From: Superboy #85 (December 1960)
Ok, he may not be on the cover, but Krypto is in this issue, I promise. See? Here he is inspecting a robot version of himself:
Good plotting would dictate that he would return later, or that "Mighty Boy and Rovo" from the cover would turn out to be these androids, or some such Silver Age solution. But nope! Neither Krypto nor his mechanical double return. He's just there to insure internal continuity when Superboy eventually says "just like Krypto!", the new reader knows who he's talking about. It's the same reason Superboy flies by Red Kryptonite in space later. Not because he's affected by it, but because he has to reference it at the end of the story.
Continuity used to be hard!
So no Krypto, but as long as we're here and interested in super-powered dogs, let's meet this Rovo the Mighty Dog!
This is all taking place on the small planet Zumoor, where Mighty Boy is the very near equivalent of Superboy. He's got the same powers, same kind of secret identity, same dog, even a similar origin:
Bound for America, the castaway boy was put in the same rocket as his puppy, and that puppy fiddled with the controls. And so, Rovo is responsible for "Zarl" (not his Earth name) landing on Zumoor where the light gravity gave him great strength, and the radiation from the moon gave him his other powers. Zarl has the same problems Superboy does, including a pesky girl that's always trying to uncover his identity, and kindly parents who cover a lot for him. AND he undergoes weird transformations in this story, as if affected by Red K. But it's only when Rovo is similarly affected that Superboy figures it out. But first, giant dog interlude:
So that stupid moon that shines on Mighty Boy and powers him has this crazy effect on Superboy: It makes him living Red Kryptonite that affects Mighty Boys and Dogs! And so their beautiful friendship must end and Superboy has to come back to Earth. And there are tears on both sides.
But Krypto doesn't get to meet Rovo! Sad.
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