Krypto #31: Krypto v Streaky

From: Action Comics #277, Adventure Comics #285 and Superboy #89 (June 1961)

June of '61 was a big month for Krypto, as he appeared in 5 stories across three titles. Foremost among these was a Supergirl story, that the fans apparently demanded, called "The Battle of the Super-Pets!". Forget Batman v Superman. Forget Civil War. Forget Freddy vs. Jason. THIS is the match you wanted to see: Streaky vs. Krypto. Even if it's not entirely fair because Streaky's powers are always temporary, after playing an X-kryptonite marble hidden inside a ball of yarn (guys, you can't make this stuff up unless you're a Silver Age writer). Krypto enters Supergirl's world just as Linda Lee is about to be adopted, which can never ever happen because foster parents are a threat to your secret identity, so quite intuitively, from the sky, Krypto realizes this and melts a soap bust Linda made of her visual arts teacher to give it angry features.

Naturally, the prospective parents think she's a sociopath, and so it goes in a 1960s orphanage. This is the level of logic you should be expecting, by the way.

Streaky is in the bushes and sees Supergirl thank Krypto for his help. The cat responds emotionally, skulking away because the super-dog is stealing her love. Angry, Streaky takes it out on his ball of twine and feels empowered. He jumps Krypto. Superman and Supergirl pry the pets off each other and offer to judge a contest between them to settle their feud harmlessly. First event: Tug of war on the foggiest day in history.

But the chain breaks, and Krypto lands at the inaugural site of a new subway system.

He receives accolades for his "help", which makes Streaky even more jealous, and as Superman resume his patrol, he sends the Maid of Steel to a planetoid where they can finish this contest without causing any more damage. Second event: Acrobatic diving into a lake.

We see Streaky do real well, and then Krypto tell us he's doing real well, but his landing is sabotaged by Streaky who makes a tunnel that drains the water out of the lake. Streaky wins the round, but because he honestly did better, not because of his cheating. So cheating's allowed, eh? Third event: Foot race/Krypto cheating.

Okay, I can't wrap my head around the physics of this moment. Supergirl has to be floating for it to work, right? The story goes a little loopy during the "pin the tail on the monster" paleontology event, where Streaky turns into a giant, skeletons turn into living creatures, bones into animated cartoons, and kryptonite works then doesn't. Supergirl discovers that, believe it or not, the planetoid belongs to Mxyzptlk's interplanetary multi-dimensional practical jokers club, and is full of magical nonsense traps.

So who DID win the competition? No one. It's just better not to be rivals.

Or to hate that damned Super-Monkey together. He's the real threat to our masters' loves.

Meanwhile, in "Gravity Girl of Smallville"...

Krypto participates in a hoop-jumping competition uniquely suited to his talents!

Meanwhile, in "The Shame of the Bizarro Family!"...

Superboy and Krypto time travel to the future of Bizarro World, where our favorite super-dog is imperfectly duplicated, creating a Bizarro-Krypto!

Meanwhile, in "Superboy's Big Brother!"...

Krypto barks at the amnesiac Mon-El, proving he isn't Superboy brother and didn't grow up at the El household!

And meanwhile, in "The Super-Cop of Smallville!"...

Krypto saves a dog bound for the pound from his freshly-deputized master by taking him out of city limits! If you're wondering why the countryside is full of feral dogs, look no further.

Phew! Big month! This pooch needs a lie down!