Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton

He was born and raised on Krypton, but how did he make it to Earth, and to Superman?  Writer Ryan North and artist Mike Norton tell the tale of the DCU’s goodest boy in this surprisingly emotional miniseries.  I say this as an avowed cat person who definitely loves reading comics about cats and bought this comic mainly because I thought it had a solid creative team than out of any genuine love for the character.  Yet North and Norton manage to work a kind of magic here that really had me feeling for Krypto’s struggles.

Take the opening chapter which takes place towards the end of Krypton as Jor-El and Lara try to find a way to save as many people as they can and decide that using Krypto would be the best way to do that.  Yet something goes wrong and the way they try to put on a brave face for their beloved pet, through their words and their expressions – as well as Krypto’s own uncertainty at his situation – really hits you right in the gut.  Then they go and do it all over again over the course of the next four issues.

Not continuously, mind you.  Krypto’s story here also features plenty of small moments of triumph before we get to the big, obvious one at the end.  By the time we do, it really feels like it’s been earned and that the title character is a real hero in his own right rather than just Superman’s First Pet.  While I can’t say that the actual stories being told here are that surprising (though the Portrait of a Young Supervillain in the second issue was spot-on), it’s the way North and Norton tell them, and the genuine emotion that they invest in that telling, which makes this feel like an early candidate for next year’s “Best of” list.

Here’s hoping they tackle Streaky the Super-Cat next time…