Warning: contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal The Secret Origin
Superpowered pets were one of the golden age’s weirdest trends. Batman worked side by side with Ace the Bathound and Supergirl dated her horse, Comet, but the most famous of all was easily Superman’s pet dog, Krypto. Krypto is an interesting character in DC’s history because he has floated in and out of continuity with each reinvention of the Man of Steel. Throughout all of his appearances though, Krypto’s defining characteristic has been his fierce loyalty to not just Clark Kent, and this loyalty even extends to one of Superman’s worst alternate selves. In Dark Nights: Death Metal The Secret Origin Krypto stands side by side with Superboy-Prime.
The comic from writers Scott Snyder and Geoff Johns focuses on the origin story of Infinite Crisis villain, Superboy-Prime. Far from the main DC Universe’s Superman, this Clark Kent grew up in a world similar to our own, where superheroes are just comic book characters. Just as he discovers that he does have actual superpowers though, his world was destroyed. The devastation of this so completely destroyed him that he became obsessed with recreating his home. The character has had his ups and downs but recently came back into the DC Universe when the Batman Who Laughs summoned an army of evil Supermen to do his bidding. Despite his history of villainy, Wonder Woman believes in Superboy-Prime. Though Superman and his family are justifiably uneasy about him, Krypto wastes no time in rushing to his side.
Conner Kent quickly tells the former villain to get away from his dog, only for Superboy-Prime to counter that the idea of a superpowered dog is ridiculous. Before the two Kryptonians can exchange blows though, The army of evil Supermen arrives to do battle with their nobler counterparts. As alternate universes stream across the sky, Superboy-Prime tries to fly away from the fight but is forced to act when he’s attacked. After pummeling a lesser Superman, one of the universes catches his eye. It’s a universe where he’s a hero. The Batman Who Laughs offers him that universe if he’ll fight on the side of evil. Superboy-Prime considers it but is stopped by Krypto’s arrival. Despite everything, Krypto believes in this Clark Kent. With a single punch, Prime manages to weaken the Batman Who Laughs, but at a cost. Krypto howls at the sky as Superboy-Prime breaths his last breaths.
While Superboy-Prime was originally meant as a send-up of Golden-Age Superboy stories, the character never had a Krypto of his own. Making the moment all more poignant is that Superboy-Prime and Krypto have actually fought before, as the star of DC’s Titans, Krypto, futilely tried to protect Conner from Prime during their fight in Infinite Crisis. Despite all that though, Krypto still recognizes the good in Super-Boy Prime, and ultimately helps him make a decision that could save the universe.
Superboy-Prime might scoff at the idea of a superpowered dog with a cape, but here, Krypto displays exactly why the character has endured in DC comics. Krypto’s loyalty and belief in the innate goodness of people put the dog of steel above most of DC’s greatest heroes.
