Krypto #12: Versus the Dogcatcher

From: Superboy #73 (June 1959)

June 1959 marked the first time Krypto would appear TWICE in the same month - once in Adventure Comics, and once more in Superboy. Just a brief sequence in the former, so let's start with the latter: "The Dog-Catcher of Smallville!" And the eponymous dog-catcher is Burt Bentley, the villain of the piece, who shows why working for commission is the devil's playground.
So this jerk lets leached dogs loose, catches them, then levies hefty fees to even the poorest Smallvillians. Superboy, aware there's an anomalous number of stray dogs lately, catches him in the act. So does he arrest him and force him to pay people back? No. He needs to pull a super-dick move to "teach him a lesson". It goes a little something like this:
Krypto acts like a stupid stray and lets himself get domesticated by Bentley, who then goes off to get him a license and legal ownership papers, and because Superboy never did, Krypto becomes his dog. Bentley quits his job and puts all his hopes on Krypto, advertising super-services for a big fee. But Krypto has been instructed to sabotage Bentley by "misunderstanding" his orders. So when he's sent to fetch a prize greyhound...
He brings back a Greyhound bus and parks it illegally, so that Bentley must pay a hefty fine. That kind of thing. The reward for the missing dog goes up to a whopping (at the time) 10,000$ dollars, but Krypto brings back hot dogs this time, which Bentley must pay for.
As a plane crashes, it dumps its cargo in Smallville Lake, and Bentley hopes to use his dog to bring back the stuff and collect a salvage fee. Again, no luck.
Krypto brings back only dog food and through the roof as well. But that night, he catches Superboy exposing his plan out loud, a plan Krypto was already aware of, and which had been reinforced via super-ventriloquism. Why do dumb, Superboy? It scarcely matters though, because Bentley's plan to give only the most precise commands is bound to fail anyway (and couldn't Krypto just disobey him?). He plans a circus show with the dog, with the completely stupid promise of double your money back if not satisfied. Krypto does all the tricks perfectly, but at super-speed, so you can't see anything. You know, like an action movie where the director is desperately trying to be Paul Greengrass. Everyone wants their money back and he can't possibly make good on his promise. At wit's end, Bentley gives Superboy his dog back and the Boy of Steel invites everyone back in for a show at normal speeds, using the proceeds to repay the people Bentley had originally swindled.
And that's how Superboy stole the roof over a man's head, literally and figuratively. Was that all necessary? Mixed feelings.

Also in June 1959: Adventure Comics (1938) #261
During Superboy's first encounter with a young Lois Lane, he keeps his secret identity intact by getting Krypto to save her and Lana Lang from a cave-in.
And to punish nosy Lana and reward not-yet-nosy Lois while he's at it.

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