Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Jim Shooter Artist: George Papp Roll Call: Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Duo Damsel, Invisible Kid, Phantom Girl, Sun Boy, Superboy (Note: The 13 other active members at this time, plus honorary members Pete Ross and Jimmy Olsen, are all behind the scenes in this story as their ballots are recorded on the voting board) Villain: Dr. Regulus Other Characters: Citizens of Metropolis, two organizers of the Legion Charity Show, a man warning the Legionnaires, some firefighters, a police officer, Derek Morgna (Dirk's father, in flashback), Zarl Hendricks (Dirk's friend, killed in flashback), two workers in Derek Morgna's atomic plant "Target - 21 Legionnaires" (24 pages) Part I: "And Then There Were None"
Part II: "Birds in a Golden Cage" (13 pages)
Inivisible Kid's hair is colored black on the cover. Also, Regulus' statuette of him is uncolored from the waist down, as if to represent his invisibility. The "Eight Little Legionnaires" poem on the splash page is based on children's rhyme "Ten Little Indians". In Adventure Comics No. 304 we saw that several Legionnaires were being decided between, so were presumably nominated candidates, but this issue is the first time it is specifically mentioned as being so. Duo Damsel's crush for Superboy is revealed for the first time in the opening sequence of this story - a fact that is evident to Sun Boy. It is interesting that Cosmic Boy, the Legion's first leader, in charge of electoral proceedings. The candidates and the breakdown of votes appears to have been: Invisible Kid (8 votes), Superboy (7 votes), Colossal Boy (2 votes), Duo Damsel (2 votes), Chameleon Boy (1 vote), Light Lass (1 vote), Mon-El (1 vote), Shrinking Violet (1 vote), and Cosmic Boy (0 votes). We know that Duo Damsel voted for Superboy, and Phantom Girl for Invisible Kid, but as for the rest we can only guess. It is interesting to note that there were 23 votes in total. There were 21 regular members at this time, which means that 2 honorary members (Jimmy Olsen and Peter Ross) took part in the vote (Adventure Comics No. 355 "The Legion Outpost"). Honorary members are allowed to vote but reservists are not. This is the first election showing that the runner-up becomes the deputy leader. Jim Shooter's attempt to add "Marvel-like" realism to the Legionnaires' powers is evident in the way Sun Boy's body temperature is shown as being red hot after using his power. Since this effect was never seen before or since, one has to assume that the only reason Sun Boy got so hot is that he was knocked unconscious before he could use his power to fully dissipate the heat from his body. Regulus claims to have "arranged" for Sun Boy's amnesia, but it was apparantly caused by Dirk hitting his head during the quake caused by Regulus ripping the Legion Clubhouse from its foundation. How could he be sure that Dirk would lose his memory or even hit his head? Evidentally, Dirk's amnesia was caused by something else - perhaps a ray aimed directly at his head - which was the real cause of his collapse on stage. The Legion cruiser has a gas pedal, which was typical for rocket ships at this time. On page 18, panel 5, the second monitor screen from the left shows a pink-colored Cosmic Boy held to a wall but his costume looks more like Brainiac 5's. The Trevis Building continued to be held aloft even after Sun Boy had cut the sun-power on the ship because, according to Regulus, "all but a fraction of it is gone". Obviously, that "fraction" of power was sufficiant to hold up the building, indicating just how powerful sun-power is! Although Regulus swore to return, he never again appeared in the Silver Age. This issue went on sale Thursday July 28th, 1966. Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 5 |
Superboy arrives in the 30th
century at the clubhouse in time for the annual election
of a new leader. After the votes are cast, it is
determined that Invisible Kid has won. Eschewing any
acceptance speech, Lyle gets right down to business and
adjourns the meeting so that he and seven other
Legionnaires can perform for a charity show at Metropolis
Arena. During their amazing performance, a freak
earth-tremor knocks them off their feet. Sun Boy, hitting
the ground hard, is rendered unconscious but soon comes
to with a case of amnesia. As news reaches the
Legionnaires that their clubhouse has been ripped from
its foundations by a giant golden spaceship, Sun Boy
flies away. When the others arrive at the site of their
HQ, all they find is a big hole in the ground. As they
set up a temporary headquarters in their rocketships,
watching them from afar is Dr. Regulus, who plans to
destroy the Legion and then move on to dominate the
universe. Sun Boy, meanwhile, eludes the Science Police
and falls asleep in a nuclear power-plant, where the
deadly radation seeps into his slumbering form. Dr.
Regulus hijacks the Trevis Building, planning to destroy
it to demonstrate his terrible power, when the Legion
Cruiser approaches. Turning his sun-powered weapons on
the heroes, he tears apart their ship and sends them
hurling to the ground.
Uninjured
by the blast, the Legionnaires fly up to Regulus' ship
and Superboy makes an entrance for them in the hull.
Splitting up to explore the massive craft, each
Legionnaire stumbles into a trap. Just as Regulus is
about to turn the full power of his ship on the helpless
heroes, the power goes out. Sun Boy, his memory restored
by the radiation dose, managed to track down his buddies
and save them. Regulus sends a barrage of rockets at the
Legionnaire but the missiles are deflected by Cosmic Boy.
Still, stun beams slow the heroes down as Regulus flees
to his escape rocket. The Legionnaires restore their
clubhouse, which was hidden in the mountains, and the
Trevis Building to their respective foundations. They
plan on studying the captured ship when it suddenly
self-destructs. Sun Boy explains how Regulus wanted him
out of the way first and inflicted amnesia on him because
he was his old nemesis. Years ago, Regulus worked for
Dirk's father in an atomic power-plant and his
incompetance had resulted in the death of Dirk's friend.
After Regulus was fired, he exacted his revenge on Dirk
by having him beaten up by robots then locked in a
reactor chamber and left to die. Instead, the radiation
turned Dirk into Sun Boy, the only person whose own
sun-powers Regulus viewed as a threat to his plans of
domination because they interfered with his own powers.
Far above them, Regulus vows to return and annihilate the
Legion and give Sun Boy the "slow death he
deserves".