Adventure Comics 302
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Sun-Boy's Lost Power
Synopsis
Sun Boy becomes the first Legionnaire to be honored with a statue of his likeness erected in Metropolis; unfortunately, he must immediately destroy the statue when it topples toward a crowd.
Soon after, Sun Boy discovers that his powers have vanished. Various attempts to restore them fail, including exposure to an atomic reactor, a volcano, and even Superboy’s heat vision and Ultra Boy’s flash vision. When Sun Boy stands next to giant fireflies, his powers are restored, but only for an instant. As he no longer possesses a qualifying super-power, the Legion regretfully expels him.
However, a criminal Sun Boy once captured named Kranyak escapes from prison and taunts him. Kranyak says he will destroy the Legion and there’s nothing Sun Boy can do to stop him. Sun Boy warns the Legion, and then, acting on a hunch, takes a rocket ship to the planet Lurna, where he deliberately provokes a Kryptonian flame-beast. As Sun Boy hoped, the flame-beast shoots flames at him, restoring his power.
Sun Boy returns to earth in time to stop Kranyak from dropping a frozen mountain on the Legion Clubhouse. He explains to his teammates that, after the encounter with the giant fireflies, he realized that only exposure to a living creature with heat/light powers would restore his abilities. The reason Superboy and Ultra Boy’s powers didn’t work was because they were, in fact, robots – sent by the real Superboy and Ultra Boy who were busy giving their friend Pete Ross a birthday party in the 20th century. The robots’ tapes became damaged in the time stream, preventing them from informing the Legionnaires that they weren’t the real heroes.
His power restored, Sun Boy is welcomed back into the Legion.
Key Quotes and Catchphrases
Critique
Roll Call
Legionnaires
Featured roles:
- Cosmic Boy
- Saturn Girl
- Sun Boy
Supporting role:
Cameos
- Chameleon Boy
- Shrinking Violet
- Superboy
- Ultra Boy
Villains
- Kranyak and his gang
Supporting characters
Other characters
- Superboy robot
- Ultra Boy robot
- The mayor of Metropolis
- Professor Harding, an entomologist
Planets and Settings
- Lurna (planet)
Technology, Gadgets and Other Neat Stuff
- A porta-monitor
Alien Wildlife
- Winged wampus (a type of butterfly)
- Giant fireflies
- Kryptonian flame-beast
- Radiation blast [sic]
- Hypno-beast
Notes
Origins
- Sun Boy reveals that he gained his powers when he “was locked accidentally inside an atomic reactor chamber.” But it was hardly an accident, as we would later learn when he reveals his full origin in Adventure Comics #348.
Errors and Oddities
- No explanation is given for Sun Boy’s loss of power in this story.
- It is unclear how the eggs to hatch a Kryptonian flame-beast would be available more than a thousand years after Krypton’s destruction.
First appearances
This issue marks the first appearance of the following characters and recurring key Legion story elements:
Powers and abilities
Reboot Reference Kit
Retcon Alert
Other
Other stories in this issue
There is an additional story that does not feature the Legion - "Superboy Meets Steelboy"
Reprints
This Legion story has been reprinted in the following:
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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