Adventure Comics #247 (Apr. 1958)

Adventure Comics #247 (Apr. 1958) was the beginning of the DC Comics Legion of Super-Heroes franchise. This comic book is expensive and a prized collectible, so I felt very lucky and excited when I scored my own copy.

I'm no thousandaire... it's coverless, and missing four pages from the center (the Green Arrow story). But in my hands, I felt the magic of holding a piece of history. It triggers my primal wonder, the spark of my love for super-hero comics. I love to take in the qualities of the old paper, the colors, the iconic heroes (Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl) — teen heroes grouped together, OMG.

Poring over the 12-page story, I found myself engaging with it in a new way. I'll admit that I had previously disregarded this story somewhat, because I knew that in terms of continuity, the story itself is anachronistic and doesn't carry much weight. A new reading inspired me to write more about the details surrounding its creation.

Because this is the first appearance of the Legion, most readers are surprised to learn that Superboy was not a founding member of the team, nor its first recruit. Twice, and clearly, the story depicts a handful of unidentifiable Legion members. As a fan it's tempting to try to "identify" them, but those who are shown fully do not align with any later Legionnaires. Read about the attempts to reconcile these characters below.

Observations

Between 1958 and 1962, DC published 31 stories that we now associate with the Legion of Super-Heroes (plus a handful starring Mon-El). Did you realize...

• Only two of those 31 stories were written by the Legion's first writer, Otto Binder.
• 23 were written by Jerry Siegel, whom one could argue was the Legion's true father. He wrote their 2nd, 3rd and 4th appearances, invented a dozen Legionnaires, and established much of their 30th century world.
• The Legion is known for its association with Superboy, but just over half of these early appearances were from the era of Superman (the "Adult Legion").
• And 9 of the stories involved Supergirl (Legion stories featuring both Superboy and Supergirl are rare).
• 6 stories deal with the sad saga of Mon-El (who was not originally linked to the Legion at all).
• Pencilers: 12 were penciled by Curt Swan; 7 stories by George Papp; 7 by Jim Mooney; 4 by John Forte.

The Story Behind the Story

Over the decades, Smallville and Metropolis were visited by all manner of strange visitors but together, three enigmatic teenagers made a unique impression on Superman's fans.

The Legion of Super-Heroes first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (Apr. 1958), as the novelty du jour in the "Superboy" feature. Superboy was invented by Jerry Siegel in 1945 for More Fun Comics #101, a new strip that chronicled Superman’s youthful adventures in the town of Smallville. Superboy was popular enough to warrant his own title in 1949, in addition to the featured position in Adventure Comics from 1946–1969.

Mike Grost wrote about Superboy’s early stories in depth and identified underlying themes in classic Superman comics. Initiations — the backbone of the Legion's first story — were common in “Superboy” adventures. Superboy and the other Legionnaires perform a series of impressive super-feats, but emotion drives the story. Superboy struggles less with the physical challenges than with his longing for companionship. He displays a fear of rejection because he wants friends with whom he can be his true self. (Making super-friends had eluded Superboy for years, despite meeting many other super-powered teens.)

Emotional dynamics made the Legion's tales special. Sacrifice, jealousy, longing, insecurity, rejection and angst were common sentiments in Silver Age Superman stories. Despite this, lasting interpersonal connections (or progress) were often lacking in the Superman universe; one needed to leave character as one found him. Legion stories provided the perfect stage for a deeper drama. (Fans seemed split on their preference for drama vs. action; read the earliest letter columns here.)

Editor Mort Weisinger

Mort Weisinger joined National (DC) in 1941, and was the quintessential force behind the Superman mythos from his Golden Age adventures through the Silver Age '60s. A prolific writer himself, Weisinger is notorious for having used a heavy hand with his creative teams.

Accounts of his 'abusive micromanagement' are numerous. Weisinger explained his approach to editing Superman in a 1975 interview with Guy H. Lillian III:

"People always accused me of being an egomaniac as an editor because I always gave the writers my own plots. I did that for a reason. If I asked a writer to bring in his own plots, and he spent a weekend working on four of them, and I didn't like any of the four, then he's wasted a whole weekend of work."

One cannot accuse Weisinger of being uninspired. As early as 1946, he expoused his vision, "Superman wages incessant war against injustice, intolerance, bigotry and other down-to-earth villains of modern society." Again from Lillian:

"I would bring out a new element every six months to keep the enraptured kids who were our audience involved. … Why should Superman be able to fly, … have X-Ray Vision?"

"I had a gut feeling... and I talked to kids. I'm not taking credit for the success of those books, but I did know my Superman character and mythology, and the proof of success was in the box office." — Superman.nu

The Legion of Super-Heroes clearly resonated with a young audience. Weisinger was one of the first DC editors to add a letters page (in 1958), and the readers' reactions shaped his characters and story ideas (though he printed almost no fan reactions to the Legion's first appearances). Response to the Legion was strong and sustained, which resulted in the team's increasingly frequent appearances over the first several years. Weisinger eventually dedicated the covers of Adventure Comics to the Legion starting with issue #300 (Sept. 1961), though it was not the only feature inside.

Writer Otto Binder

Otto Binder scripted the first Legion story, and confirmed as much when he compiled a master list of his scripts for Jerry Bails. Bails was a tireless researcher who assembled the invaluable Who's Who of American Comic Books. Binder's typed source pages were reprinted in Alter Ego #147 (July 2017).

Binder was interviewed in 1974 by fan writer Matt Lage. His interview (reprinted in The Legion Companion by TwoMorrows) does not touch specifically on the story from Adventure Comics #247.

He spoke about his early work, offering that he wrote with a habit that "avoided any suggestion of repetition or similarity." At Fawcett, where he wrote Captain Marvel for years, variety was encouraged. On writing for DC, however, Binder said, "Hardly a script of mine went in exactly as I wrote it." This, he said, was just how DC editors did their job. They had proven certain formulas, and they weren't afraid to replicate them, or to edit scripts to conform.

Despite Binder's recollection, there were themes present in his stories at DC. In his studies, Mike Grost spotted the seeds for Adventure #247 in some of Otto Binder’s earlier work. Grost called out three stories in particular:

1. In "World at the Edge of the Universe" (Strange Adventures #60, Sept. 1955), Ted Carter of 21st century Earth was studying at a university on Jupiter when it was announced that he was selected to "represent the solar system on the grand tour of the Milky Way Galaxy.” He joined other young people from the U.W. — the United Worlds, organized in 1999. Ted became pals with the blue-skinned Kyp of Argus, but Kyp's extensive knowledge of the galaxy left Ted feeling a bit like a “dunce.” When their ship was marooned on a magnetic planetoid, it was Kip's unique science know-how that saved them from aggressive creatures. These themes, inadequacy and redemption (not to mention that Ted wears a bubble helmet while talking about magnetism), are present in Adventure #247. Ted redeems himself and the others cheer him for his invaluable help.
2. Two issues later, Binder penned an adventure about "The Watchdogs of the Universe." Young Danny Bolton listened to his father's tale about the discovery of aliens on Earth! They were altruistic visitors, who had saved the Earth and other worlds many times over millennia: "Our mission is to patrol the spaceways and come to the 'invisible' aid of the planets in peril!” The Watchdog's members included brave men of many worlds, but they operated in secret so they would not stunt the scientific development of any world. They were forced to kidnap Mr. Bolton so he would not reveal their existence. As their dispatcher, Bolton watched them use magnetic power, and even rekindle a dead sun. For helping them so selflessly, the aliens agreed to let him return home. (Strange Adventures #62, Nov. 1955) Note: The basis of this story was recycled for the "Space Museum” feature in Strange Adventures, which began with #104.
3. And in Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #2 (May/June 1958), Lois endured a series of trials in her bid for an acting role. In the end, Superman revealed that he had arranged those obstacles to challenge her acting abilities.

The Art: Swan vs. Plastino

The cover of Adventure #247 (and Adventure #267) was drawn by Curt Swan while the interiors were by Al Plastino. So who created the costumes?

The weight of evidence suggests that the three Legionnaires were designed by Curt Swan. A closer look reveals some discrepancies between the uniforms on the cover versus inside. Most notably, the Legionnaires on the cover do not display their names on their chests; the names appear on nameplates in front of them, so it would have been redundant. And inside, there is nothing remarkable about the lower halves of the Legionnaires’ costumes. Did Plastino phone the rest in? (And to nitpick: on the cover, Imra and Garth sport cuffs while inside they wear gloves.)

Even back then, comic book covers were produced in advance of the interiors so that the comics could be promoted. It wasn’t uncommon then (as now) for DC to produce the cover first, for promotional purposes. Editor Julius Schwartz is known to have done this routinely. It is quite possible that Curt Swan created these Legionnaires for the cover before Plastino began working on the story. (Curt Swan's early experience as an illustrator seems to have informed the way he designed super-hero uniforms. He began his illustration career in the military, drawing servicemen and sports content for the Army publication, Stars and Stripes.)

One argument in favor of Al Plastino: If he was handed Swan's cover art, why would he move the names from the nameplates onto the uniforms? It's a highly unusual motif and it seems more likely that Swan would have omitted Plastino's names when he drew the covers. Sadly, Al Plastino remembered nothing about creating the Legion when he was interviewed by Glen Cadigan for The Legion Companion (TwoMorrows, 2003). After reviewing the story, Plastino offered only:

"I don't remember doing it. ... It's my work. … If it's the first [appearance], I probably did [design the costumes]."

The cover of this issue is a recognizable classic. It shows the three space-teens rejecting Superboy's application for membership in their "Super-Hero Club." It has been widely imitated, both at DC and by other publishers. Take a look at a Pinterest board I created to showcase these covers!

The First Appearance Costumes!

The Legionnaires costumes' from Adventure #247 generate a lot of curiosity. Indeed, the most conspicuous anomaly about the Legion's origin story is the costumes. The designs are infamous for the prominent names printed on the kids' chests.

Then in the Legionnaires' second appearance, Adventure Comics #267 (Dec. 1959), the costumes were changed. Again, Curt Swan was the cover artist, but George Papp drew the story. The new costumes were pretty similar to the originals, but note: the Legionnaires in this story met Supergirl and said that they were the children of the original three Legionnaires, so there was a reason for the differentiation. The new uniforms erased the names and became the standard for future appearances. Their coloring was further adjusted in their third appearance, Action Comics #267 (Aug. 1960).

Adventure Comics #247 does not tell the Legion's origin story, so the creators who tackled that tale (the first of which came ten years later) had to decide whether to acknowledge the costumes from the Legion's first appearance. The first two origin stories were both written by E. Nelson Bridwell. Bridwell was a continuity buff, so it's surprising that he chose to sweep the original costumes under the rug (see figures).

The first origin story appeared in Superboy #147 (May/June 1968), and the second in Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (Jan. 1981). In both, the founding Legionnaires were depicted only in their established, classic outfits.

Three other stories playfully acknowledged the costumes from Legion's first appearance. A story spotlighting Cosmic Boy's origins showed the three Legionnaires in their original costumes but did not reference them in the text. (By Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen; Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #297, Mar. 1983.)

The Legion's official post-Crisis origin story, Secret Origins #25 (Apr. 1988), showed (as many flashbacks do) that the three of them wore civilian clothes that resembled the Adventure #247 uniforms, but their first Legion costumes were the classic ones.

Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 4 #8 (June 1990; a post-Crisis story by Keith Giffen, Tom Bierbaum, Mary Bierbaum and Chris Sprouse), was the first to explicitly address these costumes. In that version of the Legion's origin, the team's benefactor, R.J. Brande, presented them with the oddball uniforms. They objected to Brande's lack of style but reluctantly wore them for a brief time, before asserting their preferences.

Lightning "Boy"

Also for this issue only, the red-haired Legionniare was called Lightning Boy. In all of his subsequent appearance, he was consistently named Lightning Lad — yet another instance of the initials "L.L." in the Superman mythos. "L.L." was a deliberate convention employed by Mort Weisinger. In Superman #157 (Nov. 1962), Superman references it explicitly, citing Lois, Lana, Lightning Lad, Luthor, and even Luma Lynai. (In that story, he’s nearly killed by Kryptonite, only to be saved by … a Little Leaguer!)

He was called Lightning Boy in Adventure Comics #282 (Mar. 1961) as well, after which a reader called out the discrepancy. In a letter to the editor published in Adventure #286 (July 1961), Weisinger confirmed this was an "error."

After the change, the editor missed one reference in the Legion's third appearance (Action Comics #267, Aug. 1960), where Supergirl called him both by "Lightning Lad" and "Lightning Boy." The Supergirl story was essentially a copy of the original tale, so the script might have retained instances of "Lightning Boy" when it went to lettering.

The Mystery Legionnaires!

In Adventure Comics #247 (Apr. 1958), it was made clear that the group had already been operating for some time. In the Legion Clubhouse, Superboy met a group of Legionnaires — more than the original three. In two panels, these other members stood on the sidelines and cheered for Superboy.

Trying to identify all of these mystery Legionnaires is a fun game, but ultimately futile because there are no good identifiers of their identities. Also, their coloration does not match precisely with any later Legionnaires.

In time, the membership order was sorted and Superboy was considered the team's eleventh member. His induction was shown again in Adventure Comics #323 (Aug. 1964) where again, multiple members again in attendance.

Adventure #247 doesn't explicitly identify Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad as the group's founders, but Cosmic Boy appears to take the lead on matters.

Reprints

When the story was reprinted, some of the mystery members were recolored to suggest that they were Legionnaires who came later. In Superman Annual #6 (1962), one boy was recolored to resemble Colossal Boy…

They also recolored the three founders' costumes to match their later, canonical coloring.

The reprints in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #1 (Mar./Apr. 1980) and Adventure Comics #491 (Sept. 1982) were colored identically to the original story, although some panels were trimmed or extended to accommodate the digest size's different height/width ratio.

In DC Silver Age Classics Adventure Comics 247 (1992), the reprint did some recoloring (supposedly against colorist Tom McCraw's wishes) to suggest that one of those Legionnaires was Brainiac 5.

Iconic Firsts

The Jet Packs

The Legion of Super-Heroes is iconic for images of the team unified in flight. Their first appearance shows them using jet packs to fly, like so many scifi heroes of that time. They transitioned to less bulky anti-gravity belts instead of jet packs in Adventure Comics #300 (Sept. 1962).

The Legion's famous flight rings came along several years later. First, Mon-El invented an anti-gravity metal called Element 152 (Adventure #305, Feb. 1963). The Legionnaires started wearing flight rings in Adventure #329 (Feb. 1965), with no explanation.

The ring's origin was told in a flashback tale from Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #267 (Sept. 1980). When the villain Vibrex disabled the Legion's flying belts, Brainiac 5 used the Element 152 to create the Legion flight rings.

Unknown: What powered the anti-gravity belts?

The Time Bubble

The Time Bubble enabled the Legion to visit Superboy and Supergirl in the past. The super-cousins didn't need it; they could breeze through time on their own power. That super-ability was greatly curtailed after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and in the Legion's other incarnations. (It's called a "Time Cabinet" in their next appearance.)

Much later, the invention of the Time Bubble was also attributed to Brainiac 5. His friend, Rond Vidar invented a similar machine, the Time Cube (Adventure Comics #349, Oct. 1966).

The Legion Clubhouse

The Super-Hero Club made its home in a building that appears to be a rocket ship with its nose embedded in the ground. This iconic design by Plastino was the Legion's headquarters until it was destroyed by the Fatal Five in Adventure #366 (Mar. 1968). In the next issue, the United Planets built the Legion a larger, more elaborate new headquarters in Metropolis.

In Secret Origins #46 (Dec. 1989), the headquarters was given its own mildly disturbing origin story. It was said that during the Legion's first membership tryouts (held in a public park in Metropolis), a rejected super-hero called Mnemonic Kid attacked the Legionnaires. Another reject, Fortress Lad, protected them with his power to become a giant "metallic fortress." But Mnemonic Kid's amnesia blasts robbed Fortress Lad and everyone else of the memory that he was ever humanoid. He was trapped in "fortress" form forever and became the Legion's original clubhouse.

Interplanetary Zoo

During Superboy's competition against Lightning Boy, an invisible eagle escapes from the city's Interplanetary Zoo. The Legion encounters another meagerie of beasts from the Interplanetary Circus in Adventure Comics #327 (Dec. 1964).

Membership Requirements

In the team's third appearance, Action Comics #267, they mention two requirements for membership in the Legion. First, heroes must be under the age of 18. Second, they only admit one new hero per year. (Supergirl fails her test when some Red Kryptonite ages her into womanhood). The latter rule was later ignored.

Super Powers

Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl manifest manifest their powers from their eyes. This continued into their second and third appearances and eventually tapered off until their powers came from their hands, or head.

Saturn Girl uses her telepathy — taught by the "scientists of Saturn" — to command animals as well as people. In this first story she commanded a deep sea creature; ironically, Adventure Comics at this time was also running the adventures of Aquaman.

Cosmic Boy says, "Special serums gave me magnetic eyes." This is ignored in later stories. His home planet Braal, where all people have magnetic abilities, was first named in Adventure Comics #300 (Sept. 1962).

Things That Changed Over Time

21st or 30th Century?

More than once, this story places the Legion 1,000 years into Superboy's future. This story references the 30th century, although significant subsequent stories placed them in the 21st century instead — even as late as Adventure Comics #300 (Sept. 1962, by Jerry Siegel). Throughout the Legion's history, it became canonical that all adventures took place 1,000 years into Superboy's future.

In the Legion's third appearance, they visited Supergirl, who of course lived about ten years ahead of Superboy. She also traveled 1,000 years into the future when she met the Legion. One caveat: these Legionnaires were said to be the children of the original Legion (Action Comics #267, Aug. 1960). This 'children of the Legion' aspect was ignored after this story and it's presumed that Supergirl's successive visits were actually '990 years' in the future, because she visited the Legion contemporaneously with Superboy.

It wasn't long before tales of the Legion wormed their way into Superman's adventures as well. In Superman #147 (Aug. 1961, also by Jerry Siegel), the Man of Steel was attacked by the Legion of Super-Villains. This story was another one in which they stated they were from the 21st century. These villains — Cosmic King, Lightning Lord and Saturn Queen — were similarly from ten years into the Legion's future.

This spawned a long series of adventures that included the Adult Legion. The Adult Legion were contemporaries of those villains, living about ten years head of Superboy & the Legion's adventures.

Smallville or Metropolis?

The original story shows the Legion clubhouse in Smallville, which has become a super-city! Clark Kent's "ancient" childhood home has even been preserved (or probably restored).

In their third appearance (Action Comics #267, Aug. 1960), the Legionnaires took Supergirl to the future as well. That time, they went to the future Metropolis. Granted, the Legionnaires in Supergirl's story were said to be the children of the original Legion, but Metropolis became the Legion's home in all stories. If Smallville still existed in the 30th century, it was probably a part of it.

Modern Superman stories (and shows like Smallville) typically place Smallville in Kansas. That was not the case prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths. In early Superboy stories, the Kents’ home town (which was not named “Smallville” until the cover of Superboy #2, May/June 1949), was shown to be near Metropolis, perhaps even an outlying suburb. Read more about more references in the Superboy profile.

As Adventure #247 implies, the cities of the Legion’s time are sprawling megalopolises. Later Legion stories depicted Metropolis as encompassing much of the northeastern United States. The Legion of Super-Heroes, Volume II: The World Book (Mayfair Games, No. 216, 1987) explains that the 30th century Metropolis is so large that the Metropolis Spaceport is “almost 120 miles” northwest of Staten Island. Who’s Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #6 (Oct. 1988) reaffirms that geography, noting that Metropolis has “grown to encompass cities that were once known as Boston and New York” and “extends hundreds of miles across the eastern seaboard of lower North America.”

So, if Smallville was hundreds of miles away from Metropolis in Superman’s time, it was probably absorbed into the city by the Legion’s era.

The "Super Hero Club"

The term "Legion of Super-Heroes" doesn't appear in the story — except for cover and splash page blurb — as if the editor had retooled their identity somewhat while packaging the issue. It was not uncommon in early comic book stories to see a character referenced one way in its titles, and another way within the story.

In their next appearance, Superboy uses the term "Legion of Super-Heroes" by name (printed several times, in quotation marks).

Honorary Member?

Cosmic Boy invites Superboy to become an honorary member of their "special club." Afterwards, he seemed to always be considered a full member.

The concept of honorary membership continued; it was even extended to several of Superboy’s friends. » SEE: Jimmy Olsen • Lana Lang •  Honorary Members

"Children of" the Legion?

The Legion proliferated among the Superman family of comics, first into the Supergirl feature. The Maid of Steel met the Legion about ten years after her cousin first did, as Superboy. But these Legionnaires said that they were the children of those that twice met Superboy. In the letter column of Adventure Comics #274 (July 1960), Mort Weisinger even responded to a letter writer, teasing “the August issue of ACTION COMICS, which features a story about the descendants of this famous trio and SUPERGIRL.”

In the story, the Legionnaires were clear: "We are the children of the three young super-heroes who befriended Superboy!" Further, Saturn Girl says, "Our parents came from other worlds, which explains our super-powers." They wore the same uniforms as their parents and escorted Supergirl to the 30th century.

As the Legion appeared more frequently, this 'children' aspect had to be abandoned, probably because it would have been unsustainable (and confusing) to maintain two versions of the team: one for Superboy and one for Supergirl. When the story was reprinted in Action Comics #334 (Mar. 1966) this detail was erased (see the figure at right).

Trivia

The Satellite

Superboy prevents an old satellite from falling to Earth. He identifies it as a 20th century relic called a "basketball." It bears the label: "U.S. Project Vanguard," which was a real satellite launched in early 1958. It was preceded by the October 1957 launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite.

"Secret Identities"

On page 2, Cosmic Boy mentions that they keep secret identities, but that is never demonstrated in their lives in the future. He could have been referring to their covert actions in the 20th century, where their space-uniforms would have caused a stir.

The Unknown Spaceman

On page 7, Saturn Girl and Superboy compete to rescue a priceless statue of an "unknown spaceman." When it's shown on the next page, the spaceman looks rather generic, with a raygun, cape and short-cropped hair. This hero was the "first to explore Venus." All references in the story to other planets are limited to those in our solar system. There were mentions of flights to Mars, and a creature from Neptune.

Superboy & the Legion #247

Paul Levitz dedicated "Celebration," his story in Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes #247 (Jan. 1979), to the team's 20-year anniversary. Cosmic Teams is skeptical of Levitz's claim that this also marked the Legion's 247th feature story (not counting cameos).

The story included the now-traditional Legion leadership election. Fittingly, it was Lightning Lad who won; he was the only founder who had not yet served as leader.

Anti-Lad

In Superboy vol. 1 #204 (Oct. 1974), readers learned about Anti-Lad: "The Legionnaire Nobody Remembered." This bald-headed young man was from the 75th century who discovered an anomaly about the day that Superboy joined. He traveled back to that day to investigate.

READ MORE » "False" Legion Members: Anti-Lad

The Cover

The cover of Adventure #247 has been parodied (or recreated in homage) many times. See my Pinterest board of them!

Other Editions

These foreign language editions feature the story from Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958).

Mexico (1959)

Supermán #197 (1959). The names of the Legionnaires are Cósmico, Saturnia and Rayo.

Greece (1961)

ΔΥΝΑΜΙΚΑ (Dynamic) #? (1961). The names of the Legionnaires are KOΣMIKO ΠΑΙΔΊ (“Cosmic Child”), ΠΑΙΔΊ THΣ ΑΣΤΡΑΠΉ (“Child ?? Lightning”) and ΚΟΡΊΤΣΙ AΠO TON ΚΡΌΝΟΣ (“Girl from Kronos”). Aboe the cover title it reads TA KAΛYTEPA KOMIKΣ (“The best comics”).

Italy (1962)

Albi del Falco #332 (26 Aug. 1962). The Legioni degli Ultra-Eroi (Legion of the ultra-heroes) does not appear on the cover. The story is titled “Esame d’ammissione” ("Admission Exam"). The Legionnaires have Italian names: Cosmico, Saturnia and Fulmine, and they are colored to match their later appearances. This is a digest-size title featuring reprints of American Superman, aka "Nembo Kid," whose 'S' symbol was always removed. "Nembo" is the Italian word for nimbus clouds, so he was essentially marketed as "Sky Boy."

Brazil (1968)

Superboy-BI #10 (Oct./Nov. 1968). Legionnaires are Rapaz Cósmico, Rapaz Relâmpago and Môca de Saturno. Published by EBAL.

Germany (1980)

A German version was published Superboy no. 7 (July 1980), which was the German edition of Legion of Super-Heroes #262 (Apr. 1980) by Gerry Conway and James Sherman. It includes a reprint of Adventure #247 that labels the Legionnaires Kosmoboy, Blitzjunge and Saturngirl. Superboy faces the tasks of the "Legion der Super-Helden."

Early Appearances of the Legion of Super-Heroes (1958–1962)

The chronology below lists chronologically all Legion's appearances in their first five years—when almost 20 members were introduced!

Readers should note that as Legion continuity was ironed out over the years, it was made clear that the publication order of some early stories differed from their actual chronological order.

Most of the stories below were reprinted in this order in the first volume of the Legion Archives (1991). That volume omitted some cameo appearances.

» SEE ALSO: Original Legion Chronology, Part 1 • The Other Silver Age "Superboys"

Read the Full Pre-Crisis Legion Chronology

Read More

Legion Letter Columns

I converted the earliest Legion Letter columns to text! You can read them on Google Docs:

• Part 1: Early appearances
• Part 3: “The Legion Outpost” of Adventure Comics (1967–1969)
• Part 4: “The Legion Outpost” of Action Comics (1969–1971)

More Silver Age Profiles on Cosmic Teams

• The Adult Legion
• Cosmic Boy
• Jimmy Olsen aka Elastic Lad
• Lana Lang aka Insect Queen
• Early Legion letter columns
• Legion of Super-Heroes: Introduction
• The Legion of Super-Villains
• Lightning Lad
• Lois Lane aka Superwoman
• The Other Silver Age "Superboys"
• Saturn Girl
• Silver Age "Supermen"
• Superboy (original)
• Supergirl
• Superman (Earth-One)
• The Super-Women of the Silver Age

Reprints of Adventure Comics #247

There have been two stand-alone reprints include the following. See Grand Comics Database for a full list of collected reprints.

• DC Silver Age Classics Adventure Comics 247 (Apr. 1992)
• Millennium Edition: Adventure Comics No. 247 (Nov. 2000)

On the Web

• The Legion of Super-Bloggers: United Planets Superwatch: A Proto-Legion
• The Legion Companion by Glen Cadigan. TwoMorrows Publishing (2003).
• "Otto Binder — The DC Years," Alter Ego #147 (July 2017). by Roy Thomas, pp. 71-87.
• "Superman At Fifty - Memories by Curt Swan." (12 Sept. 2012)
• Superboy Comics > Legion of Super-Heroes by Mike Grost
• Who's Who of American Comic Books