Earth 2, the name of a secondary world to whatever’s DC’s primary. During the controversial New 52, this world is where creatives toss in new versions of Golden Age characters. At least that was the case with James Robinson. When Tom Taylor takes over writing duties he decides to include some Silver Age elements. This includes but definitely not limiting to the reintroduction of Power Girl (alternate Supergirl). He also gets a little progressive by remaking Zod into a heroic black man. But then there’s something that never comes up again. Val-Zod reveals that he, OG Earth 2 Superman, and Power Girl, came with a fourth Kryptonian. But who is the fourth?

Earth 2 Kryptonians

To find some answers it might be best to backtrack to the original Earth 2. Recall again that this is the universe of Golden Age superheroes. During this time Superman is the only Kryptonian, even General Zod doesn’t exist yet. Heck Supergirl only exists as an idea until the Silver Age; Power Girl for that matter only appears in reaction to Supergirl. In other words, the golden age is out. So let’s look at another angle.

Tom Taylor makes use of a lot of influences in his Earth 2 run, not least of which is the Silver Age. Again this is the era where Superman’s world develops. From an expanding rogues gallery to the Superman family. But we need to narrow some things down.

The Criteria

It’s not enough to say that this Fourth Kryptonian is just from Krypton. With potentially billions of lifeforms on that world there needs to be some parameters. Remember both Supermen and Power Girl got sent to Earth because of OG Superman’s dad. In other words this fourth Kryptonian needs a connection to the House of El. In other words it can’t be anyone (else) with close ties to General Zod, who is most likely Val-Zod’s dad. Val-Zod however was adopted by Jor-El when Val’s parents were punished. But that still doesn’t answer the question on who came to Earth with the Super family.

It couldn’t have been an adult like Power Girl’s dad Zor-El, Val explains that only kids got the trip. So what does that mean; that Superman or Powergirl have a sibling they never knew about? Not likely, the purpose of Earth 2 is to recreate concepts from the past. But there is one member of the Superman family that actually fits the entire mold.

Ruff-Ruff and Away!

Krypto the Superdog is Kal-El’s pet from when he was a toddler on Krypton; first appearing near the beginning of the Silver Age. Krypto was loaded onto a rocket as a puppy and sent to Earth on a prototype rocket. So we’ve got a Silver Age idea, a Kryptonian with ties to the House of El, and young enough to be a kid on the ships. If any of these are even remotely on point, that leads to a lot of unfortunate implications. If Krypto’s backstory is anything to go by, he’s been drifting through space for a very long time. At this point, it’s more than likely to say he’s been lost to the cosmos.

With Val-Zod being such a breakout character, any more Kryptonians, even four-legged ones are too many for Earth 2. Writers succeeding Taylor like Marguerite Bennett probably don’t even know what to do with the Fourth Kryptonian idea. So whether it’s Krypto or not, that Fourth Kryptonian is gone.

The ink’s not dry yet, so anything regarding this is possible. Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.

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