In Superman #78 (July 1952), Bill Finger expands the mythos of Krypton with his story of “The Beast From Krypton!”. This story brings another survivor of Krypton, this time a savage beast that Jor-El basically genetically modified to ravenously eat metals and then imprisoned on a moon.
When it arrives on Earth, as all things Kryptonian are apparently wont to do, Superman struggles to contain its metal-eating habits, ultimately resulting in the beast eating a nuclear bomb that is about to go off. Superman panics and breaks the bounds of reality by stretching his indestructible cape:
… and then imprisoning the beast inside it…
The bomb goes off and the beast is destroyed. Superman lets the atomic blast out safely in space and… what, restores his cape to normal size?!?
I have an affection for “The Beast from Krypton”, since a similar dragon-like creature appeared in some later story that was reprinted in a paperback size black & white book that I owned as a child. That beast bites Superman’s hand and leaves scars that he must cover up so that Lois cannot prove his secret identity. I look forward to encountering that story again in a future blog entry!