Adventure Comics #247 is an issue of the series Adventure Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1958.
Synopsis for Superboy: "The Legion of Super-Heroes"
One day, Clark Kent is shocked when two young people identify him as Superboy, and later while out on patrol he finds a girl who outs him as Clark Kent. Superboy is shocked when the three teenagers reveal themselves to be members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, a group of super-teens from the 30th Century. They introduce themselves as Cosmic Boy, Lightning Boy, and Saturn Girl, and they have come to the 20th Century to offer Superboy membership into the Legion.
Taking him to the 30th Century aboard their time sphere, Superboy is then put through an initiation for membership into the Legion. As part of the initiation, Superboy must complete super tasks before members of the Legion can beat him to the punch. However, the Legion members manage to beat him every time and at the end of his trail, Superboy has failed in all three missions he's been sent on. After Superboy is visibly upset by being rejected for Legion membership, the Legion members surprise him by telling him that the entire contest was fixed so that Superboy was destined to fail, with the tasks being set up to see if he'd prioritize the contest over saving lives, and the entire ordeal was only an initiation, as the Legion had already decided that he would be a member.
Returning to his native 20th Century, Superboy shows off his medallion to Pa Kent, who congratulates the boy on his recent success.
Appearing in Superboy: "The Legion of Super-Heroes"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Legion of Super-Heroes (First appearance)
- Cosmic Boy (First appearance)
- Lightning Boy (First appearance)
- Saturn Girl (First appearance)
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Smallville
- 30th Century
- Legion Clubhouse (First appearance)
Vehicles:
- Time Bubble (First appearance)
Concepts:
- Pre-Zero Hour (First appearance)
- Time Travel
Synopsis for Green Arrow: "The 13 Superstition Arrows"
Attorney C. M. Hawkins, the executor of the late J. J. Brandon's estate, summons Green Arrow and Speedy to his office and gives them 13 odd arrows in the shapes of objects of superstition, such as a black cat, an ace of spades, and a ladder. Hawkins tells Green Arrow that Brandon was a strong believer in the occult, and will leave $5,000,000 to the charity of the hero's choice if he can defeat bad luck on Friday the 13th by using those "bad luck" arrows to fight crime successfully. Green Arrow opts to give it a try, and he and Speedy manage to make do with the strange arrows. Finally, one of the crooks they capture admits that he and the others have been hired by Hawkins, to try and thwart Brandon's wishes so that Hawkins, as executor, could pocket a million dollars of the estate's money. Hawkins tries to escape, but GA nabs him by knocking a giant horseshoe sign off a building with an Ace of Spades arrow, pinning Hawkins and the stolen Arrowcar under it.
Appearing in Green Arrow: "The 13 Superstition Arrows"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- C.M. Hawkins (Single appearance)
- Unnamed Crooks (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Aquaman: "Aquaman's Super Sea-Squad"
A nuclear device intended to explode in outer space has fallen into the ocean, and Aquaman has only three hours to get it to Pierce Island for disarming before it explodes and destroys all sea life with radioactive contamination. Using his finny friends to get past the obstacles, Aquaman conveys the device to its destination just under the deadline.
Appearing in Aquaman: "Aquaman's Super Sea-Squad"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Locations:
Notes
- This issue is the first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes. They appear next in Adventure Comics #267.
- Superboy appeared last in Superboy #63. He appears next in Adventure Comics #248.
- Superboy intercepts a "basketball" satellite with the words "U.S. Project Vanguard" written on it. This is a reference to a real satellite program by the US in the late 1950s, when the issue was published. Original estimates had the orbit of Vanguard 1 lasting for 2,000 years, but it was discovered that solar radiation pressure and atmospheric drag during high levels of solar activity produced significant perturbations in the perigee height of the satellite, which caused a significant decrease in its expected lifetime to only about 240 years.
- Jonathan Kent appeared last in Superboy #63. He appears next in Adventure Comics #248.
- Green Arrow appeared last in Adventure Comics #246. He appears next in World's Finest #94.
- Speedy appeared last in Adventure Comics #246. He appears next in World's Finest #94.
- Aquaman appeared last in Adventure Comics #246. He appears next in Adventure Comics #248.
- Topo the Octopus appeared last in Adventure Comics #246. He appears next in Adventure Comics #249.
- Legion of Super-Heroes is reprinted in:
- Superman Annual #6
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #1
- Adventure Comics #491
- Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 1
- DC Silver Age Classics: Adventure Comics #247
- Millennium Edition: Adventure Comics #247
- World's Best Comics: The Silver Age DC Archives Sampler
- Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1
- Adventure Comics (Volume 2) #0
- Legion of Super-Heroes Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1
- Superboy: A Celebration of 75 Years
- The 13 Superstition Arrows is reprinted in:
- Aquaman's Super Sea-Squad is reprinted in:
Trivia
- This issue features a one-page "Little Pete" and "Casey the Cop" humor strip by Henry Boltinoff.
- Cosmic Boy is shown generating electromagnetic waves from his eyes in this issue, whereas in later appearances, he generates his electromagnetic fields from his hands.
- Lightning Lad is called Lightning Boy in this issue. Also, he can only generate bursts of electricity by clapping his hands together. Later appearances will demonstrate him generating electricity from his finger tips, and he will adopt the name Lightning Lad.
- In this issue, the Legion of Super-Heroes use Jet-Packs to fly around. Later on, they will be more commonly known for using Flight Rings.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Superboy Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- Superboy (Volume 1)
- Superboy (Volume 2)
- Superboy (Volume 4)
- Superboy (Volume 5)
- Superboy (Volume 6)
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Superboy and the Ravers (Volume 1)
- Young Justice (Volume 1)
- Young Justice (Volume 3)
- Teen Titans (Volume 3)
- Teen Titans (Volume 4)
- Legion of Super-Heroes Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- Adventure Comics (Volume 2)
- The Legion (Volume 1)
- Legion Lost (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 4)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 5)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 7)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 8)
- Legionnaires (Volume 1)
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow Recommended Reading
- More Fun Comics (Volume 1): More Fun Comics #73–107
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1): Adventure Comics #246–269
- World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Action Comics (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 1): Detective Comics #521–567
- Green Lantern (Volume 2): Green Lantern (Volume 2) #76–124
- The Flash (Volume 1): The Flash #217–219
- Green Arrow (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow (Volume 2)
- Green Arrow: The Wonder Year (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow (Volume 3)
- Black Canary (Volume 3)
- Green Arrow and Black Canary (Volume 1)
- Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood (Volume 1)
- Justice League: Rise and Fall
- Green Arrow (Volume 4)
- Green Arrow (Volume 5)
- Green Arrow (Volume 6)
- Event Leviathan
- Justice League (Volume 4) #59-75
- Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League - Green Arrow
- Green Arrow (Volume 7)
- Green Arrow: Year One (Volume 1)
- Black Canary (Volume 1)
- Black Canary (Volume 2)