Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton

by Ryan North, Mike Norton (Illustrator)

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

120 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2026

About the author

Hi, I'm Ryan! I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and since then have written several books. You can read my Wikipedia page for more, or check out my author site at RyanNorth.ca!

I'm the author of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics (that's the comic where the pictures don't change but the words do, it's better than it sounds and I've also done crazy things like turn Shakespeare into a choose-your-own-path adventure, write a comic for Marvel about a girl with all the powers of a squirrel, or mess up walking my dog so badly it made the news.

I'm working on more stuff as we speak, hopefully it's good

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily North's best work so far.

We have Krypto, everyone's favorite super pup, but the plot of this story reveals that his journey is filled with hardships like anyone else. Starting on Krypton where he lives a simple, happy life with Jor-El, Lara, and baby Kal-El, Krypto gets separated from Clark's parents in space. This leads him to being abused when on Earth by Lex Luthor, who tries to manipulate Krypto’s growing powers for his own malicious piece of shit ends. Krypto must survive the streets, making friends with a pack of stray dogs, and dealing through hardships. Krypto fights to survive, but just like Clark, his heart is what makes him special as he continuously chooses goodness despite his struggles and the threats he faces.

Sad, teary eyed at times, grinning ear to ear other times, this was a pretty magical ride that I can see myself reading a few times more. A 4.5 out of 5, I'll bump it to a 5.

[Tom Zilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. More intense than I expected.

[Rob Schamberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story about how rescue pets also rescue us.

[Alex Sarll]

Ryan North is one of the most reliably rewarding writers in comics at the moment*, but if you really want him to tug the heartstrings, give him an animal book. And while some of those have had talking leads (Unleashed), or at least ones where another character can interpret for the the readers (Squirrel Girl), here the difficulty level is a little higher, because whatever his remarkable abilities, Krypto is as non-verbal as any Terran dog**. Fortunately, Mike Norton is on art, and it turns out his skill in rendering expressive canines is not limited to his signature pugs. Net result: all the feelings. The story follows Krypto from the dying days of Krypton to his reunion with Kal, and if some of the backstory is the sort of stuff that would normally have me huffing about prequelitis (especially the issue where the lost pup is found by the already awful young Lex Luthor), the fact that you have a lead who wouldn't have been able to mention this in subsequent encounters allays some of my concerns, and also I'm more invested than I would otherwise be because, however staged the jeopardy, the lead is a very good dog. Which does also mean it's vastly more stressful than it would otherwise have been when bad things happen – thank heavens I finally signed up to North's newsletter, and so saw the warning about not reading the sad penultimate issue until the final one was out too. But yeah, very much one for anyone who was smitten with James Gunn's screen Krypto (and I'm deeply suspicious of anyone who wasn't).

*Yes, I know One World Under Doom is falling apart in the final act, but being 2/3 good still makes it the best Marvel event in ages.
**Hell, arguably less verbal than that one who could say 'Sausages'.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rocketed away from Krypton before its destruction, Krypto finds himself trapped on Earth and trying to find a way home.

If you like doggos at all, then yes, this book will upset you. It's not quite on the We3 levels of bawling that I did when I read that book (and I refuse to ever re-read it for that very reason), but there were more than a few moments that made me tear up. If you regularly have to check Does The Dog Die? before consuming some media, I'd maybe avoid at least issue 4 of this title if not the whole thing, because it is Sad at times.

North's storyline is fairly straight forward, giving us a new-ish origin for how Krypto made it to Earth to be with Superboy, though the idea of each of the four issues after the first being one season worked better than I expected. I wasn't entirely sold on the inclusion of Lex Luthor, even as a kid, but he's only in the one issue.

Mike Norton's artwork is the real star of the show here though, making sure that Krypto is perfectly expressive without ever looking like anything more than the dog he is. He communicates joy and sadness and anger with the limited facial expressions of a dog perfectly, and the lettering choices (which are explained neatly in the back of the trade) were really cleverly done too.

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content warning: animal cruelty and animal death. Collects Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #1-5.
This is a sometimes funny, sometimes emotional, always interesting retelling of Krypto's origin. After falling into a wormhole on a test mission, Krypto lands on Earth and is adopted by teenage Lex Luthor. Luthor abuses the dog (his powers haven't manifested yet) who eventually runs away to wander the countryside. Krypto has several adventures, helping people and being befriended along the way. Of course, against all odds, Krypto eventually meets up with Superboy in a poignant last few pages. It's a fairly predictable story, told with heart by writer Ryan North and artist Mike Norton. Jae Lee and June Chung provide some spectacular covers.

[Brittany Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as individual issues.

I was so excited to see Krypto get his own comic. Man, what a disappointment it turned out to be. Ryan North is a good writer, but I don’t think anyone wanted a depressing and traumatic mini series about Superman’s best friend. There’s virtually no story here. We get short little miserable peaks into Krypto’s life before he reunites with Kal and then two pages of him finding him. Is this really the Superdog story we needed? Who is this for? If anything, it would have worked a lot better as an oversized one shot. As it is, it’s not something I’ll ever touch again nor can I recommend it.

[Emile Rudoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si solo pudieran leer un cómic este año, tendría que ser este. Así de bueno es. Me fascinó. Quisiera comprar el compilado y tenerlo en mi librero. Así de bueno es.

Es una historia sencilla pero no por eso menos buena, de Krypto, desde que deja Krypton y arriba a la Tierra hasta que logra reencontrarse con Kal-El que ya para ese entonces es Superboy. No quiero vender demasiada trama, pero en verdad es precioso.

Si te gustan los perros (plot twist a mi no), debe de ser un must en tu lista de lectura. En verdad lo vas a disfrutar. En verdad quisiera que hubiera mas cómics como este. Son necesarios.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

That’s an easy 5 stars from me! I laughed, I cried, I said “awwww,” and hugged my own rescue dog repeatedly. Not always an easy read for someone who generally prefers dogs to people, but overall a delightful experience that I’m sure I’ll want to revisit! Norton’s art was adorable, Lee’s covers are always amazing, and North’s story was wonderfully written as well. Lots of interesting twists and turns.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Krypto goes thru a wormhole during a test flight from Krypton that ends up on Earth a few years later. His resulting shaggy-dog adventure (told from his dog POV) is cute, encountering faces and places familiar to the most popular Superman stories, but it’s also more of a theme park tour through an adolescent era for Superman and a few of his eventual arch-nemeses than a proper dramatic story.

[Chloë Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet, and at times very emotional and tense, story about survival through the eyes of a pup. He might have powers, but he still faces a lot of hardships and struggles to find his place and survive in the world - just like Clark. The beautiful art finishes this story off nicely, with the team ensuring Krypto is as emotive as he can be without the power of speech. Loved!

[Nevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ryan North and Mike Norton love dogs, and this story has heart. It doesn't have very much plot, though, and the mostly wordless pages go by fast. The first two issues are interesting and cover every good idea North had. The last three feel like padding.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

art is pretty good.
story us okay, but has soem beautiful and poignant moments.

[Buis · Rating 5 out of 5]

REad the oindividual issues. It's amazing.

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this as it was coming out and it just was not particularly great unfortunately :(

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very decent artwork, and despite the subject matter, not the craziest of storylines either. I found it rather touching in places and just plain nice. 4/5

[Aidan]

I love dog pov comics, I love Krypto, and I love Lex Luthor, all Ryan North had to do was not overwrite, of course this was an easy win for me

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and almost peak just heartwarming story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet and cute story about everyone's favorite alien pup with superpowers.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally love Ryan North, but this was just good, not great. It was a bit darker than I expected, that might be my problem.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Competently written and drawn, it feels ultimately a bit too serious for a light adventure and a bit too light for a serious think piece, but still lands as overall enjoyable

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really sweet and fun, and the art was perfectly suited to the story it was telling.