On This Day in the DC Universe, A New Member of the Super Family Crashed to Earth & He’s More Popular Today Than Ever

While Batman is all the rage today, once upon a time Superman paid DC’s bills. The Man of Steel came out of World War II stronger than ever, with DC Comics diversifying their line with Superboy stories. Young Clark Kent’s adventures took him from Smallville to the 30th century, introduced him to a boy named Lex Luthor, and learn a lot about his Kryptonian heritage, but there was one thing missing. See, it was the 1950s and every red-blooded American boy needed his dog. Clark got the Pup of Steel in Adventure Comics #210, from the amazing team of Otto Binder, Curt Swan, and Sy Barry (the best old school Supes team for my money). Krypto was meant to be a one-off character but, again, it was the United States in the ’50s and the character hit home with readers. The Super-Dog became an indelible part of the Man of Steel’s legacy and is getting a bigger chance to shine than ever.

Krypto is everywhere in 2026, with it all starting last year. He was a part of Superman and while he didn’t eat up too much screentime, his rambunctious presence made him a favorite part of the film for many. DC Comics released a miniseries starring the dog, chronicling how he came to Earth, and he’s joined Supergirl in her latest solo book and on the big screen in Supergirl. There’s even more of him on the way, as DC Studios announced a Krypto cartoon series. It’s his world and we’re all just living in it folks. Today is a very interesting day in the character’s history. See, DC has often put out materials that give readers some concrete dates on when characters showed up or when a hero’s birthday was. Well, many moons ago, we learned the day that he came to Earth from one such source.

Krypto Landed on Earth on June 29th

In 1976, DC put out a calendar for its fans, with each date containing a little factoid about DC history. This is one of those things I really miss about the maturation of the comic medium; sure, we adults can get all the cool comics we want, but we don’t get nerdy little calendars filled with obscure DC facts. Krypto was revealed to have landed on Earth on the second to last day of June, finally joining his master on their new home. Krypto was part of Jor-El and Lara’s plan to ensure baby Kal’s survival. The dog was fiercely loyal to his charge before the destruction of Krypton and the two bet that the canine would also benefit from Earth’s yellow sun as well, protecting their infant son from danger.

Krypto’s place in the Superman mythos has been both steadfast and ephemeral. Back in the 1976, the Super-Dog was 21 years old and was still an active part of the Man of Steel’s legend, even if his role had been diminished. Crisis on Infinite Earths changed all of that; Krypto was a relic of an earlier time in comics and “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, the last story of the pre-Crisis Superman, was the last time he’d appear for years. Post-Crisis DC was a different beast. The Man of Steel was the Last Son of Krypton and that included dogs.

However, you can’t keep a good dog down and he returned in the early 2000s story “Return to Krypton”. This being post-Crisis DC in the ’00s meant that it had to throw a little shade on the past – this Krypto was from an “idealized” version of Krypton that looked more like the Silver Age world than the modern one, implying that it was a more childish concept – but since then a lot has changed. DC embraced the weirder parts of their past, bringing things more in line with the classic ideas of the Silver and Bronze Age. Krypto is an important part of Superman’s legacy today.

Krypto has gone through periods of complete and total irrelevance only to bounce back and become something of an icon again. He’s a relic of the ancient past in comics – his 1955 premiere may as well be medieval times with how much things have changed for the comic industry – that somehow keeps coming back up. Krypto has finally arrived, which on today of all days is quite fitting.

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