Adventure Comics 304
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The Stolen Super-Powers!
Synopsis
Arriving at the Legion Clubhouse for their annual leadership election, Saturn Girl finds a message, but destroys it before anyone else can see it. Shortly after, the Legionnaires hold the election and Saturn Girl wins by unanimous vote. Secretly, she had used her mental powers to force everyone to vote for her. She then forces her teammates to wear medallions with her picture engraved on them and made from a spectrium “rainbow bar” given to the Legion as a gift. As her tyrannical behavior appears to grow, Saturn Girl next tests her teammates – except for Superboy and Supergirl, who are away – by making them use their powers. When each Legionnaire fails to meet her exacting standards, she suspends them from using their powers. Unknown to the other Legionnaires, the tests have served a secret purpose: each time a Legionnaire has used his or her power, the medallions have temporarily transferred their powers to Saturn Girl.
With the entire Legion suspended, Saturn Girl alone flies into space to face an invading villain called Zaryan the Conqueror. However, Lightning Lad has learned of her scheme and follows her into space. There, he destroys Zaryan’s ship, but the ship’s freeze ray strikes Lightning Lad, fatally injuring him.
As he lays dying, Lightning Lad tells Saturn Girl that he learned of her plan from Mon-El, who observed her every move from the Phantom Zone. Mon-El saw that the message Saturn Girl destroyed was from the Trylop Council on the planet Mernl, whose “computer-machine” predicted that a Legionnaire would die using his or her powers fighting Zaryan. Mon-El watched Saturn Girl rig the election and then force the Legionnaires to wear medallions that transferred their powers to her so that she could sacrifice herself, rather than putting her teammates at risk. Mon-El was initially unable to inform the other Legionnaires of her plan due to “sun-spot disturbances,” but was finally able to telepathically alert Lightning Lad. As soon as he finishes recounting this, Lightning Lad dies.
The Legionnaires gather for their teammate’s funeral and place his body in a special, transparent coffin with electric bolts perpetually crashing above it. Other worlds also mourn Lightning Lad’s passing. A statue is erected in his honor at the clubhouse.
Key Quotes and Catchphrases
Critique
Roll Call
In order of appearance:
Legionnaires
Featured roles:
- Lightning Lad (dies in this story)
- Mon-El (leaves the Phantom Zone briefly)
- Saturn Girl (becomes Legion leader in this story)
Supporting roles:
Cameos
- Bouncing Boy
- Brainiac 5
- Chameleon Boy
- Invisible Kid
- Matter-Eater Lad
- Phantom Girl
- Shrinking Violet
- Sun Boy
- Superboy
- Supergirl
Villains
- Zaryan the Conqueror (of the planet Brok) and his gang
Supporting characters
- Lori Lemaris (accompanies Supergirl to Lightning Lad’s funeral)
Other characters
- Commander Loring of the World-Wide Police
- The Trylop Council of the planet Mernl (no appearance; message capsule only seen)
Planets and Other Places
- Brok (Zaryan's homeworld; mentioned only)
- Mernl (homeworld of the Trylop Council, friendly aliens; mentioned only)
Technology, Gadgets and Other Neat Stuff
- The Legion’s vote-o-matic machine
- The spectrium “rainbow” bar (worth $200,000)
Notes
Errors and Oddities
- Even though Saturn Girl steals the powers of every Legionnaire, except Superboy and Supergirl, who are away, and Mon-El, who is in the Phantom Zone, no mention is made of Star Boy (see Retcon Alert, below).
- No explanation is given for why Saturn Girl shows up at the Legion Clubhouse wearing a ray gun (which she uses to destroy the message) and holster in the first place.
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
- Star Boy's absence from this story is finally explained almost twenty years later in Legion of Super-Heroes v2 #306: he was recuperating from injuries sustained while stopping a prison riot on Takron-Galtos.
- Zaryan the Conqueror was later revealed to be a Khund.
- The World-Wide Police was another name for the Science Police. The worldwide law-enforcement group went through several names in the early comics before the writers settled on "Science Police".
Other
Other stories in this issue
There is an additional story that does not feature the Legion - "The War Between Superboy and Superman"
Reprints
This Legion story has been reprinted in the following:
Adventure Comics #403 (1971)
Adventure Comics #499 (1983)
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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