Cosmic Boy/Preboot
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Contents
Biography
Early life
Rokk Krinn is the oldest son of Braalian parents, born while the family lived on Earth in the mid-30th century. It’s never been clear whether Rokk’s magnetic powers, native to all Braalians, are so strong despite being born on Earth, or because of it. Rokk’s family eventually moved back to Braal, but economic conditions there were extremely poor. At age 14 – the age of legal adulthood on Braal – Rokk was already expected to contribute to the family finances. He first attempted to do this as a professional mango-ball player, and had some success, but lost in his first championship match. So the family sent Rokk back to Earth, where many Braalians found work using their magnetic powers. Rokk was to seek employment with Dr. Bojeau, a geologist, using his powers to help locate and remove magnetic ores.
Legion of Super-Heroes
No sooner had Rokk arrived on Earth, however, than he and two other super-powered teenagers foiled an assassination attempt on R.J. Brande, one of the richest sentients in the United Planets. Brande, who was an avid fan of 20th century super-heroics, encouraged the three to make their team-up permanent, with him as their financier. Rokk, himself a 20th century history buff and a great fan of heroic icons Superboy and Supergirl, jumped at this idea, and the Legion of Super-Heroes was born. A personal call from Brande to Dr. Bojeau got Rokk released from his contract, and he helped found the Legion using the codename of Cosmic Boy.
Computer analysis of the three founders (the other two now called Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad) showed that Rokk had enormous leadership potential, and he was chosen as the group’s first leader. Under his guidance the Legion blossomed, gaining status as deputies of the Science Police and becoming a Legion in fact as well as name. Membership swelled as the Legion became a modern-day legend, growing from the original three to eighteen members during Cosmic Boy’s tenure as Leader. It was Cosmic Boy who first suggested that the Legion use the recently-invented Time Bubble to recruit Supergirl and Superboy for Legion membership. Despite his success as Leader, Cosmic Boy was dedicated to seeing the team grow and evolve independently of him, so he stepped down and made way for others to lead.
Relationships
Cosmic Boy’s early prominence caught the eye of a teenage girl named Lydda Jath. She had her scientist father give her super-powers at least partially so she could leave her homeworld of Kathoon and meet the dashing Legionnaire when she applied for Legion membership. Lydda’s powers were not deemed sufficient for the Legion, but as Night Girl she went on to help found the Legion of Substitute Heroes, and Lydda and Rokk have a long-standing romance. Besides Lydda and his family, the most important people in his life are his fellow Legion founders, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl.
Family
Cosmic Boy’s family continued to move back and forth from Braal to Earth during his Legion career, as his Legion tenure helped support them. In later years, just after the Great Darkness Saga, Cosmic Boy’s family was again living on Earth, and were badly injured when extortionists (“Fireballers”) set off a homemade nuke in the area where they lived. Rokk’s mother died and his father was critically injured. Rokk went berserk, hunting down and nearly killing the fireballers before he stopped himself. Rokk determined that killing them would make him a murderer too, and he would not become that in his mother’s name. It was this event which caused Rokk’s little brother, Pol, to see the need for heroes, and he followed in his brother’s footsteps, joining the Legion Academy as Magnetic Kid.
Retirement
Concerned that the team was becoming overly conservative, Rokk later shook things up by retiring from active duty with the Legion. This both convinced the team that it needed to aggressively recruit some new blood, and cleared the way for Rokk’s little brother to be one of those new members. Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl resigned at the same time, and the three Founders were given status as rotating permanent advisers to the team.
Powers and abilities
Cosmic Boy has magnetic control powers, as do all natives of Braal. He has developed his powers to a degree above the average Braalian through a combination of inborn ability and hard work. He can attract, repel, or control any magnetic atom or ore. He can shatter steel walls, repel projectiles, throw metal objects at targets, pull satellites from orbit, and shape steel to his will. He can even use magnetism to directly attack living beings by manipulating the trace iron in their blood, though this risks killing them and is extremely rarely done. Other occasional uses of his magnetic powers include creating force fields, flying by riding on a planet's magnetic field, and detecting distortions in magnetic fields.
As a competitive Magno-ball player, Rokk honed his magnetic skill to peak levels. Rokk’s years with the Legion and as an athlete have seen to it that he is in top-notch physical shape. He has studied ku-jui, a Braalian martial art, as well as the Legion’s personal combat courses. He is also a skilled pilot and tactician and a natural. Rokk is greatly interested in Terran history, and particularly in the 20th century.
As a Legionnaire, Cosmic Boy uses the standard LSH equipment. He flies with his Legion Flight Ring, and can survive and communicate in space with his Transuit and Telepathic Earplug.
Notes
- Cosmic Boy was the first leader of the Legion, and served for two years.
All Appearances
1958
- April - Adventure Comics #247 (cover, 28 panels)
1959
- December - Adventure Comics #267 (cover, 27 panels)
1960
- August - Action Comics v1 #267 (22 panels)
1961
- January - Superboy v1 #86 (3 panels)
- March - Adventure Comics #282 (1 panel)
- May - Action Comics v1 #276 (9 panels)
- November - Adventure Comics #290 (cover, 7 panels - 4 as picture, 6 in flashback)
- November - Superman v1 #149 (? panels)
- December - Superboy v1 #93 (? panels)
- ? month - Superman v1 Annual #4 (1 panels)
1962
- February - Action Comics v1 #285 (? panels)
- February - Adventure Comics #293 (cover, 25 panels)
- April - Superman v1 #152 (10 panels - 1 in flashback, 1 as statuette)
- April - Action Comics v1 #287 (15 panels - 2 as statuette, 8 as disguised chameleon man)
- June - Action Comics v1 #289 (8 panels - 2 as statuette)
- July - Action Comics v1 #290 (? panels - as statuette)
- September - Adventure Comics #300 (cover, 22 panels - 1 as statue, origin)
- October - Adventure Comics #301 (24 panels)
- October - Superman v1 #156 (? panels)
- November - Adventure Comics #302 (? panels)
