Adventure Comics 300

Adventure Comics #300
Preboot » Pre-Crisis

Cover by Curt Swan, George Klein and Ira Schnapp

Story title	The Face Behind the Lead Mask
Previous story	Superboy v1 #98:The Boy With Ultra-Powers
Next story	Adventure Comics #301:The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy
Cover date	September 1962

Creators

Writer(s)	Jerry Siegel and Mort Weisinger
Penciller(s)	John Forte and Al Plastino
Inker(s)	John Forte and Al Plastino
Letterer(s)	Milton Snapinn
Colourist(s)	Unknown
Editor(s)	Mort Weisinger
Cover artist(s)	Curt Swan, George Klein, Ira Schnapp

"The Face Behind the Lead Mask!"

(12 pages/66 panels/2,389 words)

Plot Synopsis

At a meeting of the Legion of Super-Heroes, only a few members are present because most are "visiting different planets on various space missions." Suddenly, Cosmic Boy's megnetic powers go haywire, destroying a robot cameraman there to to record the meeting "as a stern warning to interplanetary crooks." In rapid succession, Sun Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl each experience power malfunctions. With no other recourse, Saturn Girl pulls down on a lever labled, "Pull down to summon Superboy."

Meanwhile, in the 20th century, Superboy, in his guise as Clark Kent, greets Lex Luthor as the latter is being released from the Smallville Reformatory. Luthor brushes aside Clark's good wishes and vows revenge on Superman, once both grow to adulthood, of course.

Back home, Clark is checking in on Mon-El with his hand-held Phantom Zone viewer, when his signal lamp goes off, summoning him to the 30th century.

Superboy arrives in the future just as Lightning Lad is inadvertantly blasting apart the Legion Clubhouse. As he makes repairs with his "super-friction," Sun Boys power again goes awry, causing him to fly off, where his super-heat melts a mountain-top glacier.

The World-Wide Police then show up with an ultimatium. Because of the danger posed to the public by the out-of-control Legionnaires, they will be exiled from Earth if they cannot regain mastery of their powers in one hour.

Superboy begins to examin the Legionnairs with his x-ray vision, checking for signs of infection, when Urthlo shows up. Wearing a lead mask to conceal his identity, Urthlo boasts that he can control the Legionnaires powers and sets about to prove it, also using his green kryptonite vision to manhandle Superboy.

As the Legionnaires flee, Superboy obeys Saturn Girls command to burrow into the ground for a buried chest, but he is dubious of her command to use what he finds there - a Phantom Zone porjector. The Legionnairs urge Superboy to follow Saturn Girl's instructions and he summons Mon-El from the Zone.

Mon-El immediatly succombs to lead poisoning, but Saturn Girl gives him "Serum XY-4." His symptoms now gone, Mon-El makes short work of Urthlo, who has just caught up to the team.

Everyone's joy is quickly dampened, however, when Saturn Girl explains that the serum will only work for "just a few minutes." Before he "dies" Urthlo explains that he was created by Lex Luthor and sent into the future to destroy the Legion since they are "so dear to the heart of Suerboy."

The World-Wide Police life their exile order, Mon-El is inducted into the Legion before being sent back into the Phantom Zone, and Superboy returns to the 20th century.

Key Quotes and Catchprhases

"Oww! - My aching brain!!" (Sun Boy, under mental attack from Saturn Girl)

"Bah! Once I admired Superboy, but now I despise him! Despite my scientific genius, people think he's greater than me!" (Lex Luthor)

"Hm-mm . . . Too bad Lex hates me so!" (Superboy)

"Twenty-first century, here I come!" (Well, then, you'll miss your Legion meeting by about 900 years, Superboy)

"Run! The super-heroes have become super-menaces!!" (innocent bystander)

"Great Krypton!" (Superboy)

"I am . . . "Urthlo!" With this power-nullifying gadget, I can turn the super-heroes' powers on or off at will, ha, ha!" (Urthlo)

"You fiend!" (Saturn Girl)

"Oww! . . . th-the pain . . . ! . . . <Moan!>" (Superboy, under the influence of Urthlo's kryptonite vision)

"Fly away, Legionnaires! Flee, and try desperately to think of some way to combat mighty "Urthlo" effectively! Suffer like trapped rats - - because in fifteen minutes I'll hunt you down and destroy you!" (Urthlo is evil, but also sporting)

"Please trust me and do as I say! Instantly!" (See, in the early days, Saturn Girl would ask before making you her mind-puppet)

"Oh-hhh! . . . <Moan!> . . . I'm in great pain . . . Oh!" (Mon-El, apparently in great pain)

"You Fool! Why did you make me do this to him?" (Superboy, to Saturn Girl)

"Great Krypton!" (Superboy)

"No, no! You can't harm me! I'm made of lead!" (Urthlo)

"<Gasp!> Urthlo is a robot!" (Lightning Lad)

"I have failed in my mission . . . blast it!" (Urthlo)

"Great Scott! Look at these hate tapes inside his chest compartment! No wonder the automaton loathed us!" (Superboy)

"Hate Superboy," "Hate Legion of Super-Heroes," "Hate hate hate" (Urthlo's hate tapes)

"Goodbye, Mon-El! Some day I will create a serum which will cure you permanently . . . I promise!!" (Sure, Superboy, sure)

"Long live the Legion of Super-Heroes!!" (Sun Boy)

Roll Call

In order of appearance:

Legionnaires

Superboy (cover, 37 panels - inc. 5 as Clark Kent, 670 words)
Lightning Lad (cover, 21 panels, 108 words)
Sun Boy (cover, 31 panels, 206 words)
Comic Boy (cover, 21 panels, 150 words)
Saturn Girl (cover, 35 panels, 313 words)
Mon-El (cover, 13 panels, 23 words)
Triplicate Girl (cover only)

Villains

Lex Luthor (4 panels - inc. 2 in flashback, all as a teen)
Urthlo (21 panels, 293 words; 1st and only appearance; destroyed)

Supporting Characters

Two unnamed World-Wide Police patrolmen (2 panels, 64 words)
An unnamed World-Wide Police officer (1 panel, 25 words)

Other Characters

A Smallville Reformatory Guard (1 panel, 0 words)
Four citizens of the 30th century (2 panels, 8 words)

Planets and Settings

20th century Earth, including:
- Smallville Reformatory
- Superboy's bedroom in the Kent home
30th century Earth, including:
- Legion Clubhouse, including:
  - The Hall of Heroes (1st appearance)
  - Meeting Hall, with an apparent Mission Monitor Board
- The arctic
The Phantom Zone
Braal (mention only; 1st in-continuity reference)
Korbal (mention only; 2nd in-continuity reference)
Saturn (mention only)

Technology, Gadgets and Other Neat Stuff

Legion statutes, including:
- Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Sun Boy, Chameleon Boy, Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet, Invisible Kid and Superboy.
Legion nameplates, including:
- "Cosmic Boy Super-magnetism," "Saturn Girl Super-thought-casting," "Lightning Lad Super-Lightning," "Sun Boy Super-radiance," "Chameleon Boy Super-disguise," "Bouncing Boy Super-bouncing," "Shrinking Violet Super-shrinking," "Invisible Kid Super-invisibility," and "Superboy X-ray vision invulnerability)
Legion Clubhouse
A robot cameraman (destroyed)
"Superboy emergency lever"
Hand-held Phantom Zone projector
Superboy's signal lamp
Legion flight belts (1st mention. See also: Adult Legion flight belts created in Action Comics #289
Urthlo's "power-nullifying gadget"
Serum XY-4
Lex Luthor's Time-Ray Projector

Notes

Mon-El is inducted into the Legion without having "to pass out usual super-initiation test."

The Legion Clubhouse is destoyed by Lightning Lad and then immediatly repaired by Superboy using "super-friction."

Errors and Oddities

Cosmic Boy is drawn twice in the last panel. Could it be Chameleon Boy?

First appearances

This issue marks the first appearance of the following characters and recurring key Legion story elements:

Serum XY-4: The first cure for Mon-El's lead poisoning, albeit temporary. Saturn Girl say's she was able to develop the antidote because she was able to mentally contact Mon-El in the Phantom Zone and both diagnose "the harm down to his body" and figure out "what chemical elements" would counteract his ailment.
Braal. First in-continuit reference. (Was it mentioned in Superman Annual 4?)

Meanwhile . . .

Triplicate Girl appears only on the cover. Chameleon Boy, Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet and Invisible Kid appear only as stautes in the Legion's Hall of Heroes. Colossal Boy, Phantom Girl, Brainiac 5, Supergirl, Star Boy and Ultra Boy do not appear at all. All members are said to be "visiting other planets of various space missions"

The Most Told Origin Story in All of Comics

Second telling Lightning Lad recounts how he gained his powers when, "a lightning monster on the planet Korbal freakishly electrified my body." No mention is made of a crash landing, or of his brother, Mekt, and twin sister, Ayla, also being present.

Powers and Abilities

Cosmic Boy notes for the first time that all people on Braal possess magnetic powers because "evolution gave people the power to magnetically battle that world's metal monsters." He also notes, in the only reference ever, that it is a "supreme crime" from Braalians to mis-use their powers."
Sun Boy has hitherto only had the power to glow brightly. Here, he displays "heat rays from [his] fingers" for the first time.
Saturn Girl's powers are strong enough that she is able to contact Mon-El in the Phantom Zone. This is the only time she has ever been shown as able to mentally diagnose an illness and a cure.

Reboot Reference Kit

In each subsequent era, there was no Superboy, at least not in the "Superman when he was a boy" sense, to Mon-El had to find a different way into a Phantom Zone-like place. In each case, he would remain a 20th century character released into the 30th century by the Legion.

Post-Crisis: Glorithverse: In the 20th century, the Mon-El name was dropped in favor of Valor, as Lar Gand had numrous adventures, and even his own brief solo series, following the Invasion! cross-over event. Post-Zero Hour: Mon-El first appeared as the amnesiatic battler, Champion, in Superboy v3 #18 before being sent into the Stasis Zone in events similar in spirit to those of Superboy v1 #89. He emerged in the 30th century in <?> where he took the name M'Onel Post-Infinite Crisis: Mon-El has yet to debut in this continuity.

Retcon Alert

Lightning Lad refers to Korbal as a full-fledged planet, just as Mekt did in the first telling of the Ranzz' origin in Superman v1 #147.
Saturn Girl is apparently still from Saturn at this point, as she mentions that "only evil Saturnians use their powers to harm others."
Saturn Girl's origin is changed from her first appearance in Adventure Comics #247 In that issue she was said to have been taught telepathy by the super-scientists of Saturn. Here, she notes for the first time that all people from her world "can perform amazing mental feats," as intimated in many earlier stories where it was said that the Legionnaires had super-powers because they came from different worlds.
Cosmic Boy also conforms with the "from different worlds" rational for his powers, officially ditching his origin given in Adventure Comics #247 where he said, "special serums gave me eyes of magnetic power."
At this time of this story, the Science Police had yet to be introduced. The 30th century's Law enforcement agency is referred to here as the "World-Wide Police."

Twisted Timelines

Both Superboy and the narration state that the Legion exists in the 21st century. This could have been done for any number of reasons, but is likly a simple mistake made by writer Jerry Siegel in his first Legion story, and not corrected by editor Mort Weisinger.

Worth 1,000 Words

The Legion has a lever poking out of a wall in it's main meeting room with a sign that reads, "Pull down to summon Superboy."

Reprints

This Legion story has been reprinted in the following: