Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In Superboy Chronology | Legion Chronology Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Jerry Siegel Penciller: Curt Swan Inker: George Klein Feature Character: Superboy Supporting Characters: Pete Ross, Jonathan Kent, Krypto, Lana Lang Guest Legionnaire: Ultra Boy (joins this issue, uses the false name "Gary Crane") Villains: Two unnamed crooks, an energy-beast (in 30th c. flashback) Other Characters: Marla (the Legion's advisor, poses as "Ben Crane"), Smallville High's Principal, a police officer, a Smallville dam worker, three unnamed elementary school kids, Donald Mace (a Smallville photographer), E.W. Lemley (a Smallville bank manager), several unnamed clerks and patrons of Smallville's newest bank, two Galactic Patrol officers (in 30th c. flashback) "The Boy With Ultra-Powers" (13 pages)
The next day, Gary registers at Smallville High for the new school year and immediately begins investigating, asking Pete Ross if he knows who Superboy really is. Pete is nervous (since he does indeed know) and Ultra Boy uses his pentra-vision to examine his heart beating. Though he doesn't see a Superboy costume under Pete's clothes, Ultra Boy suspects he may be Superboy. When school is over, Gary and his "father" trail Pete to the Kent General Store where he works after school. When a crook tries to rob the store Pete is saved from the criminal's wrath by Ultra Boy, whose vision melts the machine gun, lead bullets and all. Later, when Clark Kent examines the floor of the store, he notes that even his own x-ray vision can't melt lead. The next day, Ultra Boy melts the base of a large boulder, which then topples into the road in front of Pete's car. Suddenly, Superboy shows up and Ultra Boy realizes that he has suspected the wrong person of being the Boy of Steel. Superboy examines the boulder and discovers that it contains melted lead ore. Krypto spots Ultra Boy and Marla and is about to expose their identities when Ultra Boy gives the pooch a hot foot with his penetra-vision. The following day, Gary Crane watches Clark Kent get tripped by younger bullies. When his glasses don't break from the fall, Ultra Boy suspects Clark and, using his penetra-vision, sees that he is wearing a Superboy costume underneath his street clothes. Because his penetra-vision ruins the negatives of a nearby photographer, Clark uses his x-ray vision on Gary and sees that he is wearing a costume beneath his clothes, as well! The next day, Pete Ross takes his diary to the bank to lock it up in a safety deposit box lest anyone find it and read his entries regarding Clark Kent being Superboy. When Pete accidentally gets locked in the vault and Superboy is unable to act to save him, Ultra Boy and Marla turn up to help. Ultra Boy uses his penetra-vision to see through the lead door and draw a sketch of the tumblers. Superboy figures out the combination and frees Pete. Ultra Boy reveals that he is really Jo Nah of the planet Rimbor and he came back in time, supervised by the Legion's new senior advisor, to discover Superboy's secret identity as part of his initiation test. Successfully completing the test within the three-day time limit, Marla pronounces Ultra Boy a Legionnaire. After Superboy leaves, Ultra Boy peers into Pete's diary and discovers that he is a loyal friend to the Boy of Steel. As a reward, Marla gives Pete a special coin that will serve as his pass to attend a meeting at the Clubhouse whenever the Legion meets! This story takes place at the start of a new school year at Smallville High (as shown in this issue's first story, which explains that the opening was delayed three weeks due to repairs). Although Martha Kent appears on the splash page, that scene is not in the story itself and so she is not mentioned in the list of appearing characters. In this story, both Jo-Nah and Ultra-Boy are hyphenated though, in later stories, the hyphens will eventually be dropped. Ultra Boy and Marla hid the Legion time-bubble near Metropolis and took the train into Smallville. A hard-working, repsonsible young man, Pete can be seen assisting in the principal's office between classes and working at the Kent General Store after school. Pete Ross can also be seen driving a car in this story. Although in earlier stories the members of the Legion of Super-Heroes all knew that Clark Kent is Superboy, initiate Ultra Boy does not. Superboy's full history was only now being fully studied through time-travel research on Earth. On Rimbor, Jo Nah may have heard of Superboy, but very little was taught of the Boy of Steel in his history classes (or maybe Jo just skipped those classes). This explains why Jo suspects Pete Ross even though, if he really was Superboy, he would have been able to keep his heart from beating faster when nervous. Maybe the reason why Ultra Boy is being tested in this way is because he is joining a team that is patterned after Superboy and so it is a subject on which he should be familiar. Three Superboy robots can be seen in the secret closet in Clark's bedroom. Pete pays an annual fee of $6.00 to keep a safety deposit box at the bank. Inside the secure box, Pete keeps his diary, which mentions the fact that he knows Superboy's secret identity is Clark Kent. Commericial buildings in Smallville all seem to have a white flag with the "S" insignia on it which they raise if they are in need of Superboy's assistance. Even the new bank in this story is already equipped with this extra security feature. Ultra Boy asks the staff of the bank to leave before he rescues Pete from the vault as the bank manager, Mr. Lemley, was the only one who knew the combination to the vault. Ultra Boy didn't want anyone else to find it out. And, later, this privacy does leave them free to discuss secret identity matters with Superboy, and then later Pete Ross. This is the first and only appearance of Marla. Although a senior advisor does appear again (in Action Comics No. 392/2), it is not clear as to whether or not it is Marla. In the Legion's previous appearance (Action Comics No. 287), the Earth Police staged a 3-D televised testimonial in their honor. The team's popularity would increase by leaps and bounds after this event. As the Legion's reputation grew, R.J. Brande, the bankroller of the Legion, probably thought that the teens might be in need of an adult to turn to for advise from time to time (while Braalians are considered adults at age fourteen due to the inherent dangers of life on that world that force maturity on the young, Earth government still regarded the Legionnaires to be adolescents). However, the Legionnaires are a mature group of teens and probably got along well enough without one for most of the time. In the 20th century, and on Earth, Marla is a girl's name. But Marla is from the 30th century and may even be from another planet. It is interesting that the name Marla means "tower" and Marla's insignia ressembles a tower rising up behind a bridge. Judging by Marla's physique despite his age shows that he may be a retired super-hero, possibly from Rimbor, so who better to advise young super-heroes than a former crime-fighter himself, someone who could understand the pressures and temptations that go along with super-hero celebrity and be able to give sound advice to the young Legionnaires. Marla seems to carry a lot of clout, telling Pete that "Superboy will soon take you into the future, to a Legion meeting. I'll see to that!" As Ultra Boy's insignia doesn't look much like the energy-beast that swallowed his space-speedster and gave him super-powers, it is probably a stylized symbol of a flying creature of Rimbor. It has been referred to as a "bird" (Action Comics No. 388 "Metropolis Mailbag"), and may have been chosen for the fact that eagles, owls, and other birds have unusually keen eyesight. Also, many law-enforcement organizations, including the Science Police (Adventure Comics No. 377), use eagles to symbolize justice. It does have some meaning for Ultra Boy and seems to represent his crime-fightning career, since in Adventure Comics No. 316, when he is thought to be a criminal and expelled, the Legionnaires burned away his insignia, thinking he was no longer fit to wear it. Ultra Boy acquired his super-hero name while helping the law on his home planet of Rimbor. In his own words: "I used my new-found ability in behalf of the law. Before long, everyone called me... Ultra-Boy!!" Ultra Boy is shown only using his power of penetra-vision in this issue yet, according to the flashback in Adventure Comics No. 316, Jo Nah discovered that he could use his ultra-energy to for other super-powers (similar to Superboy's), albeit one-at-a-time, before trying out for the Legion. It could be that Jo's resourcefulness was put to the test by being restricted to using only the first super-power he discovered himself to possess. The fact that this story was entitled "The Boy With Ultra-Powers" (plural) may have prompted Mort to explain what those "other powers" were in later stories. In Ultra Boy's second appearance (Superboy No. 100), there is a statue of him in Superboy's trophy room that still reads only "penetra-vision" under his name. It is not until Adventure Comics No. 315 that Ultra Boy is shown using other applications of his power: he flies without a flying-belt, is called one of the "three mightiest guards", and uses his super-strength to help Superboy and Mon-El push Lost World into a cosmic cloud. In the following issue, Adventure Comics No. 316, the exact nature of his one-at-at-time power is explained. Though curious by nature, Ultra Boy isn't just being ultra-snoopy when he reads Pete's diary. Remember, he first suspected that Pete was Superboy because of how nervously he reacted to his question: "Do you know Superboy's secret identity, Pete?" After he's found out that Clark is really Superboy, Ultra Boy probably wondered why Pete reacted the way he did. Combined with seeing that Pete had a safety deposit box, this made Jo curious as to whether Pete did know Superboy's identity and how he would use that knowledge. After reading the diary, he knew that Pete was as loyal a friend as you could have, and all his fears were allayed.
The caption at the end of the story claims that Superboy will see Ultra Boy again soon and "under very startling circumstances!" Although Ultra Boy appears in Superboy No. 100, the Boy of Steel does not meet him, only Pete Ross does. The next time that Superboy and Ultra Boy do meet is in Adventure Comics No. 302, when they play hooky from a Legion meeting to go to Pete Ross' birthday party. The fact that Superboy played hooky is pretty startling; perhaps the rebellious Ultra Boy had a bad influence on the Boy of Steel! Superboy No. 147 (June 1968) Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 1 Showcase Presents: The Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1 |
One day, a train brings two
newcomers to Smallville - Gary Crane and his father Ben
Crane - though they are more than they appear to be. They
are secret operatives named Ultra Boy and Marla who seem
to be on a mission to learn Superboy's secret identity
within the next three days and who are communicating with
an unknown agency via a cosmic-scope.
While many people
naturally assume that Pete Ross joined the Legion at the
end of this story, there is actually no reference to him
being made an honorary member then (only that Marla gave
him a "pass" and the invitation to attend
meetings as an "honored guest"). Pete's
membership had to have been bestowed upon him shortly
after the events in Superboy
No. 100, when the Legionnaires witness his
resourcefulness first hand. The first time Pete's
membership is mentioned is by editor Mort Weisinger in
the letter column of Superboy
No. 102 (Jan. 1963). Also, in Superboy
No. 112 (Apr. 1964), Mort mentions that Pete's omission
in the Legionnaire listings in Superman
Annual No. 8 (Winter 1964) was an
oversight. The first time that Pete is seen as a member
within a story is in Adventure
Comics No. 323 (Aug. 1964), when he
attends the first meeting of Term 3 and takes place in a
leadership competition.