In this episode, we take a look at Superman #147, and Action Comics #290. There is evil afoot, and only the Legion of Super-Heroes (with Superman and Superboy) can stop them!
In the city of Metropolis, in the 30th Century, there exists one of the most amazing clubs of all time! It’s members are teen-aged youths, each possessing on special super-powers! The club members have vowed to use their fantastic power to battle crime… This rocket shaped building is the Legion Clubhouse!
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Superman #147
The Legion of Super-Villains!
August 1961
w: Jerry Siegel
a: Curt Swan/Sheldon Moldoff
Having earned the right to do repair work in prison, Lex Luthor secretly steals components to build a device that allows him to send messages into the future. Having heard of Superman’s previous exploits with the Legion of Super-Heroes in his youth, Luthor deduces that if there is a Legion of Super-Heroes, there must be a Legion of Super-Villains which he could contact to help him break out of prison. Lex’s plan works and devices from the future to help break him out of jail are sent from the future, Luthor breaks out and is soon met with the 21st Centuries Legion of Super-Villains:
Cosmic King, who can transmute matter with his eye beams; Lightning Lord, brother of the Legion’s Lightning Lad who also was bombarded with the lightning powers of an alien beast; and finally Saturn Queen hailing from Saturn just like the Legion’s Saturn Girl and has the powers of telepathy, who one day turned evil after years of being an non-criminal on Saturn.
The group team up with Luthor to get revenge on Superman, who at that time was helping build Orphan City, for a bunch of orphans to live in. After the Legion of Super-Villains terrorized the celebrations, they lure Superman into a trap on a planet in the future where he is captured and sentenced to death.
However, before Luthor and the Legion of Super-Villains can pull the lever, the now adult Legion of Super-Heroes arrive and battle their evil counterparts. When the fight comes to a draw, the Legion offers one of their own to die in Superman’s place, Saturn Woman volunteering to take his place. As a last wish she asks that Superman create a ring around the planet they are on just like her home world of Saturn. With a ring around the planet, Saturn Queen suddenly becomes good and uses her mental powers to subdue her fellow evil Legionaries and Luthor. Superman reveals to the others that when Saturn Queen revealed why she became evil, Superman deduced that it was possibly due to the fact that she was away from Saturn’s rings which has a special property that made Saturians incapable of criminal or evil activity. With the criminals defeated, the good Legion takes their evil counterparts into custody while Superman returns to the present to bring Lex back to the authorities to finish his prison term. – via DC Wikia
Adventure Comics #290
Secret of the Seventh Hero
November 1961
w: Robert Bernstein
a: George Papp
Tom Tanner, a young trouble maker on the run to escape having to go to reform school ends up in Smallville, and upon discovering that he resembles Clark Kent decides to pose as Clark (who is otherwise busy on his daily activities as Superboy.) This ends up working on Superboy’s favor as Lana Lang is once again trying to prove that Clark Kent is Superboy by having one of her classmates cut his hair. Lana is shocked when “Clark’s” hair is cut, and “Clark” punches out the prankster.
Meanwhile, Superboy is met by Sun Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 30th Century. Sun Boy tells Superboy that recently the Legion obtained a super-weapon made by a recently deceased criminal scientist and had it disassembled into seven components, those seven components were then put in lead casings and hidden in different locations in the 20th Century so that no criminal in the 30th Century could reassemble it. Sun Boy goes on to tell Superboy that as part of his Legion initiation was to collect the components and bring them back to the 30th Century because the Legion later realized that the weapon could be used by criminal in the 20th Century as well. Superboy agrees to help Sun Boy collect the parts of the weapon, and with every part in his possession Sun Boy leaves Superboy to return to the future.
However, it turns out that the person who Superboy has been helping is nothing but an impostor and tricked Superboy into helping him. While “Sun Boy” assembles the weapon (A robot that has a ray beam that can turn people evil), Superboy returns home to find Tom Tanner in his place. When Martha unknowingly reveals Superboy’s identity to Tom to try and get him to put out a grease fire in the kitchen, Tom reveals his true identity to Martha and threatens to reveal Superboy’s identity should she try to ruin his cover. Meanwhile, “Sun Boy” sends the cyclops robot to turn Superboy evil with it’s ray. However the robot blasts Tom Tanner instead.
Superboy and Krypto then follow the robot back to the fake Sun Boy and destroy it, before Superboy takes the faux Sun Boy into custody and returns him to the 30th Century. There he reveals him as a fake to all present. Revealing that he determined “Sun Boy” to be a fake when he didn’t initiate the Legion hand shake when he first met Superboy. Returning to his own time, Superboy resumes his Clark Kent identity, and learns that Tom — after recovering from the blast from the robot he received — has now become good and as a side effect his memories of Clark’s true identity were erased. Tom thanks Martha and Clark for steering him back on the straight and narrow and leaves to return to the reform school which he was fleeing from. – via DC Wikia
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Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment. You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...