Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Jerry Siegel Artist: John Forte Roll Call: Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Element Lad, Invisible Kid, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Superboy, Supergirl, Triplicate Girl, Ultra Boy Reservist: Proty II Villains: Demo the Dreadful and other criminal inhabitants of Khann, the Brain-Lords of Khann (Mighty Mog, Wondrous Incarno, Atro, amongst others), Lex Luthor (teenaged), a space criminal watching Space-TV Other Characters: A Venusian gyrak, the lizard-like inhabitants of Yorrg, a rescued castaway and some island natives (on the time-and-space super-console monitor screen), three yellow platypus-like animals in a circus act (on the time-and-space super-console monitor screen), a male and a female Atlantean (on the time-and-space super-console monitor screen), parallel-world doubles of Chameleon Boy and Proty II (on the time-and-space super-console monitor screen), a few Neptunians watching Space-TV (not referred to as being from Neptune but they look like Ronn Kar, a previously shown applicant from Neptune), the Science Police Chief, various law enforcement officers from different worlds taking part in the parade on Rygor (such as the Robot Law Corps of Yal, the Peace-Beasts of Olo, the Galactic Space Police, the Solar Space Patrol, etc.), various aliens throughout the cosmos watching Space-TV's coverage of the law enforcement parade on Rygor "Lex Luthor Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes" (15 pages; Part I: 7 pages) While on a mission, Matter-Eater Lad and Triplicate Girl are rescued by none other than a time-traveling Lex Luthor, who appears to be visiting from a time before he lost his hair (and turned criminal). He is welcomed by the Legion and then informed as to his terrible fate. Later, it is revealed that he is the criminal one, just wearing a wig and acting good, and he plans to get even with the Legionnaires! Part II: "The Super-Vengeance of Lex Luthor" (8 pages)
You might think that Khann's society, one run entirely by criminals, would have a hard time functioning; that the inhabitants would kill each other off. On the Star Trek episode "A Piece of the Action", Iotia is a planet run by gangsters. While it is not overly productive or ethical, it still managed to function and survive for over a hundred years. Khann also has the "advantage" of being run by the evil and intelligent Brain-Lords, who are virtually worshipped there as the role-models for villainy, and so a form of order is maintained. On page 3 of Part I Matter-Eater Lad switches places with Triplicate Girl in the cockpit of their vessel between panels 4 and 5, yet somehow the piloting controls continue to be on his side. Evidentally, the piloting controls of this ship are able to switch between pilot and co-pilot side in the cockpit. Lex Luthor proves his genius once again with the space-time cylinder he invented. He has also "seen many Legion adventures on a timescope" he invented, explaining how he knows all the Legionnaires. On page 4, panel 2 of Part II, Luthor seems to take the knowledge of a Supergirl in stride. With no one to edit this fact from his mind, it does mean that he knew of Supergirl's existence before Superman did. Perhaps this explains why the adult Lex Luthor takes the news of her first public appearance in stride (in Action Comics No. 285); he just knew she was coming eventually! Lex Luthor must have caught the Legionnaires on a overly trusting day, since you would think it might occur to them that he was just wearing a wig and pretending to be good. Mon-El could have used his x-ray vision like Superboy and Supergirl did to spot he was a phony, but Lex is one heck of a good actor, as proven on many occasions! In the letter column of Adventure Comics No. 329 a reader commented:
On page 4, panel 4 of Part I Brainiac 5 is colored incorrectly, looking like a brown-haired Caucasian wearing a khaki jumpsuit. A monorail line can be seen passing quite close to the Legion clubhouse in this story. This line must be a new one, and is a first step towards the encroaching urbanization of this farmland area of Smallville. Unfortunately, within the next couple of years, buildings will crop up all around the clubhouse and the area will look more urban than parklike. In the letter column of Adventure Comics No. 328 a reader asked:
One question regarding Lex Luthor that must be asked is surely the Legionnaires know that the past, and history, can't be changed - or even "softened" - so why do they even try to "soften" Lex's evil fate. The answer lies in Brainiac 5's own weakness and guilt regarding his own evil past. It is possible that Brainiac 5 made his potential-factors re-organizer complex machine in order to lessen his own believed "evil potential". Remember, at this time Brainiac 5 still thought that he was descended from a human Brainiac, a kinship that he's always shown guilt and responsibility for, and has been perhaps a little fearful of. As Brainiac 5 says to young Lex Luthor in this story:
Obviously, Lex must have known that his fate couldn't be changed or he wouldn't have been begging Brainiac 5 to cure him. Also, Brainiac 5 says that the machine doesn't always succeed. That means he has used the machine to successfully cure others of their criminal tendencies. It also makes one wonder, with his insecurities of his "ancestry", if he ever used the device on himself. The dissolver-ray weapon mentioned was melted down by Ultra Boy's flash-vision because the ray was said to have even be able to hurt Superboy and Mon-El. Perhaps, therefore, it was from Daxam or another red sun world, and so only Ultra Boy's stronger "flash vision" could have destroyed it. Although the walls of the lower level of the clubhouse are impervious to x-rays, Luthor uses an "x-viewer" to see through them. His x-viewer might not use mere x-rays but possibly "super-x-rays" similar to Ultra Boy's penetra-vision which can see through lead. It is ironic that Mon-El is the first member to be sent into the Phantom Zone. Of course, it is his 1,000-year familiarity with that eerie, twilight dimension that made it easy for him to realize where he was transported to and how he and the others could use telepathic mind-control on Luthor to get out. While it is noted that Zone villains couldn't work well-enough together to pull the same stunt, in Action Comics No. 288, Supergirl's father, Fred Danvers, is manipulated by some Zone prisoners to be cruel to his daughter. Of course, it is said that his mind was highly susceptible to hypnotic attack and the trick wouldn't work on just anyone. It is interesting to note that Ultra Boy is on a mission in sunken Atlantis considering that in Adventure Comics No. 333, the Legionnaires will later help sink the city thousands of years earlier! The parallel-world double that Chameleon Boy visits isn't necessarily the one shown in Superboy No. 117, who was expelled for criminal behavior. He could have been one of a near infinite number of parallel doubles. In the letter column of Adventure Comics No. 329 a reader asked:
It is very satisfying to see Superboy, Ultra Boy, Mon-El and Supergirl all use their heat-vision on Luthor's gun simultaneously. Very satisfying indeed! Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 3 |
After winning the
Legionnaires' confidence, Luthor stages a trap for them
and uses a "dissolver ray" to get rid of them
one group at a time. Superboy and Supergirl aren't fooled
so easily but they too fall victim to Luthor's
dissolver-ray-weapon. Heading to Rygor, site of a law
enforcement parade in which the remaining Legionnaires
are participating, Luthor apparently dissolves the
Legionnaires in front of stunned space-TV watchers
everywhere. While Luthor gloats the entire Legion
suddenly reappears in front of him and they destroy his
'weapon', which was actually nothing more than a Phantom
Zone projector. Mon-El's experience in the Zone had
prepared him and the other members, who concentrated
their thoughts to mentally compel Luthor to press the
release button. Suitably embarrassed in front of the
entire cosmos, the Legionnaires allow Luthor to return to
his own time.