Tuesday, February 18, 2014

From the Vault: Adventure Comics # 333





            The comic starts one day when Superboy comes and visits the Legion. He only sees Triplicate Girl standing watch and wonders where the rest are. Triplicate Girl states several like Mon-EL are on missions and the others are working on a archaeological project and takes him to it. At the location in the Atlantic Phantom Girl has found a tablet with strange writing on it and asks Superboy to get it. Light Lass adds she will help and makes the rock light. They soon break it off and get to it. Brainiac 5 is eager to study it. Superboy looks at the tablet and sees that it speaks of a war between Krypton and Earth. Both Brainiac and Superboy are shocked by this. Brainiac tests it out to see if its a fake by radio-carbon dating it. The dating states it is millions of years old. At this Superboy resolves to go back in time and solve the mystery of this event.







        Brainiac stops Superboy and Suggests the Legion use time-globes to investigate it. Saturn Girl calls a cote on the matter and the Legion vote in favor and split into two groups one to krypton and the other to Earth. Triplicate Girl stays behind to watch for emergencies and for Mon-EL. Brainiac commands the globe that goes to Earth while Saturn Gril commands the other and heads to Krypton. In their time bubble besides Saturn Girl and Superboy is Colossal Boy, Lighting Lad and Element Lad. Superboy states he will also not have powers due to the red sun. Soon looking outside in the past they see small cities but not much else.
         They soon fly over nearby tiny community. They see they have no tech. Saturn Girl uses her powers to scan minds. In the north she feels someone thinking of Nuclear Power. Superboy is worried as no one has the ability to make nuclear weapons. They soon appear at the jewel mountains. They soon see people coming. A man accuses them of hunting them down and calls himself Zat-EL. Outloud Superboy says their not here to bother them. He thinks the man must be a remote ancestor of his. Zat-EL say they are not friends sue them being scientists and hated on kypton. Superboy states  that they are not of Krypton and are from another world.
          Zat-EL is shocked and states the people of Krypton is anti-scientific and asks for their help. Superboy asks asks why Kpyitions are so anti-science. Zat-EL states that their world was one one of science when a nuclear disaster destroyed a town and killed thousands. Since this science has been forbidden. Superboy recalls that old Kryptonian legends spoke of this. Again Zat-EL asks for help. They are trying to leave Krypton and head to Earth in a space ark. Superboy says they can help due to their powers. Element Lad soon turns rocks into plates for the ship. Lighting Lad uses his powers to weld. Zat-EL reminds them they want to take to Earth plants and animals and tame lizards besides their people.

       


        Colossal Boy uses his powers to make himself big and collects the Lizards. He thinks how they remind him of the dinosaurs of Earth past. Superboy is now the weakest of the Legion members. Zat-EL sees this. Superboy thinks this will change once they get to Earth's yellow sun. Soon the ship is ready and it takes of fto head to Earth.
         When the ship gets to Earth they see that the sun is not yellow but red and means that they will not have superpowers. Once the ship lands they rise the flag of krypton and declare independence from krypton. The document is much like the future american one. Soon the Legion use their flight rings to scout and soon shocked come up to something .
          The scene turns to the other team. Besides Brainiac their is Starboy, Lighting Lad, Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy. They see a great city and are shocked as none should exist at this time. As they approach the city they meet someone. Brainiac is shocked as he can understand her as she speaks the language of Vrunn. The women states her name is Leta Lal and that they call their land Atlantis but they find the air hard to breath. Star Boy says this is the origin of Atlantis. The group than help to build the city of Atlantis. They now have a beautiful city. Chameleon Boy returns saying he saw a great ship land not far away.

     


         As both groups meet they see Leta Lal and wonder who she is. Superboy and Lal are  both beholdened by each other. They soon talk. However, Brainiac and Saturn Girl soon start fighting. They argue out who should leave which causes their loyalties to split into two.
          Both forces rally and get out their visions of stun guns.
        Elsewhere, Leta Lal and Superboy have no heart for the coming battle. Saturn Girl soon comes and gets Superboy for a war meeting. The Atlanteans have bridges defended by men so they have created a portable bridge. Their is a spy in their mists who is Chameleon Boy and he heads back to warn his side. He takes it to Brainiac who is trying to cure the air problems of the Atlantenans.  Chameleon Boy however says their is no time for it.

  


        At the Kypton area the Legionaries try to act as scouts. They soon meet the others and engage in fighting each other being pretty much evenly  matched. Saturn Girl does wonder where Phantom Girl is. Soon the Atlantians and Krpyton meet and Start fighting each other.
         Colossal Boy soon appears and puts down the bridge. The Kyptions soon try and cross. Light Lass soon wrecks the bridge by using her powers on it. Above Saturn Girl has found Phantom Girl who is trying to freak out the dinosaurs. It works and the Saturn Girl team tries to stop it from causing harm.
          They almost stop it but one gets through and disrupts the attack. Zat-EL orders a retreat back to the ship. They see that the stun weapons in fact are deadly to them and killed their members instead of stunning them. Zat-El than whips the crowd up. Saturn Girl thinks something can explain this. Superboy than decides to sneak into Atlantis.


          Superboy makes it to the city and tries to find Leta Lal. However, a guard sees him and hits his arm with a gun. It goes numb. He is able to make it toa storm drain and than to the room of Leta. She is both happy and shocked to see him. They soon hold hands.
          Elsewhere, Brainiac has made a interesting discovery. The xenon in the Earth's air is slowly killing the Atlanteans. Jhor lol their leader is worried due to the tyrant they can't return. Brainiac states with forced evolution they can turn Atlanteans into water dwellers. Back at the Krypton base they have build a nuclear missile and soon ready it for launch. Saturn Girl warns Superboy and they soon hurry to stop it. Soon Superboy flying stops the missile. Leta is happy to see this. Brainiac wonders how this is possible.

     


            Soon Brainiac sees Mon-EL. He explains that he came back just in time to hear Leta ask Superboy for help. He than changed clothes and got rid of the missile. Soon Brainiac to Zat-EL tells him the Atlanetans did not intend to kill but the weapons and bodies are different. He adds they are now adapted to being underwater. Zat-EL states than their is no need for war. Artificial Evolution has soon turned the Atlanetans into mer-folk. Star Boy then uses his powers to move Atlantis below the sea. At the same time Leta and Superboy says goodbye for every. As they leave Zat-EL states their records are in a rock crypt. Superboy memorizes the location. Superboy returns to the future and finds the crypt. The comics ends with him reading that the colony failed as they lost control of their lizards and did not have the population base.

Comments

This issue was very interesting. The notion of the destructive power of Atomic weapons is a interesting one. This comic is not that long after the Cuban Missile crisis and the height of the cold war tensions. The Vietnam War was also happening and may have served as a undercurrent to this story. Outside of this the story is quite solid despite several scientific and historically facts being wrong.      

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