Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In Superboy Chronology | Legion Chronology Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Otto Binder Artist: George Papp Feature Character: Superboy Supporting Characters: Lana Lang, Jonathan Kent Guest Legionnaires: Chameleon Boy (in flashback), Cosmic Boy (in flashback), Lightning Lad (in flashback), Saturn Girl (in flashback), Star Boy (also seen in flashback to when he joined), Supergirl/woman (in flashback) Villains: Unnamed Xanthu criminal #1, unnamed Xanthu criminal #2 Other Characters: Several Smallville Hospital patients,Smallville movie patrons, Mr. Kallor, Mrs. Kallor, unidentified Legion applicant (in flashback), Professor Lang, Mrs. Lang, two unnamed Xanthu girls, Zynthia (Star Boy's girlfriend), a parakat "Lana Lang and the Legion of Super-Heroes" (13 pages)
The power Star Boy was born with, the ability to induce super-mass into objects (Adventure Comics No. 317), is not mentioned in this story, only his Superboy-type powers gained after he passed through a comet's radioactive tail in his family's spacemobile. At this time, Star Boy possessed super-strength, invulnerability, super-cooling breath, infra-red heat vision, electrical vision, and the ability to fly. His x-ray vision could not penetrate copper and he did not posses the power to fly through time under his own power, instead needing a Xanthu time-ship. Although his scientist father concludes that Star Boy has super-powers "for life", they wear off a short time after this story. Star Boy had come to Earth some time before he tried out for the Legion, as he had to learn the language first. After he was accepted he was called back to the clubhouse and inducted into the team. The flashback to Star Boy first joining the Legion takes place immediately after the events following Action Comics No. 267. Rejected after red kryptonite turns her into an adult, Supergirl can be seen watching (as Superwoman) in the foreground of page 5, panel 3 as Star Boy is welcomed. The person standing to the right of her was probably another applicant who was tested.
Although Lightning Boy is now calling himself Lightning Lad, the flashback shows that he was using his old nameplate during this particular meeting, either by accident or on purpose (since they are inducting Star Boy). Star Boy was the hero of Xanthu and a super-scientific laboratory was donated to him by the people of his planet. The only people on Xanthu that know Thom Kallor is Star Boy are his parents. After becoming a Legionnaire, Star Boy still operated out of his home world of Xanthu and his identity remained a secret to protect his parents from vengeful criminals. When Star Boy loses his comet powers shortly after the events of this story, his identity becomes public knowledge but his parents are protected by warning devices similar to those used to guard the Legion Clubhouse, as all Legionnaire relatives are (Adventure Comics No. 328 "The Legion Outpost"). Although the text of this story specifically mentions that Star Boy had to learn to speak English, Zynthia is also able to communicate with Superboy and Lana. Star Boy must have taught her the language upon his return to Xanthu after joining the Legion. The second time-ship - the one used by the Xanthu criminals to escape to 20th century Earth - was probably stashed in Calvin's Cave by Star Boy, and he probably asked Superboy to return it to Xanthu for him on another occasion. This story is a Silver-Age "remake" of "Lana Lang's Romance on Mars" from Adventure Comics No. 195 (Dec. 1953). Because of the similarity of the characters and the stories, Mars Boy can be considered to be the "Golden Age" universe counterpart to Star Boy.
Click Cover to Enlarge Adventure Comics No. 356 (May 1967) Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 1 Showcase Presents: The Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1 |
After stopping the
Smallville dam from overflowing, Superboy is frozen in a
block of solid ice. He then he sees a hurled message
consisting of huge, baked clay letters that tell him to
meet the mysterious sender at Calvin's Cave. When
Superboy arrives, a super-youth named Thom Kallor
introduces himself as a new member of the Legion of
Super-Heroes. After telling Superboy how he gained his
powers, Star Boy explains that he came back to the 20th
century in a time-ship to pursue a criminal from his home
world of Xanthu. He then asks Superboy to help him locate
a second criminal hiding in the copper drainage pipes of
Xanthu, since his X-ray vision cannot penetrate copper.
Lana Lang overhears this part of the conversation and,
pretending to know his secret identity, blackmails Star
Boy into taking her with him and to help her make
Superboy jealous. Superboy overhears Lana's plot and
decides to teach her a lesson by ignoring her on 30th
century Xanthu and pretending to fall for Zynthia, who in
reality is Star Boy's girlfriend. Lana Lang breaks down
and confesses and is returned home. 
