Krypto #107: Whatever Happened to the Dog of Tomorrow?

From: Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 (September 1986), plus Superman #420 (June 1986) and Christmas With the Super-Heroes #1 (1988)

This is it guys, the last pre-Crisis Krypto story. A final end to the Bronze Age. One last whine before John Byrne decides that Kal-El was the absolutely last survivor of Krypton, no exceptions.

Because there came a day when all of Superman's enemies decided to come after him, and Krypto was caught in the crossfire. Maybe he'd sensed something with his canine intuition.

Between that an the Legion showing up out of the blue to more or less say goodbye, Supes was starting to feel a little paranoid.

Supergirl had just died in the Crisis, he felt like these were dark times indeed. And here comes a young Legion with a Silver Age Kara? Geez, guys. (Well, they were always into making Kal cry.) Just look at these scenes of Supergirl playing with Krypto:

*I'M not crying. YOU'RE crying!

So while Superman holes up in the Fortress of Solitude with his entire supporting cast, he can't keep things from getting worse. The bad guys come knocking and one by one, his friends (and enemies) are killed. Lex Luthor goes down first, then Lana, then Jimmy... But we only care about one character, don't we? Okay. Take your box of tissues out. You're gonna need it.

Killed by the Kryptonite Man. Superman isn't even reunited with his pet before he walks into the Gold K repository and turns himself into a normal man. It's Robin who finds the body.

Okay. I can't.

Let's just flip back three months for a dream that features Krypto in Superman #420.

Somehow, that acts as foreshadowing and thus, coda.

And forward two years to Christmas With the Super-Heroes #1 where, if you missed the super-pup, you might glimpse him as a puppy in a reprint of Superman's team-up with Santa Claus in DC Comics Presents #67 (mentioned for completeness' sake).

Krypto. Beloved dog of Kal-El. 1955 - 1986.