From: "The Greatest Show on Earth" Adventure Comics #220 (January 1956)
The world doesn't yet know of Krypto's existence, but that's about to change. Is it because they see him fly through the sky? Nope, they think that's (a bleached?) Superboy. Is it because of his wanton destruction of property?
No, because apparently the Kents are forgiving souls (see last week's article). I bet they don't even care that Clark is half-assing his chores (empty the dust-bin over the whole yard, why don't you?) to go and play with his dog? What's Clark been doing while Krypto was away? Collecting more bones than a Monty Pythonian rabbit, apparently:
Does Superboy ALSO have a super-appetite? Is that a thing? Is he eating Ma and Pa out of house and home? I wonder. So they play together a little bit, running after steel beams and puncturing mountains, as dogs do, and then in a game of hide and seek, Superboy does something really stupid - he hides in a kryptonite crater.
Krypto has a pretty good plan, we're just not sure of Green K's range, so Superboy shoos him away and sends him to get help. Krypto obeys and brings back, well, not the best person.
This is Barney Blake, a carnival barker who immediately comes up with a plan to force Superboy and his dog to perform at his circus. And he won't push the Green K boulder away until he gets a Kryptonian promise from the Boy of Steel that he'll perform shows all day. Seeing a bridge about to collapse some ways away, Superboy agrees to his terms so he can go save people. In his weakened state, he can't friction the collapsing beam with his hands, so he has Krypto do it with his tail.
A strange image, but it's not the last. The next day, Superboy and Krypto show up as promised, and the former is shocked to see Blake charging outrageous prices for people to see him, and especially his new dog, perform tricks. So okay, Superboy's already an old hand at trolling, hoaxing and pranking, so he comes up with a plan to cause more damage during his tricks than Blake is making on ticket sales.
So for example, when Krypto is shot out of a cannon, he rips right through the big top. Note how he understands Superboy's complicated plan through mostly gestures. He's not yet able to understand English no matter how super-intelligent. But at least he has a cape, even if the stories seem to always want some kind of contrivance to draw him with one. Why doesn't Superboy give him a permanent one already?!
For his next trick, Krypto escapes from a metal cage by burrowing under the ground creating deep holes Blake will have to pay to fill. Blake gets wise to what's happening and puts more constraints on Superboy. He can't, for example, break the water tank that's in the next trick; so instead, he frictions it until all the water evaporates and creates muddy ground outside the tent which will have to be cleaned. So for the NEXT trick, busting through a wall, Blake tells Superboy he can't fling stones around to cause damage. But he never said anything about dust.
Supersonic barking sounds both dangerous AND annoying to the neighbors. And Superboy blows all that dust into the circus vehicles that all need a visit from a mechanic now. So fine, Blake tells him he has to leave the tent while Krypto flies an elephant around, and can't use super-shouts or super-ventriloquism. But let's loophole him again: He never mentioned super-whistling, which of course, only Krypto can hear and follow until the poor elephant is dumped in a pond it can't climb out of. And cranes are expensive. Blake is pretty angry, so he decides to humiliate Superboy by taking that kryptonite out again just as Clark is suppose to lift heavy weights. Super-smart Krypto brings him clown costumes thinking Superboy can't be laughed at if he's acting as a "funnyman". And it works!
After the show, Blake begs Superboy not to come back for a second; it's costing too much. So Krypto ditches the cape (nooooo, keep it!!!), and flies off as his master waves. But now the dog is out of the bag.
Krypto has been outed (no indication that Lana put 2 and 2 together, but she probably has) and nothing will ever be the same #unncessaryhype.
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