Krypto #66: Vypto

From: Superboy #126 (January 1966)

Third and last in a series looking at Krypto's ancestors, this one about his great-grandfather Vypto, who belonged to a commercial artist who did production design for science-fiction movies on Krypton, stuff like scary monsters that spook his dog. And he trained Vypto for deep-sea rescue missions. Because Silver Age. One day...

Not only does Vypto bring a family a bottle of compressed air, he also discovers hidden pirate treasure, and all without super-powers! As he comes up for breath, he sees criminals on shore looking FOR that treasure. They come to an amazing conclusion about what Vypto knows and sic their telepathic hounds on him.

Because if you're looking for treasure hidden inside a giant clam, telepathic dogs are sure to feret it out. Or something. So Vypto, who we've already confirmed is a hero, makes sure bad people don't get free cash to spend. He puts a scary thought into the hounds' heads:

His master's painting! And that, folks, is why Krypto has a mysterious phobia about some tiny insect. Judging from the art, is that insect a common house fly?! You'd think the weakness would have come up before!

And the story explains away a problem readers have with Krypto - his name. You've all heard the joker about a similar dog here on Earth called Eartho (or should that be Eart?); I have, in fact, made that joke on occasion. But Krypto isn't named after the planet, at least not directly. His blood line simply uses the -ypto sound in the males' names. Jor-El probably thought it was funny to put Kr- in front of it when he got the puppy for Kal because it was a pun. So now we know what the real deal is!