Krypto #88: Krypto vs. Mxyzptlk

From: Action Comics #467 (January 1977)

There was the time Superman had a JLA meeting and he left Krypto in charge of guarding Metropolis, and Mxyzptlk took it as an opportunity to literally erase the city from all maps. Now how's a dog supposed to make a 5th-dimensional imp say his name backwards? His powers don't even work against the magic hand that's doing all the rubbing!

But apparently, Mxy smells, and Krypto soon has him on the run. The imp turns into a cloud and races across town, apparently in fear of catching Zrfffian rabies.

Now, I'm no expert on Zrfff, but it seems to me you can't catch rabies from a non-rabid dog, so is Krypto a carrier as of a story that's never been told? Or do imps automatically catch this variant if bit by ANY dog? Someone should ask the Answer Man. Oh wait, he WROTE this story.

Anyway, moving right along... Krypto's sniffer brings him to Mxy's location and he barks a local man thinking he's the imp in disguise. Meanwhile, a garbage can disappear from behind him.

He's back on the stinky trail, which brings him to the Happy Hound Dog Food Company, where Mxy is hiding as a dog biscuit! Somebody's about to get its factory ransacked and its wares eaten!

And that's when stupid Mxyzptlk - stupid because he hid as something Krypto EATS - has to opt out and backward-spell himself home in fear of getting bit.

Superman, none the wiser, comes back to a restored Metropolis, minus all the dirt and grime. Win!

Now if only Krypto can score a victory without the villain seeming brain-damaged.