Adventure Comics 267
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Superboy is imprisoned by the Legion, who believe he has turned evil!
Prisoner of the Super-Heroes
(11 pages/59 panels)
To his surprise, Superboy discovers that Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad have returned to the 20th century - not as friends, as in their last trip, but for the sole purpose of making him look bad. Every time he begins to save the day with a super-feat, they coldly brush him aside, take care of the problem and steal the glory. It's not long before the citizens of Smallville decide they prefer the three super teens from the future, making no attempt to hide their displeasure with him. Even Krypto, Ma and Pa Kent seem to have turned against him. Crushed, Superboy decides to leave his home and venture out into space.
Before too long, he encounters a crowd of super-beings, all flying through space in the same direction. In curiosity, Superboy follows, the crowd's ranks swelling as they approach what he discovers is a brand new world called Superboy Planet. He is immediately greeted by the local law enforcement and told that the ruling council is expecting him. The council turn out to be none other than the three Legionnaires who had troubled him earlier in Smallville. He is immediately sentenced to life imprisonment and thrown into a kryptonite cage.
Weakened by the kryptonite and helpless to escape, Superboy watches as the Legionnaires construct an entire kryptonite prison. As they are about to move him to the completed structure, Cosmic Boy relates the reasons for their actions. The artificial planet on which they stand was originally constructed in Superboy's honor by super-heroes from many worlds. Before dedicating it to him in a surprise ceremony, they checked their futurescope, which allows them to see five years in the future (records of the period had been lost in a fire). To their horror, the futurescope revealed scenes of Superboy destroying a ship, an airstrip and a factory. They concluded that he was destined to become a super-criminal five years hence.
Feeling it their duty to imprison him, they deliberately humiliated him in Smallville so that he would want to leave Earth in shame. A mental prompt from Saturn Girl caused the citizens, Krypto and the Kents to turn against him. Their explanation at an end, they ask Superboy if he has anything to say in his defense, but he remains silent. They take his lack of response as an indication of guilt, and he is placed into life imprisonment.
Days later, an atomic chain reaction on the planet collapses the kryptonite prison and frees Superboy. Unleashed by the explosions, radiation from the deadly Element Sigellian begins to kill the Legionnaires. With a super-shout, Superboy changes the molecular structure of the Element Sigellian, rendering it harmless. Grateful now that they have been saved, the heroes swarm around him with cheers of praise, stating that it's unthinkable that Superboy could ever become a criminal.
Just then, Saturn Girl mentally picks up a radio message from Earth. The President of the United States is releasing Superboy from an oath of security. Free to speak, Superboy explains that the scenes they saw in their futurescope were actually from the present, and that he was destroying all traces of a deadly poison gas at the request of the President. Sure enough, a flaw is discovered in the futurescope, and Superboy's name is cleared.
Rushing to bring Ma, Pa and Krypto to Superboy Planet, the heroes and all involved shout three cheers in Superboy's honor.
Roll Call
Legionnaires
- Superboy (cover/50 panels)
- Cosmic Boy (c/27)
- Saturn Girl (c/22)
- Lightning Lad (c/20)
Supporting characters
- Jonathan "Pa" Kent (4 panels)
- Martha "Ma" Kent (4)
- Krypto (2)
Other characters
- Unnamed Citizens of Smallville (12 panels)
- An unnamed Smallville Detective and his unnamed prisoner (3 ea.)
- Mayor of Smallville (1)
- Unnamed heroes from unnamed planets "across the galaxy" (15)
- A subterranean dinosaur (3)
- A giant robot (2)
Planets and Settings
- 20th century Earth
- 20th century Smallville
- Superboy Planet
Technology, Gadgets and Other Neat Stuff
- Legion Jet Packs (12 panels)
- Green kryptonite (9)
- Futurescope (5)
- The element Sigellian (0).
Notes
First appearances
- This issue marks the first appearance of the classic Silver Age costumes worn by Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl.
- The unnamed Mayor of Smallville depicted in this story appears here for the first and only time.
- With this story, Lightning Boy is rechristened without explanation with the more aliterative codename, Lightning Lad. Except for flashback tales published in the 1980s and 1990s, he would appear only once more, in what was probably an uncorrected typo, as Lightning Boy.
- Superboy Planet is created in the 20th century, never to be seen again.
- The element Siegellian is mentioned for the first time, never to be seen again.
Oddities
Both on the cover and in the story, Saturn Girl is shown emitting rays from her eyes that carve brick out of rocks, a power never seen before, or since. Also, in the original printing of this story, Saturn Girl's costume is colored purple & white as opposed to red & white and she is incorrectly portrayed as a brunette.
Timeline
Fans have determined that this story takes place after Action Comics 267 and 276, but prior to 287.
Easter Eggs
The element Siegellian is named for the writer of this story, Jerry Siegel.
Other stories in this issue
There are two additional stories that do not feature the Legion. "The Manhunt On Land" & "The Underwater Archers"
Reprints
This Legion story has been reprinted in the following:
Superman v1 Annual #8 (1963)
Adventure Comics #491 (September, 1982)
See also
- Legion Publication History - Other issues published 1950-1964
- Legion Publication History - Other issues of Adventure Comics
- Pre-Crisis Chronology
- Quick index of links to other Adventure Comics issues
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