypto in Superman unites these two journeys, and he’s a highlight of the film — comic relief, adventurous sidekick, and shameless heart. Seventy years after his debut, it’s about time the movies threw him a bone.