It’s going to be a big summer for Krypto the Superdog, and not just on the big screen. DC Comics just announced a new 5-issue series called Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton, kicking off on Wednesday, June 18th. Described as “A heartfelt and moving view of humanity, good and bad, through the empathetic eyes of the ultimate outsider: a poor, lost dog, who just happens to have superpowers,” this story is a part of the DC All In lineup as well as the “Summer of Superman” promotion. It’s written by Ryan North with interior art by Mike Norton. In DC’s press release, the creative duo explained how they hope to do justice to Krypto’s history while giving fans something new as well.
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“Krypto’s origin has always been done at kind of a high level,” said North. “The little guy starts out on Krypton, ends up on Earth, and helps Superman fight crime. The chance to really define Krypto—to show what a little lost dog would go through if he landed all alone on a strange alien world named Earth—was really enticing. And I also fell in love with the idea of treating Krypto as the actual dog he is: he doesn’t talk, and we don’t cheat by reading his thoughts in balloons either.”
Of course, that light-dialogue approach wouldn’t be possible without a great artist, and North sang Norton’s praises. “Mike Norton’s art captures exactly what needs to be ‘said’ in every scene,” he explained. “Krypto tells us who he is and how he’s feeling like all dogs do: through his expressions and behavior, through body language and barks and snuggles and licks and sighs. Dogs are some of the most expressive animals, and we absolutely love them, and I wanted to tell a story that really captured and honored these animals—Krypto in particular.”
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“I’m always ready for drawing more dogs in comics,” added Norton. “Krypto is a dream project!”
North described this as a series of five relatively self-contained short stories, but taken together they all build to one big origin story for Krypto and his relationship with Superman. The timing is perfect, as this summer’s new Superman movie will hit theaters just days after the second issue of this series hits shelves. However, it’s available for pre-order now at local comic book shops.
Superman is the first big screen outing of the new DCU continuity, overseen by DC Studios co-head James Gunn. Gunn is the director of this movie, which seems to be overflowing with DC characters and lore. We know it won’t be an origin story for Clark Kent, but it’s unclear how Krypto will play into the story. He featured heavily in the first trailer, which got many fans excited about the Superdog.
Superman lands in theaters on Friday, July 11th in the U.S. Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton goes on sale on Wednesday, June 18th in comic book shops and digital storefronts.
